No More Free Drinks for Non-Gamblers on The Strip

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Saturday, June 3rd, 2017 | Written by Charles Washington

Free cocktails have long been a hallmark of the Las Vegas Strip. In decades past, casinos saw offering free drinks to everyone on the casino floor as a way of encouraging people to linger, with the idea being that if they remained and continued drinking then eventually they would feel compelled to place a quarter in the slot machine or try their luck at one of the casino’s gaming tables. Times change, however, and the Las Vegas casino industry is currently rethinking this concept, with many well-known resorts now doing away with their free drinks policies.

Caesars Entertainment

In a recent press release, Caesars Entertainment announced that free drinks would no longer be given to everyone who gambled within its properties. While free drinks will still be available to all gamblers on the actual gaming floors themselves, patrons visiting Caesars-owned bars located in Nevada, on the other hand, will no longer be able to receive free drinks unless they are using its gaming machines. The Executive Vice President of Communications for Caesars, Rich Broome, explained that the goal is to reward large-spending customers, and not just everyone who wanders into one of its bars. As Broome explains:

“We are making a concerted effort to reward our larger-spending customers. This discourages people who are just looking for a free drink.”

He also noted that the policy has actually been in place for years at Caesars’ bars, but that up until now the rule has not been enforced. That’s all changed, however, and now employees have been told to only provide free drinks to those patrons actually gambling.

MGM Resorts

MGM Resorts is taking broader steps to eliminate free drinks at its casinos, and will no longer be providing free drinks to non-gamblers anywhere within its properties. In order to facilitate the policy, the operator has invested in the Ardent Complimentary Validation System from Ardent Progressive Systems and Games. The software allows resort employees to easily see whether or not individuals are playing on the casino floor, or just stopping by for free drinks, with only those players that are wagering a minimum number of dollars per minute then eligible to receive complimentary cocktails. Ardent Complimentary Validation System is already in use at all of MGM Resorts Las Vegas properties, including the MGM Grand, the Bellagio and Mandalay Bay.

Other Casinos Follow Suit

Although other casino operators on the Strip have been quiet about their own properties, it’s clear that some are also eliminating or at least scaling back on free drinks. Reportedly, the Ardent Complimentary Validation System has also been installed at the Venetian Las Vegas and the Palazzo Las Vegas owned by the Las Vegas Sands Corp, the Westgate Hotel & Casino, the Hard Rock Las Vegas, Treasure Island and the Golden Nugget.

Non-Gambling Revenues Key

While some people are surprised by the shift away from the long-standing Vegas tradition of free drinks for all on the gaming floor, the move makes sense when you consider the current state of the Las Vegas gambling industry. Casinos are now focusing their efforts on attracting overnight guests, diners, shoppers and event-goers rather than keeping their casino floors packed. With a greater interest in increasing non-gambling revenues, casinos are no longer desperate to have tourists spending hours near the slots and table games. Instead, they’d prefer them to explore the property and stop into one of their bars or restaurants for a drink if they don’t intend to play.

More Tourists

One of the benefits of Las Vegas becoming an all-rounded vacation destination is a huge increase in the amount of tourists visiting the desert resort each year. In 2016, for instance, a record-breaking 42.9 million people traveled to Sin City, up by 1.5% compared to the previous record set only the year before.

Furthermore, the Nevada casino market generated $25.2 billion in revenue last year, resulting in an overall profit of $983.68 million for the industry, versus a $662 million loss recorded in 2015. The reason for the first positive profits since 2008 was a paradigm shift in where the casinos now derive their revenues, with gambling falling to just a 43.2% share in 2016. Commenting on the figure, David Schwartz, director of the Center for Gaming Research at the University of Nevada, explains:

“If the rooms do eventually being more profitable than the casino, that would be a total shift because it used to be the casinos was where all the revenues were made.”