How to explain the whole "table minimum" concept to a newbie?!?!?

[zootor]

So a bunch of us are going to vegas beginning of June for a bachelor party…I've done multiple Vegas trips so I understand how far your money will go here.

However there are some in the group that have not done the whole pool party experience and I just know that when I bring up the cost of a table minimum for 10 guys, whether it be at MDC, EBC or WET etc, they're not gonna grasp the concept of why it costs so much.

Would someone be kind enough to give me a full breakdown, based on your VIP going experience, of what these guys can expect? Kind of feel like I'm gonna have to explain it to them like a 3 year old.

I for one understand that we could be looking at $500 per person, which I get why but they won't.

Any tips on how to make them see the light?

Thanks!

[renator]

so $500 / head would be $5k total wich could be breakdown like this...

$3k min (you can spend in bottles, etc)
$600 auto gratuity
$300 or $600 taxes (depending if the club has LET)
$300 handshake...(securing a good spot)

Thats like 4.6k between 10 guys --> $460/head
Just reminding 3k min is not alot between 10 guys...(you have to put the extra "company")

[chrisbru]

Supply and demand. As demand goes up, so will price, assuming supply is constant. It costs so much because it is THE experience, and people want to do it when they go. There's really nothing more complex than that.

That being said, I usually explain it like this:
*You'll pay $40-$60 to get in to the club/pool
*You'll have to wait in line for 45-90 minutes, you decide how much that time is worth to you
*You'll buy 6-8 drinks at $16 per drink, including tip, which is $96-$128
*Really, if its daytime, and we're at the pool for 6 hours, you're going to buy even more than that. Plus shots
*You'll have to stand, keep your stuff with you, and hold your drink at all times
*You have no place to bring girls out of the madness and into someplace you can chat
*You'll have to order drinks from the bar, which is a huge pain in the ass, and wastes even more time


Basically, you spend money that you would have spent anyway to get food and drinks, but you get a better, more attentive server, you skip the line and don't pay cover, and you have a place to sit and relax.

[ratchelor]

I don't understand why everyone on here includes pricing for a "hand shake". Understood to secure a good table you would definitely tip out the host, but if you are trying to work on a budget and money is more important than location than you don't need to factor in anything for a handshake. I just don't know why people always quote it like it's the same thing as tax or something, could be very confusing for a new person,

[zootor]

Supply and demand. As demand goes up, so will price, assuming supply is constant. It costs so much because it is THE experience, and people want to do it when they go. There's really nothing more complex than that.

That being said, I usually explain it like this:
*You'll pay $40-$60 to get in to the club/pool
*You'll have to wait in line for 45-90 minutes, you decide how much that time is worth to you
*You'll buy 6-8 drinks at $16 per drink, including tip, which is $96-$128
*Really, if its daytime, and we're at the pool for 6 hours, you're going to buy even more than that. Plus shots
*You'll have to stand, keep your stuff with you, and hold your drink at all times
*You have no place to bring girls out of the madness and into someplace you can chat
*You'll have to order drinks from the bar, which is a huge pain in the ass, and wastes even more time


Basically, you spend money that you would have spent anyway to get food and drinks, but you get a better, more attentive server, you skip the line and don't pay cover, and you have a place to sit and relax.

Chris,

Thanks you! That's exactly the kind of answer I was looking for! Appreciate it!

If anyone else can add to the reasons not to go that route (GA), be my guest!

[Kinar100]

I have only ever embarked on two table expenditures where I was the one setting it up so my experience is limited.

I viewed the handshake as a kind of building block for my reputation with the host and this site. Since I am new, do not have a large pocketbook to deal with and have no reputable or famous social status, I can only barter in manners, respect and small monetary funds. I used a good handshake combined with being on time, polite, well dressed and minimizing the grievances caused by my group throughout the night to establish a basis for myself.

Just doing business!

As for reasons to get a table

- Experience and social status (superficial part)
Let me describe for you what I felt the first time I set up a table at XS for Wolfgang this last January.

