This question is a potential minefield to answer, since it varies not only from property to property, but also from bar to bar within an individual property, and even from bartender to bartender at a particular venue. There's often a level of personal discretion involved in terms of what and how much an individual bartender or cocktail waitress will comp you, depending on how pleasant you are, how generously you tip, and heck, just the particular mood you happen to catch them in that day. We've certainly had varying experiences at the same bar and no doubt many readers have too.
That said, there are some defined policies in place at many properties, which dictate the parameters within which this discretion is exercised. So we canvassed some contacts and called around to a number of casinos to see what we could find out, officially speaking. What follows is what we gleaned from the various cocktail waitresses, bartenders, casino hosts, food and beverage managers, and players with whom we spoke, which should give you some useful rules of thumb when navigating these waters (or beers, or vodkas).
We'll start with an epic contribution from "Cocktail Dollie," hostess of www.cocktaildoll.com, which is, as far as we know, the only guide to this city written by a genuine Las Vegas cocktail waitress (and a mine of useful information and amusing insights). From her years of experience, here's what Dollie has to say on the subject:
"Comped drinks are for customers who are actively playing. That means you must be gambling at the time you place your order. If you just lost $300 in the sports book and are now standing behind your wife who’s playing a slot machine, your wife may get a drink, but you may not. That's a pretty strict rule and it's up to each casino how strictly they want to enforce it. I've worked in casinos where waitresses have been given warnings that go into their files — and even fired — for serving non-players. The casino sees this as theft, because they want to be paid for their drink, either in the form of direct payment or via gambling. There generally isn't a minimum amount you need to play to be considered a player, so yes, you can put one nickel at a time in a machine and technically you're playing. However, it's easy to spot someone who is obviously pretending to play and someone who's really playing. Most casinos are pretty relaxed and leave it up to the waitress if she wants to serve someone. So if you want a drink when you're not playing, be smart and tip the waitress and you'll likely get all the free drinks you want, if she can get away with serving you.
"When a customer plays video poker at a bar, some casinos will comp a drink if there is at least $10 in with max coins played at a time. The comped drinks are usually beer or well drinks. Some casinos won't comp drinks at a bar, even if you are playing. It's hard for bartenders to break this rule for even a good tipper, because cameras are always on them.
"Comped drinks are made with well or call liquors. Call liquors are more expensive than well, but cheaper than premium: Absolut vodka can be served but not Grey Goose, for example. If a customer wants a premium liquor, they can usually get it if they're playing in the pit or at the dollar (and up) denomination machines. If a customer is a high roller, playing in the high roller pit or slots, or playing $25/hand or more, they can generally get whatever they want. The really good stuff, like Cristal or Dom Peringnon, is only available to high rollers and it's always a big deal, because a comp slip has to be filled out, usually by the pit boss or the player's host.
"A lot of casinos don't serve frozen drinks in the casino, because it would take too long to blend drinks with the volume of drinks being served. If frozen drinks are served, they're usually made from those pre-mixed slushy-type machines.
"The race and
