Part of the fun in Vegas are the free drinks. Well, nothing is free...you still need to tip your waitress or bartender. If you don't, they may not come back to you. If you tip them well, they will check on you every time around (about every 10-20 minutes).
Keep in mind the table games have regular cocktail service. The waitress will come to each table, drop off and gather new orders, go back to the bar, wait for the drinks to be made, and come back. The cycle begins again. She usually has the entire wing or row of table games, so she may be waiting on anywhere around 20 or more guests each round. It can take a good 20 minutes to get your drink, but she will be back quite regularly. Tip this woman well. At least $1 per drink each time around. It is okay to give her chips, too. If you are asking for a name brand liquor (say Captain and Coke instead of a rum and coke), its nice to give her $2 once in awhile so she 'remembers' you like Captain Morgan instead of house rum. HINT: when playing a table game, always ask for ones or singles, so you have money for tipping your dealer and the drink bunny.
If you are playing the slots, well, that's another story. Remember, I like going to Vegas during the week, so on a Tuesday or Wednesday, the casinos don't have 10 servers walking around...its a limited number of what I call 'drink bunnies'. At Bally's (my favorite place), they may only have 2 drink bunnies for the entire slot area. Even though there are less people playing slots, those drink bunnies have more area to cover, so it takes them longer, and if you hop from machine to machine, you can easily be missed. To avoid this problem, I like to start my day off at the bar. Go to the Sports Book Bar or even one of the bar areas of any casino. There should be electronic poker games recessed in the bar. Play for awhile, and the bartender will "comp" your drink. Remember to tip him/her, just like the drink bunnies. The best part? Your drinks are seriously better here. My boyfriend will get a draft beer in this area of the casino, but at the slots or tables, he always orders bottled beer. The drafts are at least pint size, and the bloody marys are bigger (my early drink of the day). The poker game at the bar will cost you 25 cents each game.
In our past experience, when we really wanted a drink and couldn't find a bunny, we would order a drink at the bar and have to pay for it. Two beers at the bar may cost $10 easily if you are not playing a game. We also have tried the theory of finding a drink bunny and then sitting down quickly to play a game so she would come take our order. But, then, playing a game for 20 minutes and not winning cost us $30 before she came back with our drinks! It makes sense to just sit at the bar, plop down $5 in the poker machine, and play for 20 minutes while enjoying my first drink of the day. At the same time, the bartender will most likely want to make small talk, and they will be happy to give you some great advice for the day.
Our most recent trip, we arrived in Vegas around 10 am. After checking in and getting everything to the room, we made it to the bar around 11 am and sat down, each playing $5 in poker. Believe it or not, the $5 lasted us a good half hour, we still had money (because sometimes you win!), and the bartender told us about a great place to get lunch at (which we did and LOVED!). It was a win-win. By the time we made it to the other casino, I was tipsy, but I was having a great time. We had only spent a few bucks, already warmed up our game fingers, and had a good relaxing time.
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