How Do Casinos Make Money Giving Away Free Drinks?

How Do Casinos Make Money Giving Away Free Drinks?

Nevada casinos give away close to half the value of every drink they serve — and they meter every glass. There's a light on the back of the video poker machine you're sitting at, facing the bartender, and it decides whether that cocktail is free.
It isn't about getting you drunk. A 2022 review of twenty studies found alcohol had no overall effect on gambling risk-taking. The real answer is in the arithmetic: coin-in, house edge, theoretical win, comp factor. The drink is a payout on a meter reading — and the casino doesn't care whether you're winning.

Sources: Nevada Gaming Control Board (Gaming Abstract FY2025, Monthly Revenue Report Oct 2025), Addiction (2022), US Patents 8,337,296 and 7,018,291.

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