How much do you tip at a Las Vegas strip club?

Bring ones and fives. A lot of them.

This is the practical difference between a strip club and every other venue in Las Vegas. Tipping is not a single transaction at the end, it is a running feature of the whole evening, and turning up with two fifties is genuinely awkward. Break your cash before you go in, or ask at the bar early.

The stage

If you are sitting at the stage and a dancer comes over and performs in front of you, one dollar is the floor. It is not optional. If she is putting on a real show or is good company, anything from a dollar up to twenty is normal and appreciated.

How you hand it over varies by club, and this is worth knowing. Some rooms are happy for you to place it on the stage, some expect it tucked, and some do not want customers approaching the stage at all. Watch what the table next to you does, and if it is not obvious, just ask a server. Nobody minds the question and it beats guessing wrong.

If you are not tipping at all, do not sit at the stage. Take a table instead. Occupying a stage seat and tipping nothing is the one thing that genuinely annoys everybody in the room.

Dances

Agree the price before the song starts, every time. See what a dance actually costs for the going rates.

On top of the agreed price, roughly 15 to 25 percent is customary depending on how much you enjoyed it, and it is handed over immediately afterwards rather than saved for the end of the night. So a 40 dollar dance realistically costs 46 to 50.

Everybody else

• Bartender: about 2 dollars per drink, or 15 to 20 percent of the tab if you are running one. Tip on the first round and service improves noticeably for the rest of the night.
• Cocktail server: the same standard, and worth more here than at a bar because they are covering a room.
• The host who seats you: 5 to 10 dollars, more if it is busy and they have found you somewhere good. This is the highest return tip in the building.
• Asking a host or server to bring a specific dancer over: about 5 dollars.
• Restroom attendant: 1 to 5 dollars per visit. There will be one, and they will hand you a towel.
• Your driver: normal rideshare or car service tipping applies.

The things people get wrong

1. Turning up with no small bills. Fixable at the bar, but annoying, and you will overtip early because you have nothing smaller.
2. Waiting until the end. Tipping here is immediate and per interaction. There is no closing out.
3. Not tipping the seating host. Five dollars at the front is the difference between a good table and whatever is left.
4. Tipping with a card. Possible in places, but cash is cleaner, faster and avoids surcharges.
5. Sitting at the stage empty handed. Covered above. Take a table.

If you are unsure, ask

Genuinely. Asking a server or a floor manager what people normally tip is completely ordinary and they will tell you straight. Every club is a little different, and being new is not something anyone holds against you. What they notice is the person who is rude about money, not the person who asked a sensible question.

If you want a rundown of how a specific club runs before you go, message a host and we will walk you through it, along with sorting entry for your group. There is no fee for either.