- Bartenders rely on customers' tips for most of their income.
- I'm a bartender, and I've learned several subtle tricks bartenders use to get bigger tips out of customers.
- I'll try to get customers to open a tab instead of closing out, and some bartenders will even "invent" a cocktail for a guest to make them feel special.
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As a bartender, I earn a baseline hourly wage that's well below the minimum wage. The same is true for bartenders in many parts of the United States.
So it should come as no surprise that the vast majority of us depend on the generosity of your tips to pay our rent.
Of course, we don't just cross our fingers that everyone will leave 20% on the check - we do whatever we can to make sure you leave happy.
Read more: I'm a bartender, and these are the drinks that we secretly judge you for ordering
But we also have a few tricks up our sleeve that you may not realize we're using in order to up our chances of a greater tip.
Here are some of techniques bartenders use to increase the cash we take home.