I had finally convinced all my friends to pitch in (once my brother and I decided to throw down 1k ourselves) and i booked a table at XS for 9 guys and 3 girls (2 guys ended up having to get walked in). I had $1700 in hundreds, we were all dressed to the nines and arrived at 11:45 (uber late) for our table. I was the only one out of the 9 guys that had been in a club much less sat at a table. Walking over the ramp in to XS and seeing the crowd, the music, the lightning, it was a dream. We pre-gamed hard but that first scene gave us a renewed energy. My group was guided to our table (which was awesome), I saw the menu, threw down the hundreds and had the bottles delivered. Because of reading this forum the entire night went exactly how I had imagined even down to the exact penny I would have to spend. I felt like a mob boss and my friends viewed me as one. The rest of the night they wandered around having the time of their lives. The next morning when we found each other again they were begging me to do it again and thanking me non-stop. My brother came to me later and said that he had never felt more like a man.

- Pour your own alcohol (or try to before they make you 10k drinks lol)
You can make your own drinks at your own pace. The staff will definitely hound you to make you drinks but you can politely say you're ok. This alleviates standing at the bar, burning valuable time and you can order anything you want straight from the waitress too. Beers, shots, water, redbulls etc etc.

No lines
Usually the only line you will wait in is the table one and only because the club hasn't opened yet. Going through a host you will get pulled out, brought to the front and made to agree to all the fun specifics. Bam you're in after that with your crew straight to the table.

Late arrivals
Tables have more pull. You're spending a lot of money but lots of standards and that comes with a plethora of perks. One is being able to get in friends that arrive late. Have them say the table name and host name and you can usually get them walked right to your location. Makes you look awesome and works well for people you met earlier in your trip that you wanted to come hang with.

An established headquarters
This is probably the most important/used of all the perks. You have your own little party box of carpet+couch that you get to do whatever you want in as long as it is legal and does not disturb anyone elses time. Bring girls back, dance, use a GoPro (i did, awesome) talk, drink, sleep, sit, stare, think, imagine, dream, do kung fu moves, etc etc. Possibilities are endless. Your spot to do whatever pleases you for the 4-6 hours you are in there.

The pull
Social status. You have money. You mean business. You could have more awesome things somewhere else besides this table. The table gives you the illusion (either real or not) that you have the money to spend on a time like this. This will give you an immediate bonus to your attraction. It happens and people that say you can do without it are right. But it helps. Why not get a little boost! Girls love to sit down and ones that don't have a table want one more than anything. Shit, I do too when i go GA lol. If girls brought guys back for drinks and sitting down as often as guys did to girls, great world. If you are attractive to them and polite, i would say you have a 90% chance to have a girl at least come back, sit down and have a drink with you.

[ratchelor]

Agree with everything Chris and renator said if you can get the right minimums and if everyone in your party is willing to pay. On certain big weekends the cheapest table or daybed could be $400-$500 a head for the worst location, in that case it may not be worth it, specifically during a dayclub. In my opinion a table at night is always worth it, but a daybed or cabana at a pool is not as necessary.

[chrisbru]

I don't understand why everyone on here includes pricing for a "hand shake". Understood to secure a good table you would definitely tip out the host, but if you are trying to work on a budget and money is more important than location than you don't need to factor in anything for a handshake. I just don't know why people always quote it like it's the same thing as tax or something, could be very confusing for a new person,

Unless you never plan on using that host again, a hand shake is not optional. And even if it is a one time only thing, it's still the right thing to do to tip your host. Would you ever leave a restaurant without tipping your waiter? I get that it isn't a perfect analogy, since you have a table server too, but you absolutely should tip your host.

[Brooklyn Marc]

The hosts are providing a service, and depending on how accommodating and helpful they are seems only right to take care of them. The analogy given by Chrisbru is the best way to look at it I think. If the service is good and your happy with what you got tipping is appropriate.

