Pour regulators have been around for at least 20 years. When I owned a bar in 1985, I could buy bottle spouts that would quit pouring after one shot (1 1/2 oz) of liquor passed through the spout, the bartender would have to upright the bottle and pour again to get more than one shot into a drink. I opted not to buy those spouts, as they cost $20 a piece as opposed to about a buck a piece for plain plastic spouts.

There are also pour regulators that fit over a spout that doesn't look like a spout on the bottle. This system is newer, not sure when it became available, but I'd imagine the reason for it was to make the bottle spout less expensive and allow for one station to regulate the pour from any bottle with the spout.

Regulators allow for conformity in drink making, nothing wrong with that. This new RFID technology would be an excellent way to track costs and consumption, great news for the liquor buyer for the bar as well as the people writing the checks to pay the distributor. It will also take away the ability of the bartender to treat regular/good tipping customers to a bit of extra service without being thought of as being a thief. I encouraged my bartenders to treat our regular clientèle with appreciation (a little over-pour was okay) so such a system wouldn't work very well in very many local bar applications. I can see why such a system would be desirable at a bar that pours a thousand drinks on a daily basis. ...and in such a situation, as a bartender (which I was before I opened my own place), I wouldn't feel insulted.

If you think about it, most of the drinks in Vegas are comped as it is. I don't blame a casino trying to make their most often utilized comp from being abused, from either side of the bar.

I can't wait for Wednesday!

Bob