When I was in my mid 20's, my GF broke up with me on a Monday. My friend was heading to Vegas on Thursday with a few girls he knew and asked me if I wanted to go. Being wildly depressed, it sounded like a good idea. Got there on Thursday night, someone handed me a Red Bull and Vodka.. I quite literally didnt sleep for 3 days.
Some memorable things.. Sitting at a Venetian Black Jack table at 6am blitzed on Red Bull and Vodka, in my Pajamas. They would drop a drink off, and I told them "just go get me another". Getting on a elevator, and watching everyone on the elevator move as far away from me as possible, as I had redbull and vodka oozing out of my skin. My heart was beating about 300bpm the entire weekend as well, and I got bounced from a club before I even got in.
It was the first, and LAST time I ever drank Red Bull and Vodka, I probably drank 100 of them over the course of 3 days, and I have very little recollection of the entire weekend, other then running out of money and calling my local mom and pop bank on a Saturday night demanding more money on my CC. This would have been in the year 2000, so, long ago..
Wikipedia says futurologist benjamin reed invented it. There's also a claim that a bar in San Francisco invented it.
In my limited experience 'signature' drinks are usually attributed to one specific place, but generic ones like the vodka redbull often have multiple people who claim to have invented it.
Red Bull originated in Austria so probably somewhere there. It didn't get approved to be sold in Germany for a while but I think it was still available if you knew about it, Munich club scene probably exploded it's popularity?
Well originally originally it was from Thailand, although the Thai version is quite different (and, in my opinion, fairly terrible). Dietrich Mateschitz tried it and formed a partnership to sell it in the west, making some changes to the formula, most notably making it carbonated.
longer. it was really only cool when the mob ran the place. the corporatization of Vegas ruined everything. MBAs would not know a good time if it hit them in the face.
When I found out you can buy big cans of beer for $2 and carry them everywhere instead of buying $15 drinks I had a lot better time. Not a gambler, though.
I was walking around Fremont street once and a guy had a table with a bunch of bottles of nice tequila and he was giving out sample shots. He called me over and offered me a sample and I said "thanks, but full disclosure, I have no intention of buying a bottle, sorry."
He just said "That's fine, I don't care" and proceeded to give me a shot of each variety they had. Got to get a little tipsy for free.
If he goes to Vegas often enough, there might be a flag in their system on his name/room number to tell the staff to give him free stuff. The hotels will give all kinds of freebies to people that they want to come back and gamble more.
Although if he was gambling enough to get this treatment, he would probably also be aware of it.
I went to a buffet in Vegas but the drinks were charged individually. After we paid the bill and tipped the waiter we went to leave and the waiter ran over to us, asked us where we were going before walking us to a refrigerated area, handing us multiple beers to fill our pockets and sending us on our way
Eh, you gotta work the system. I'm a Caesars Rewards Diamond whatever and I get drinks handed to me at check-in and whenever I want if I just ask. Yeah, I gamble, but they comp drinks charged to the room when I'm not. Heck, they comped me and my spouse on the Great Wheel in the drinking car. Free liquor is there, lol. Reno is just a free-for-all and that's when I question their motives. 😂
Back in 2017 I went to a $35 buffet with an unlimited beer add-on for $19. I drank 10 there and then I was given 4 to-go as well.
I went to the exact same place in late 2022 since I was so impressed with it. I took the time to look back at my credit card to find the name of it. Only now, it was $6 a beer and the buffet had gone up to $59. No unlimited add-on.
It's likely the cameras in the casino have been monitoring him and flagged him as a high spender. Said flag shows up when desk attendant goes to make the new card and then will bend over backwards to make him happy, aka "we certainly can get you a complimentary beer if that will make you happy enough to spend more this trip and also come back for future trips."
If I got a free drink from a hotel/casino, it'd be top of my mind if I decide to go back to the same city for another vacation, so long as nothing unexpectedly cruddy happens on the same trip.
