Bartending

[MEbenhoe]

The parents want me to get a part-time job and not just play poker for income, bonus they said they'd pay my car insurance for me if I did. So I was thinking becoming a bartender would be a great job for a 20 year old college guy. And the way it works in Wisconsin, I can have my license by the end of the day if I want. My question is for those of you who have been a bartender before, what are some of the pros and cons of the job? and does this sound like a good idea for me?

[drewjustdrew]

I am guessing you have to be 21 to be a bartender in Wisconsin.

[Patrick del Poker Grande]

Let me tell you right now that you shouldn't get your hopes up about getting right into a bartender position. You'll probably be barback/busboy/bitch for a while first before they move you up to bartender. Maybe you'll get lucky and get in at some small place that'll put you right in with someone else while you learn, but I'd expect to work my way into it if I were you.

[MEbenhoe]

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I am guessing you have to be 21 to be a bartender in Wisconsin.

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18

[Patrick del Poker Grande]

[ QUOTE ]
I am guessing you have to be 21 to be a bartender in Wisconsin.

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I'm pretty sure you only have to be 18 to serve alcohol.

[Claunchy]

Bartending rocks. That said, it's really difficult (read: impossible)for a 20 year old to walk into a bartending job without experience. What you're probably gonna have to do is wait tables at like Bennigans's or somesuch, work your way up to bartender. Good luck to ya.

[ddollevoet]

I tended bar in Wisconsin for 5 years. Unfortunately, I never tended any place fun.

While I was in Madison, I tended at a small, quiet hotel. Pro's: I could study at work or play darts when it was slow. Cons: It was usually slow, so tips sucked ass.

In Appleton, I tended bar at a supper club.
Pro's: Plenty of work. Free food. Free drinks (while working). Cons: Tips were split among everyone. You get damn sick and tired of hearing the same wedding songs / bands / games.

[chaas4747]

[ QUOTE ]
Let me tell you right now that you shouldn't get your hopes up about getting right into a bartender position. You'll probably be barback/busboy/bitch for a while first before they move you up to bartender. Maybe you'll get lucky and get in at some small place that'll put you right in with someone else while you learn, but I'd expect to work my way into it if I were you.

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This is probably correct. I barebacked and worked the door for about 6 months before I moved to being a bartender. One thing that people neglect to realize is that when you friends are out getting bombed you are working (if you want to make the best tips). Friday and Saturday nights are the best times to make money. Also, You are going to work from 5 to 2am, and when you get home you are going to be tired. When is the best time of the day for you to play poker?

[jakethebake]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Let me tell you right now that you shouldn't get your hopes up about getting right into a bartender position. You'll probably be barback/busboy/bitch for a while first before they move you up to bartender. Maybe you'll get lucky and get in at some small place that'll put you right in with someone else while you learn, but I'd expect to work my way into it if I were you.

[/ QUOTE ]

This is probably correct. I barebacked and worked the door for about 6 months before I moved to being a bartender.

[/ QUOTE ]

Slip? /images/graemlins/tongue.gif

[miajag81]

[ QUOTE ]

This is probably correct. I barebacked and worked the door for about 6 months before I moved to being a bartender.

[/ QUOTE ]

TOTD (Typo Of The Day).

(edit: damn, beaten to the punch)

[chaas4747]

I'm really tired guys! /images/graemlins/grin.gif Nice catch!

[Phishy McFish]

In Wisconsin, and Milwaukee specifically, you not only don't NEED to be 21........you don't NEED a bartender's license......although it helps to get your first job.

You only need to be 18 "to serve" booze. You also only need 1 licensed bartender in "ear shot" (I think that was the terminology the used). I bartended all around Milwaukee for around 9 years and never had a license. A lot of places will hire you as a barback (basically the bartenders biatch).......you change the kegs, fill the ice bins, coolers of beer and rails of liquor for the bartender......and it turn they give you a small (around 10%) portion of the tips they make.......sort of like a bus boy gets. Then they'll eventually start you off tapping pitchers when the real bartenders are swamped and eventually you'll get bumped up to a full fledged bartender.......OR you get a job at a small hole in the wall to learn what you are doing and go from there......don't pay to go to 1-800-bartend.......we always made fun of those people for giving up that cash.

It's a good gig, though it can be a black hole.......not a place I wanted to be once I had a real career. Too many "friends along the way" are now 30-40 something and still hanging out in the bars they work in with not much else going for them.

[Soul Daddy]

Pros: For a job, it's pretty fun. You interact with a lot of people. Service industry is a great way to meet girls.

Cons: Hours are odd, though maybe not for a poker player. The weeds.

My only experience bartending was in restaraunts. As others have said, I had to work my way up to it. Basically that means getting in good with the boss by showing good work ethic, skills, and personality.

[Slacker13]

I bartended in Fort Lauderdale and since I am originally from Wisconsin I know there is a big difference working here in Fla. I steadily made $1000k+ week working only 4 nights but ft laud is much different than wisky.

My personal pro/cons are:
Pros: great money, all cash, I met many great people and contacts, I had on average 4 girls to do whatever with at all times and a steady rotation of new ones. Chicks love the bartender.

Cons: It's a nowhere job and you can get trapped in it easily. I was partying 6-7 nights a week to the wee hours of the morning. The money, booze and women doesn't make it easy to start a career. It took the birth of my daughter to make me get out of the business and actually get serious. When I moved into the real world I actually had to take a pay cut at first.

It would be great part time money as long as you focus on where you actually want to be in the future and make sure you don't stray from that.

[Durs522]

I'll echo what the others have said. Its a great job for now, but it doesn't really get you anywhere. The important thing is to see it for what it is and nothing more. I bartend 3 nigths a week here in NY (Long Island not NYC) and I make really good money for someone my age. I can work 3 days a week and make $700+.

Some of the cons involved are the hours you have to work. Getting to work at 5pm, and not leaving until 3:30am sucks. People can be rude, and annoying but at the end of the night when you're walking out of there with $300-$400 in your pocket all is forgotten. Leaving the bar at 3 or 3:30 you end up going out with some of the other bartenders for an hour or so, then get home by 5am. By the time you fall asleep the sun is coming up, and when you wake up its almost time to go to work again. In that regard the job sucks, but honestly I can't see myself doing anything else. I look at some of my friends making $8-$10/hr and can't help but think they're suckers.

Good luck and give it a shot. Don't be afraid to be a server or a barback at first, even if its at a corporate place. The only way to get started is through promotion, you can't just walk in a be a bartender. Stick with it and within a couple of months you should be behind the bar making money.

Durs