As we wrote in this month's LVA, "It’s official: No video poker comps at the bar at Wynn casinos!"
You're right that Steve Wynn comped drinks at the Mirage casinos before he sold them to MGM Grand. But when he opened his own joint, the Wynn, he instituted a number of changes that broke with Las Vegas tradition. Two of the more notable changes were splitting dealer tips with the management casino bosses and eliminating comped drinks at the video poker bars.
When he eliminated comped drinks at the Wynn bars, the sports book was the lone hold-out; up until recently, you could get a comped drink for video poker play there. No longer.
Encore opened with the policy in place. You can't get a comped drink of any kind for any amount of play at any machine at any bar at Encore.
Making matters worse, the video poker schedules at the bar are pretty poor. As we wrote, "So on top of losing at a rate of about $30 per hour at Encore’s lousy dollar schedules, you also get to pay $6 per Bud. No thanks!"
Your options? One is to find the few good video poker games (the best are 9/6 Jacks or Better in the $2-$100 denoms) on the casino floor and get your drinks comped in the usual fashion. Better, though: Take your action to a place that still offers this time-honored comp -- which is just about any other casino or bar in Las Vegas.
