Why hoarding free food at VIP lounges?

I'm Diamond (25k pts) at Caesars. Cheapest way without tier multiplier is ~$77k coin-in at video poker.

We Diamonds have a free buffet at the Diamond lounges in Atlantic City caesars properties.
I've seen people throwing a whole bunch of rolls into their purse, and hot foods into multiple ziplock baggies into his backpack.

I just read on a Caesars group that this happens at the 7star (150k pts) lounges as well.
People would order multiple omelets then put into ziplock bags.
scoop up the whole lox tray into a plastic bag in her purse.

I can understand it at the Diamond lounges. Mid-level gamblers eyes get wide with free.
I don't normally drink but the 2 times i threw up in my life was because of free open bar.

The 1st time was at a private party at a restaurant a couple of years out of college.
the 2nd time was in my 30s when I was at New Orleans diamond lounge and found out they had single malt scotch. (AC caesars diamond lounges dont have this.)
I don't normally drink scotch but know single malt is expensive.

But why do high rollers do it?
I expect that they have more than enough $ such that the foods at the 7star lounges arent above what they normally eat?

Anyone have a theory?

Quote: 100xOdds

I'm Diamond (25k pts) at Caesars.
We Diamonds have a free buffet at the Diamond lounges in Atlantic City caesars properties.
I've seen people throwing a whole bunch of rolls into their purse, and hot foods into multiple ziplock baggies into his backpack.

I just read on a Caesars group that this happens at the 7star (150k pts) lounges as well.
People would order multiple omelets then put into ziplock bags.
scoop up the whole lox tray into a plastic bag in her purse.

I can understand it at the Diamond lounges. Mid-level gamblers eyes get wide with free.
I don't normally drink but the 2 times i threw up in my life was because of free open bar.

The 1st time was at a private party at a restaurant a couple of years out of college.
the 2nd time was in my 30s when I was at New Orleans diamond lounge and found out they had single malt scotch. (AC caesars diamond lounges dont have this.)
I don't normally drink scotch but know single malt is expensive.

But why do high rollers do it?
I expect that they have more than enough $ such that the foods at the 7star lounges arent above what they normally eat?

Anyone have a theory?
link to original post

Human nature. Billionaires don’t want to spend $7 for a Diet Coke.

Because they can.

I am not sure that I agree with your premise, high rollers love free stuff, rich people tend to be the most frugal (I would guess for at least some of the people stuffing omelets into plastic bags, if you saw their net worth you would be shocked.) (Otherwise, there would not be a comp arms-race to attract high rollers if high-rollers did not love the idea of free stuff. You can say the same thing about luxury credit cards. Why would somebody of X net worth care about earning redemption points? But, they do.)

Also, some people AP from such lounges (food AP is a real thing, you accrue enough points at a local casino for whatever status gets you access to the food lounge, and do your best to get all meals from there even if it means bringing food home, and "stocking up" to see how long you can go without spending on food.)

But, this is not exclusive to casinos either, go to any buffet and you will find people trying to sneak stuff out (casinos just may be more reluctant to confront high level players over such behavior so it can happen more openly.)

So probably a combo of people feeling the need to get their money's worth of their gambling losses, people who do it as an AP move, and people who act that way at every buffet all combining to make it more blatant at a casino buffet.

I would also guess such buffets are frequents by more high rollers and mid-levels in general (people who are mid-level are probably just going to go to whatever restaurant they feel like spending money on and not worry about a free buffet.) Wealthy people seem to be against spending money eating out (this is a vast generalization, but often cited that people who care about wealth building minimize the amount of money spent of food.)

Or anecdotally you can ask Warren Buffet )or other famous billionaires with similiar cards) why he hoards his free fast food cards? Can he afford a 5-dollar meal for his daily fast-food meal? Or can he afford to eat a healthier alternative for even 20X the price every meal without noticing? I would assume so. But, he gives many interviews on his love of eating at McDonalds every day because it is free. Many rich people live for free stuff, even if it makes no difference at all in their day-to-day life (you can argue they may have not made it to that level without that lifestyle driving them.)

Quote: 100xOdds

I don't normally drink scotch but know single malt is expensive.
link to original post

This is a common misconception.
There are expensive single malts, and there are quite ordinarily priced single malts.
Maybe your lounge was luxe, but if I'm giving it away, I'm not stocking top tier stuff for people who can't pronounce Islay.
(I would absolutely stock Tomatin 15 year. Much better than its obscurity warranted. Haven't seen a bottle in a decade.)

Sorry for the hijack. Complain to the usual suspects if you want me curtailed.

Quote: Dieter

Quote: 100xOdds

I don't normally drink scotch but know single malt is expensive.
link to original post

(snip!)

This is a common misconception.
There are expensive single malts, and there are quite ordinarily priced single malts.
Maybe your lounge was luxe, but if I'm giving it away, I'm not stocking top tier stuff for people who can't pronounce Islay.
(I would absolutely stock Tomatin 15 year. Much better than its obscurity warranted. Haven't seen a bottle in a decade.)

Sorry for the hijack. Complain to the usual suspects if you want me curtailed.
link to original post

It was Macallan single malt :o

I'm not a scotch drinker but my Uncle taught me a tip that paid for itself many times over. All my clubs sold a few different scotches but nothing super expensive and no single malts. I'd keep a bottle of single malt behind the bar, but it wasn't for sale. It was reserved for the most special of occasions. I'm not sure why, but offering Single Malt Scotch is a great way to start a business relationship or seal a deal.

Quote: 100xOdds

Quote: Dieter

Quote: 100xOdds

I don't normally drink scotch but know single malt is expensive.
link to original post

(snip!)

This is a common misconception.
There are expensive single malts, and there are quite ordinarily priced single malts.
Maybe your lounge was luxe, but if I'm giving it away, I'm not stocking top tier stuff for people who can't pronounce Islay.
(I would absolutely stock Tomatin 15 year. Much better than its obscurity warranted. Haven't seen a bottle in a decade.)

Sorry for the hijack. Complain to the usual suspects if you want me curtailed.
link to original post

It was Macallan single malt :o
link to original post

Well done, you.

Aside from they can do what they want, well they probably want to take their money's worth. Before reaching that 150k pts, they probably lost more than that so they felt entitled to take more than what they need lol. That's just my opinion but I hope they enjoyed their omelets