[edstar]

so $500 / head would be $5k total wich could be breakdown like this...

$3k min (you can spend in bottles, etc)
$600 auto gratuity
$300 or $600 taxes (depending if the club has LET)
$300 handshake...(securing a good spot)

Thats like 4.6k between 10 guys --> $460/head
Just reminding 3k min is not alot between 10 guys...(you have to put the extra "company")

So when a minimum is quoted it includes the tax and gratuity? Is that correct ?

[chrisbru]

So when a minimum is quoted it includes the tax and gratuity? Is that correct ?

Nope, that's the opposite of correct.

Basically you take your minimum multiplied by 1.28 (20% gratuity, 8% tax... Some clubs charge a 10% LET—live entertainment tax—also, so you'd multiply by 1.38) and then add the host shake on top of that.

However, keep in mind that sometimes bottles aren't exactly going to hit your minimum. If the bottle you choose is $450, and your minimum is $3k, you'd need 7 bottles, and would actually spend $3150. So with tax/tip (assuming no LET) you're at $4032 plus your host shake (we'll call it $300 for this example) and your total spend would be $4332.

However, it's also common practice to tip your "runner" (the person who refills your juice, brings clean glasses, busses your table, etc.) and security (especially if you want security to keep other people away from your table and/or help bring women over to your table). These tips can start at $20 and go up from there depending on how good they are, how much you ask of them, etc.

[ArmyVegas]

Hot Damn.....you guys are so helpful. Just reading this thread confirms to me I need a table for me and my friends when we go in jul/aug

[MikeG3714]

good write ups chrisbru!

[kp3205]

Going to give you the mindset of the ones who don't get it in your group because I was once them. One thing to remember with pools, the min is food and beverage minimum combined.

Value = $$$ out of the wallet. Plain and simple. You have to ask them how much they are willing to spend? My belief was a day at the pool will not cost more than $250 at best. Say 10 drinks $20 each with $50 for food and I'm probably high balling what they are really thinking. There is no grasp of convenience, real estate, status, etc. etc. etc. Now you're asking for $400-500 for that same experience that they (and I had) believe they will have in their head at their price.

How to counter that....tell them they are one their own.

This is a bachelor party for the bachelor. It's Vegas and the boys want the groom to have a time to remember. If they don't want to ante up, let them go on their own.

Get the money from the guys up front who want in on the deal and work with that to negotiate with the host. Let the groom know what's going on. Trust me, someone is going to bitch about the money. But if you want to play in Vegas, you must pay in Vegas.

Personally you can also have a good time doing pre sale and such and bounce around to meet many different people. Our group goes in that direction during the day now because we are older and can't run like the young guns and tables at night are a better bang for the $$$ for us when we do our best drinking. Plus if partying occurs the night before, 1 or 2 will puss out for the pool and suddenly the money due by each goes up, etc.

Depending on when you are going Friday Hot 100 at Wet may be your best bet $$$ wise to get everyone in ande be more in he $200-$250/person range.

1. Wet Republic Minimums 2014
*These are Food and Beverage minimums

Friday (Hot 100)
Bungalow (15) 4,000
Delux Cabana (15) 2,500
Dance Deck (10) 1,500
Dance Floor (10) 1,500
Stage (10) 1,500
Lounge (10) 1,000
Day Bed (6) 750.00

Saturday (Non Event)
Lounge (10) 3,000
Day Bed (6) 2,000

Sunday (Non Event)
Delux Cabana (15) 3,000
Dance Deck (10) 2,500
Dance Floor (10) 2,000
Stage (10) 3,000
Lounge (10) 2,000
Day Bed (6) 1,000

Sunday (Event)
Delux Cabana (15) 4,000
Dance Deck (10) 3,500
Dance Floor (10) 3,000
Stage (10) 3,000
Lounge (10) 2,500
Day Bed (6) 1,500

Hope this helps.

[edstar]

good write ups chrisbru!

I second that, thanks for giving the example with numbers really helps, cheers