Casino Ethics: Alcohol

Quote: boymimbo

The free drinks are there to ply the customers of their money. Customer service? Not a chance.

Aside from an ill-considered, albeit delicious, black Russian, last time in vegas I mostly ordered diet coke, bottled water and coffee. I was served as promptly as other players at the table, and with the same attitude. I tipped $1 every time, too.

No one forced me to get anything else, nor tried to push me to order free alcohol, nor even tried to spike my coke or water with booze. The only problem I had was that I once was given regular coke.

What's unethical about that?

About Watanabe, if he had gotten drunk and stunned once at a casino, he might have a moral case. As it is, he did it several times. I feel bad for the guy. He's obviously a drug addict and a compulsive gambler. And clearly the casino took advantage of that. But to say the casino is solely at fault, exempts him from taking any moral responsibility for his actions. He could have gotten help in between casino trips.

Missouri gaming law forbids free or discounted drinks at casinos, so I have to pay market price for my Amber Bock or Sam Adams.
I generally don't have more than 1-2 while I'm gambling, but when I've been to Vegas, I do drink more because it's free.

It reminds me of the all inclusive resort we went to for my honeymoon. The wife & I ordered tons of different new drinks we'd never tried before, because if we didn't like it, it didn't cost us anything.

In jurisdictions where gambling is legal, a bet is a contract between a player and the casino.

Courts are usually not very sympathetic to people who claim they were intoxicated when they signed a contract. A person cannot escape his liability on a contract on the mere ground that he was intoxicated when he executed it, unless he can show that at the very moment of execution he was so intoxicated that he was unable to understand the nature and consequences of the transaction. (It's probably difficult to convince a judge you didn't know you were in a casino playing real roulette with your own real money.)

Retail businesses with storefronts typically refrain from offering unlimited booze to the general public before contracts are signed. The closest example I can think of where a business offers alcohol to deliberately impair a customer's judgement is at a gentleman's club that sells lap dances. But unlike a casino, strip clubs certainly don't give away the booze for free.

I'll tell what I do when in Vegas. I never order well
drinks, only the good stuff. If you order a Grey Goose and
coke, for instance, you'll get short poured on the GG.
So I order a double shot of GG in a bucket (short glass
with a wide mouth), neat (no ice). And a soda water on
the side. You'll get a lot more booze doing it this way.
When she comes back I give her $3 and tell her to bring
me another right away. She'll do it because of the tip.
I dump the GG into the soda water and when she comes
back I do the same with that one, and give her a dollar.
Now I have a decent drink and don't have to bother her
for awhile. The reason for the bucket is, its a big glass and
a short pour will look really obvious. This is a bucket:

Quote: EvenBob

...
When she comes back I give her $3 and tell her to bring
me another right away. She'll do it because of the tip.

I don't think $3 will wow any waitress. Maybe at the Klondike or the Longhorn.
$5 (red) is when they take notice.

$3 is enough, I tested it. No difference between 3 and 5. Big
difference between 2 and 3. I was in the bar business, you
learn where the breaks are. A consistant tipper beats a part
time bigger tipper every time. If you tip a red every time you
get a watered down drink, you're an idiot.

Quote: EvenBob

$3 is enough, I tested it. No difference between 3 and 5. Big
difference between 2 and 3. I was in the bar business, you
learn where the breaks are. A consistant tipper beats a part
time bigger tipper every time. If you tip a red every time you
get a watered down drink, you're an idiot.

I ask for straight up, in a bucket ("rocks glass"), with a soda side every time.
Still I give at least a nickel.

Quote: Doc

Maybe it would even things out if alcohol was freely available (both free in price and free flowing) not just to the players but also to the dealers, floor supervisors, eye-in-the-sky operators, etc.

When that four hour roll at the Borgata ended they opened a bottle for the PLAYERS. You think their own employees are going to get a drop? Dice dealers often ask waitresses for drinks, they never get them.

Quote: Ibeatyouraces

When the new Casino Windsor opened in 1997 it had a 70 foot fountain/waterfall just as you entered. Dont know if its still there though.

Um, the "fountains" that we don't see, are DRINKING fountains.

Quote: waltomeal

The only way I would consider it unethical is if the casino told you an alcoholic drink did not contain alcohol. As long as they're straight with you, I have no concerns at all.

If anything, it's usually the opposite - that of getting a watered down drink.

Sure and many people order higher level brands at a casino than they would ever be drinking at home, be it beer or booze.

And the waitress assigned to the main entrance is going to offer a drink far sooner to some idiot who is just standing there not gambling than a waitress assigned to some other area of the casino would offer a drink to a man who was just standing there and not gambling. First time I walked into a casino I was a wide eyed gawking tourist without any sun glasses, then I transitioned from the bright oven into the dark and air conditioned casino and stepped out of the aisle to let my eyes adjust because I could barely see anything at all and I immediately hear this voice offering me a complimentary cocktail.

Its not unethical to offer free drinks to offer them a bit more generously at the entrance way or in the high limit areas.

Its unethical but often common in bars to pour more booze if its a generous tipper who is already too plastered and sometimes it happens in a casino. A waitress does want a tip and does not want to offend a gambler since her employer is the casino but if the guy is just too plastered there comes a point where he should be cut off and that means both booze and gambling.