Open Bar

I want to know: what's the deal with open bars?

I mean, I know what an open bar is. An open bar is usually a private party that rents out a bar for a group of people for a certain amount of time and has agreed to pay for all of the drinks served during the party so that no one in the group has to pay for their drinks. I get that part.

What I don't understand is, why the people who drink at the open bar parties don't tip? I have worked several "open bar" type parties and it's a common (often times annoying) theme among all of these types of parties that the people drinking for free just don't tip. I find that, in general, people who drink for free never seem to tip. It's not just the open bar parties, but people who have drink tickets rarely tip too (unless they work in the industry).

I would think the less someone has to pay for a drink, the more they would tip. That would make sense, right? I guess in order for people to tip (I am talking about the general population here, not industry folks), they have to actually reach into their wallets and grab money.

It's the weirdest and most frustrating thing. And it never fails. As soon as the open bar party ends and people have to dig in their wallets to pay for the drinks, the tips start coming in.

A bartender still needs to make a living, open bar, drink tickets or not. So please, ALWAYS tip your bartenders. And if you don't have to pay for a drink, then you should have no problems leaving a measly tip. It doesn't even have to be outrageous. Just a little something.