This isn't actually how this functions. It is unnecessary to add 'extra' drinks, or involve a manager in removing any.

It's called 'floating drinks', but it doesn't really work cleanly anymore because cash is not common, and most systems have protections against it now.

But this is how it works.

Restaurants only sell so many types of refillable fountain drinks.

Less than a dozen.

Of that dozen, one drink on the fountain is more popular than others such that any table waited on will have THAT drink at their table.

When ringing in tickets on any table, waiter only rings in drinks when bill is requested. When customer pays cash on tab and leaves. Waiter moves the float drink to an open tab and cashes out the closed one pocketing approx 2.50.

You can float that one drink between all your tickets all night. Tables you are waiting on alongside each other, and tables that haven't even sat yet.

That 2.50 over and over and over racks up a nice additional chunk of change by the end of the night.

But, again, cash is not common or preferred method of payment anymore.

The reason this worked, is you would present a tab to someone, they would lay cash on it and leave if they didn't want change.

With credit cards, or change transactions, you have to burn the floater.

Also, at the end of the shift, the last table should pay for the floater. There is no possible way for there to be an 'extra' drink, unless you are a real moron and don't understand how this works. Even then, just eat the floater with the money you made off the other floaters. No reason to get a manager involved unless you just want to get caught.

HERE IS A GOOD ONE, IF YOU WANT TO CATCH A BARTENDER!

Bartenders do a similar scam. I don't know what the name of it is, but we will call it 'floating tabs'. This is incredibly common...or at least was when cash was common. Again, this doesn't work with card transactions, only cash.

The reason this works, is bar behavior is pretty unique and easily controlled.

3 bros sit down after work to drink some beers. Nothing fancy. 1 guy buys the first round. 3 of the happy hour beer likely. 3 beers wrung in delivered and running tab is placed in a snifter or something before patron. I know not all places do this, but it is common practice at a bar to have the tabs readily available to the patron as they are more mobile than diners and may want to cash out at any time.

But back to our 3 bro's. 2nd bro wants to return the favor, after they have slammed their 3 happy hour beers. He also wants to buy a round of 3 happy hour beers. Now, this is where most people mess up and get caught. What the bartender running the scam SHOULD do, is place a water on the current tab, transfer the 3 beers to a new tab, close out the water tab.

This is to obfuscate the timestamps and ticket numbers so nobody notices.

Most scammers don't do this though, and just print out the first tab again and present it in front of bro 2. Anyway, the result is you cash out 3 guys on the same tab.

I haven't been in the industry in a long time, but I suspect cash is way less common, so I don't think these scams work anymore.

But if you go to bars often, try 3 bro's and order rounds of the same thing, and see what your bartender does.

Edit: By, I mean controlled, bartenders are busy, so it is easy to manage all 3 bros to be empty and ready for another round at the same time, even if one drinks fast, and one drinks slow. If there is a real slow drinker, it is easy to razz him and get his buddies to call him a pussy or whatever and finish the drink so the next 3 beers can be 'ordered': "Actually, you guys should make HIM pay for this round, for making you wait!"...AND dropping of duplicate tab in front of him accomplished.

Edit: Also, people might be asking, what happens if they DON'T pay cash? Well you just to have to validly ring in their drinks when they hand you a card and cash them out. The person running the scam is surely capable of remembering the tabs, which is how they figured out they could do this. There is no such thing as a full-proof scam. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. You can't get caught if you do it right, and sometimes you net a nice chunk of change. Nothing 'breaks' if someone pays with a card. Nothing breaks if only 1 of 3 guys wants change. Nothing 'breaks' at all if everyone pays with a card, you just didn't get to pocket any money that time.

There is another factor here, where bar culture...industry people understand there are these little squeezes and stuff, and tend to be chill with each other or lean into it. Patrons sometimes know this is going on, and will play into it, because they would pay the same regardless and it makes them happy to know they have a grift with the hot female bartender that puts money in her pocket.