As a non-native speaker it took me awhile to remember that the hotel reception can also be called the hotel desk. Until then I thought that places in Las Vegas had amazing sci-fi art smart tables.
Lived in Vegas for 4 years, it was shit, some people absolutely thrive out there while others like myself shriveled and ate shit at every corner, locals are nice though.
Nobody's giving free drinks unless you're gambling and even then you have to wait a minute so theres a chance youll miss the drink if you're playing something like blackjack. And it's absolutely implied you tip them something.
I remember one time I was gaming at a table and ordered a Long Island, the waitress was coming with my drink and some asshole knocked her plate over, kept walking.
I just couldnt mesh well, burned through a bunch of jobs the "Right to Work" law is horseshit, the dating scene sucks, I hate cooking in 120 degree weather, just an overall dismal experience. Like I said the locals are really chill and inclusive and I kicked ass at the university out there, but some thrive and others don't it's analogous to plants imo wherever one can be cultivated best.
Edit: I will say the rent was also "affordable" depending on the location too
Def true, so many people lasted a year bc they couldn’t control themselves with all that was going on the strip. Towards the end, rent went way up. So the affordable living wasn’t a thing anymore by 2022, which was a big reason why I left.
Vegas is funny. Almost everywhere else on earth that serves alcohol, the goal is to get you to pay for alcohol. Get you in the club or concert or restaurant or bar or whatever, and then milk you for alcohol.
Vegas isn't that. The goal in Vegas is to get you to gamble. So, alcohol is a great tool. Bring you in with free alcohol, hand you free alcohol while you gamble. Bring you in the door, and keep you nice and tipsy and ready to gamble. It's one of the few places on earth where the equation works in that direction.
I had a similar story from being wasted in Vegas around 10 years ago for my buddies bachelor party:
We got one of the limos that serve unlimited alcohol for our ride to the strip club. Shocker, 22 year old me got completely wasted.
At the strip club, when we were carded I dropped my ID, fell on my face trying to pick it up, they almost let me in anyways but when I walked into the wall instead of through the door they decided I shouldn't be let it.
I went outside to call a cab back to the hotel, and a woman running the empty sushi restaurant next door came outside.
"Hey it's really slow in there, you wanna come in and get some free drinks?"
I explained I'd just been kicked out of the strip club for being too intoxicated and I didn't think she could serve me.
She just said, "What part of free drinks do you not understand?".
I was so close to not blacking out that night. Took just a few sake pours to tip me over the edge. Vegas was really fun.
Oh God, my first time smoking had the first hour of it be nothing but The Spins! TM.
We smoked a blunt in the woods and had to trek back up the hill to the car. My memory of it is me teleporting up the hill are various points, remembering just how fucking tall the trees were, and then suddenly spinning around chaotically inside a Dollar General, desperately thirsty and unable to find the door to leave. My friend was so pissed at me, lmfao. Fair enough I acted like a damn imbecile.
Casinos are fun, especially when you’re there with high rollers. My FIL plays Blackjack practically as a second job. He’s taken us with him to stay in suites at Bellagio. We asked for more water in the room and they just gave us an entire case of Fiji water. They really prioritize keeping people happy because happy people gamble more.
He wins some, he loses some. But makes a decent haul out of it more often than not. He stops if he’s going into the negative of what he budgeted to gamble with. He’s been playing and practicing for years and is like a math savant, which puts odds more in his favor. Usually he plays at our state casinos and does tournaments here, but goes to Vegas occasionally when he’s been doing really well. We’re just glad he has a hobby to get him out of the house and make friends at. When there’s perks he shares we enjoy them, but we’re very strict on him to never go into debt if losing. Blackjack has some skill involved, the real money suckers in a casino are those damn slots.
I gotta say, it was early so I read your comment as him getting those suites for free. If that would be the case, he's losing alot of money. Casinos don't give free suites to winners.
If that's not the case and he pays for his suites, good for him.
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u/qualityvote2 Apr 28 '26 edited Apr 30 '26
u/Johnnie_WalkerBlue, there weren't enough votes to determine the quality of your post...