One thing I like about gambling at the tribal joints here in the Pacific NW is the availability of complimentary water, coffee, soft drinks and often juices at self-serve dispensing stations.
They don't exist in Las Vegas.
I just found out they don't exist at the newly opened Ilani casino near Portland, either.
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There are a number of casinos in the eastern half of the US that have these stations also. I usually only drink soda or water when at the casino, so I prefer this setup to having to find a waitress or go to the bar to get something to drink. The ones that have it tend to be the more isolated locations with limited foot traffic. I don't think they'd work in Vegas since there are so many people just walking through the casinos and not necessarily playing.
Portland has outdoor water fountains for pedestrians to get free drinking water; there should be public fountains for drinking water all over / up and down the strip, provided by the government, not the casinos.
It's freakin' hot out there.
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I don't know of any place in LV that has self-service drinks (other than an occasional mini-fridge in a HLR). Out of LV, it seems uncommon to not have a self-service drink station.
Some of the Indian casinos in the Los Angeles area used to have these open soft drink bars, but they have been removed. I remember them at Pala, Rincon, Pechanga and Morongo but haven't seen them in years.
Why no water public outdoor water fountains near the casinos downtown or on the strip?
I can theorize two reasons.
(1) To discourage the homeless from congregating (good luck with that), and
(2) To drive all who are thirsty into a commercial establishment (hello, casinos) in order to acquire a salutary, thirst-quenching beverage.
#1 is ill-conceived and has been proven to be ineffective in discouraging the homeless from lingering in Las Vegas, and #2 is a blatant example of commercial exploitation (no surprise there).
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Alan's right. I remember Pechanga had them just a couple of years ago, but now they want $3 for a beverage. I did run into a couple of places with the self-serve on my cross-country drive a few months back. I think multiple Oklahoma casinos had them.Originally Posted by Alan Mendelson
You have to pay for sodas there? That would annoy me. I'm used to them being free of charge and I just tip the bartender or the waitress.Originally Posted by redietzAlan's right. I remember Pechanga had them just a couple of years ago, but now they want $3 for a beverage. I did run into a couple of places with the self-serve on my cross-country drive a few months back. I think multiple Oklahoma casinos had them.Originally Posted by Alan Mendelson
I was actually surprised in Vegas at CP once when I went down to play and was really thirsty so rather than sitting down to play and waiting for a waitress I went to the bar by the sports book to get a Coke and had to pay for it. I think it was $3 - it never hit my bill but I think I was on one of those folio credits from Seven Stars that trip. Out east at the places that don't have self serve drinks or the order from your machine software, you can go to the bar to get a soda or a bottle of water (and coffee also I've seen there) and it's free the same as if the waitress brings it to you while you are playing.
Good idea in theory, poor idea in practice.Originally Posted by MisterV
There would never be enough water fountains for all the hot/thirsty tourists. There would be big lines for these things and it would back up foot traffic.
Plus they would get dirty and nasty fairly easily.
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Count me as another who would love to see self-service free drinks in casinos.
I am a self-service type of guy.
I park my own car. I bring my own luggage to my room. I definitely load the luggage in my own car (you don't know how much it pained me to have to allow the bellman to do it when my ribs were broken in January 2014.)
I pump my own gas (even in the era when full service was more common than it is today). I get my own chips in the poker room (unless it's too much of a pain to reload at the table, in which case I have no choice).
In most cases, I prefer anything I can do myself.
If it's an unpleasant manual labor task (washing my car, cleaning my house), then I hire someone to do it. But otherwise I always want to do things for myself.
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I'm almost certain I once read 7* players get free drinks. Can't find it now. It just stuck out to me as very odd. Perhaps it was a thing of the past or just some other casino's program.Originally Posted by pkspinsYou have to pay for sodas there? That would annoy me. I'm used to them being free of charge and I just tip the bartender or the waitress.Originally Posted by redietzAlan's right. I remember Pechanga had them just a couple of years ago, but now they want $3 for a beverage. I did run into a couple of places with the self-serve on my cross-country drive a few months back. I think multiple Oklahoma casinos had them.Originally Posted by Alan Mendelson
I was actually surprised in Vegas at CP once when I went down to play and was really thirsty so rather than sitting down to play and waiting for a waitress I went to the bar by the sports book to get a Coke and had to pay for it. I think it was $3 - it never hit my bill but I think I was on one of those folio credits from Seven Stars that trip. Out east at the places that don't have self serve drinks or the order from your machine software, you can go to the bar to get a soda or a bottle of water (and coffee also I've seen there) and it's free the same as if the waitress brings it to you while you are playing.
I asked the bartender that and he said no. I was mildly annoyed which is why I ran it as a room charge. Now that I think about it that was a solo trip so I doubt I had a folio credit. And I also recall another incident at CP when I was with my husband (my Seven Stars companion cardholder), and he went to the bar (same one by the sports book) and charged a beer to the room and that charge never showed up either. I know for sure that one didn't because regardless of what folio credit I may have, my husband's charges always accumulate under his name separately on the hotel bill when I review it on the TV, and my host needs to move them on his end to comp them off. Maybe there's something on the back end that takes them off for Seven Stars, or this is just two coincidental errors. I know that when I get frozen drinks from that bar out front in the gazebo like structure I do get charged for those on the folio just like all other charges.Originally Posted by RS__
There are NO free alcoholic drinks at California Indian casinos/resorts. They can't even be comped by a host. That's California state law. So Seven Stars do not get free alcoholic drinks.
HOWEVER with that said I have listened to hosts at Rincon tell a 7 Stars player at a video poker machine next to me to charge the drinks to the room anyway. What happened after that I don't know.
Alan do you know for sure "it's a state law"? Because twice a month I get invited to VIP events at Pala and they give out free alcoholic beverages. Once a month they give you a wrist band and you go up to a portable bar set up in the high gaming area for your free alcoholic beverages. Then on a different night you go up to the bar in the Italian restaurant's bar to get your free alcoholic beverages. They also have drawings for free money. Also when they used to have the Pro Bull Riders, they would have a VIP tent and give out free alcoholic beverages. So I think they just use "it's a state law" as an excuse not to give out free alcoholic beverages.
The booze restrictions apply to gaming and getting drinks when playing. How they get around it? I don't know.
I've visited a lot of upper midwest casinos this year and only a few don't have the self serve stations. The Horseshoe was the only Las Vegas casino I seen with a public water fountain. Haven't been there in ten years so can't say it's still there.
I wonder what the situation was "in the old days," i.e. back when the mob ran things?
Were there water fountains in the fifties and sixties, for example?
If so, when were they phased out?
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While I can't speak for the 50s and 60s, in the late 70's and into the 80's there were a few hard to find water fountains, but it really didn't matter as you could get a drink, whether water, coke, or liquor so quickly and for free that it really didn't matter.
I haven't been to the Tropicana in a few years, but there used to be a fountain near the bathrooms towards the back.
My concern about the current arrangement is that you need to ask a CW to bring you a water, and that can involve a bit of delay; I am used to immediate access to free water when I am in a private or public facility.
Also, while not required to tip, I'd feel like a cheap bastard if I stiffed the CW, and I just think water should be readily and freely available, something akin to a fundamental right.
In Portland, we have the "Benson Bubblers" downtown which provide free water from Bull Run reservoir from 6AM til 11PM daily.
see: https://www.portlandoregon.gov/water/article/352768
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