V.I.P. Doesn't Mean Free Reign.

As I have mentioned before, part of the clubs growing success is the V.I.P. section.  For those not familiar with the concept, the V.I.P. section gives the group purchasing the service a bottle of middle-top shelf liquor,  various containers of mixed drinks and the exclusive use of a roped off V.I.P. section that they can invite people into, while making their own drinks with their own alcohol and mixers.

This V.I.P. service, and its cost would cause one to think that it would attract more responsible and aged individuals who can afford such exclusivity.  Unfortunately that is not always the case, and many wanna be V.I.P.'s regularly pool some cash together between five or six friends and then go party in their private area with little regard to responsibility or acting like a gentleman.  Most of the time these wanna-be-V.I.P.'s get too drunk and end up being the biggest problems for security.

Well, the story to be told actually involves one of these groups of wannabe's and how they made some serious policy adjustments for our club.  It was a Saturday night, and a group of college students had purchased use of the V.I.P. section and invited about twenty of their closest friends to come celebrate whatever event they were celebrating with them.  With the large number of people pooling money these patrons were able to order several bottles of Vodka at the elevated price.

Because the bottles are then brought directly to their exclusive section, their individual drinking is not monitored by the bartenders.  The bottles are delivered to the V.I.P. sections and then left there for the party goers to do what they please with them.  Because they receive the alcohol in this manner, the patrons can consume as much of the bottle as they want.  With this freedom on the amount of alcohol they can consume people tend to become drunker than would normally be allowed by bartenders who monitor intoxication.

On this particular Saturday night, that was exactly the case, and despite problems with the group in V.I.P. as a whole in terms of intoxication, the real problem came once the club was closed and we thought everyone had already left.  While checking the downstairs bathroom I discovered an individual passed out on the toilet with his pants down, slumped forward vomiting into his pants.  Stunned at the scene i attempted to awaken him and help him regain his consciousness.

Unsuccessful in waking up the inebriated man I grabbed some co-workers and we all decided the police would be the best personnel to deal with this individual.  The police came and not wanting to touch him either called paramedics, who finally wheeled him out in a wheel chair.  This episode of extreme drunkenness is cause for my 6th rule: Just because they are in the V.I.P. doesn't mean they are responsible, you must monitor their drunkenness!

This situation was dealt with and the man was taken to the hospital where he was diagnosed with alcohol poisoning.  The funniest thing about this story is that the guy had actually been in to interview with my boss, and after finishing his interview had taken a walk through of the club.  His friends, who had the V.I.P. section that evening flagged him down and got him so drunk that he passed out sick on a toilet.  Lets just say that he didn't get the job...

All bets are off

Every Wednesday night at the club the theme of the evening is Mensday Wednesday, a party that features bar games such as beer pong, bags and free pool for all the patrons.  The night is usually calm, seeing as how it is a Wednesday and doesn't feature the large crowds that seem to make being a bouncer so interesting.  With the smaller, more peaceful crowds, drunken incidences and arguments are rare making my life ultimately easier.  However with these bar games comes a whole different reason for incidents.

We have never allowed gambling in the bar in any form, but occasionally people may wager on beer pong games under the table and without anyones knowledge.  One of these friendly wages came in the form of a gentleman's bet not too long ago where both sides decided that 20 dollars each was an appropriate amount and laid their money on the table.

Due to the more relaxed nature of Wednesday nights, there also are not as many bouncers on duty as usual and it was myself, the security manager and one other guy this evening.  As I walked down the stairs i noticed that two of the young men were arguing, although it was not apparent why and when they saw me approaching they both stopped and went back to playing beer pong.  Taking note of the argument I did not forget about them and lingered in the area waiting for more situations to occur, which did not take long.

"Dude give him the ball back, he gets a re-throw!"  One disgruntled man yelled as he charged around the table and got in his opponents face.

"Fuck that man, the ball wasn't going in and so I caught it, go play so I can get my money!" the opponent replied.  This exchange went on for about 20 seconds before I came over and broke up the argument.  After I separated the two, I asked the least irate individual what had happened to cause the argument.

"They are trying to get an extra throw in Beer Pong and its bullshit, they aren't gonna steal our money." he told me.  Confused at this concept of betting in the bar, as it was foreign to me, I told both sides that they needed to pick up their money and move along and enjoy themselves if they didn't want to get kicked out.  Both teams obliged and collected their money, not without arguing over who would get which bills however.  As they went there separate ways I went and talked to my manager and told him that I don't think gambling should be at all tolerated to which he agreed, and gambling is now not at all allowed, and if it is detected it is grounds for instant removal.  This brings me to my fifth rule; Don't Allow Gambling in the Bar.  It will lead to more disgruntled guests than happy guests.