THE BAR IS PACKED AND YOU WANT A DRINK!

THE BAR IS PACKED AND YOU WANT A DRINK!

First, let us give you a little background into what your tip to the bartender does. Most high end clubs with a lot of bartenders use “tip sharing.” This means the $1 or $2 tip you just slid to the bartender after receiving your drink, gets divided up 20 ways. So in actuality, you just tipped them about 5 or 10 cents. A tip like that doesn’t exactly make you memorable and you’ll probably continue to get service like anybody else. Now that doesn’t mean not to tip, or they don’t make good money, because you definitely should and they certainly do, and for good reason. They are working hard back there trying to serve thousands of people and the club probably wouldn’t be as much fun without the drinks.

Let me tell you about one of my friend’s first run in with the “tip sharing” system that quite frankly amazed me. I was at a club visiting a cocktail waitress friend of mine. She had put me and some friends on “the list.” We made our way to the bar and I ordered some drinks which she “covered” (no charge). My friend was so impressed with the drinks and the “hook-up” she provided, he took out a $100 bill and slid it her way. She in turn slid it back to him and walked away. He looked at me and said, “Did I do something wrong? What just happened there?” I had to explain to him that after sharing that with 19 other people, she would only get a few bucks. So, because of the fact that she and I were good friends, it meant more to her to have us show up and say hi. Not to mention the fact that we had brought a “list” full of people that would spend money to her club, and probably visit that same establishment again. You see there is a lot more to Vegas than people think.

Alright, with all that being said, we can help you out with that drink at the bar. If you’re not making any progress getting the bartender’s attention- take out a $20 bill, fold it a couple times, and put it between your fingers with your hand palm down on the bar with the bill sticking up like a flag. This lets your server know a couple things: One, you’re paying cash so they’ll be taking your tip home at the end of the night rather than waiting on credit card receipts. Most people we know in the industry would rather get cash tips- providing someone doesn’t get crazy and tip them triple digits on their daddy’s card. The only people who love credit card tips are the IRS. And two, people who make sure the bartender sees money are typically trying to showoff a big tip.

When you finally get a round of drinks, pay for them and slide your server a $20 dollar tip. He or she will be quite appreciative, as believe it or not the majority of patrons don’t tip that well. In fact, we’ve seen people order $100 shots of liquor and NOT tip. We’re not saying tip them a 20 every time, but we can pretty much guarantee if you get your drinks from the same location all night that server will most definitely recognize you before the person in front of you. Not to mention the fact that you may find quite a bit more alcohol in your beverage, versus the guy that’s about to tip a nickel.

-Jon Anthony
Find out more about your favorite nightclubs in Las Vegas at SceneLasVegas.com