It is important to remember the obvious: Las Vegas nightclubs base much of their reputations on who has the highest numbers of gorgeous girls on the other side of the velvet rope. After all, hot girls attract men who will drop plenty of cash to impress them, and often times girls tend to feel more comfortable being around more girls. Let’s call it safety in numbers. Keeping this in mind - if you are a group of guys without a table reservation, you’ve got some work to do.

A few things to ALWAYS keep in mind....

Contacting someone who works directly for the club before you get there is your absolute best bet.

When approaching a nightclub doorman, you want to balance being aggressive with keeping your cool. It is just as important to make him interested in helping you as it is getting his attention. Don’t act like a jackass, he doesn’t care “who you know.”

Often times the actual line isn’t as bad as it looks, so don’t rule out the possibility of just sticking it out.

Having someone you can simply text message when you get to the nightclub is always the ideal situation. If you have the luxury of a little lead time before you get to Las Vegas, take a moment to contact promoters and / or hosts who work directly for the nightclubs you are looking to check out (you can find most of their contact information on our website or search around on MySpace or Facebook.com). Even if you aren’t looking to book table service, a simple e-mail:

“Hey, I got your contact information from _______. My friends and I, __ guys and ___ girls, are coming to town on ___ date and were looking to come into your nightclub. Do you have an available guestlist for that night, and is there anything I can do to avoid waiting in line?”

Related Guides: JackColton.com Host Contacts, Guest Lists, VegasStubs.com Nightlife Savings Kits.

In a town where appearance is ‘almost’ everything, the better you look - the faster you will get in. And while getting last minute plastic surgery to straighten that nose and hide some belly fat may be out of the question, ensuring that everyone in your group is fashionably dressed and within the nightclub’s stated dress code [view guide] will serve wonders towards helping the doorman help you. After all, his managers are watching his every move. Oh, and make sure everyone brought their ID.

Related Guides: JackColton.com Guide to Vegas Nightlife Dress Codes.

If you are in a large group of friends that may have a few too many guys in it for most people’s taste, you will want to break into smaller groups of two (2) or three (3) guys and start keeping a look out for groups of girls that you might be able to merge with. This can help you in two ways, 1) for getting in faster and 2) for possibly finding some new ‘friends’ for the evening. Think about it. You are standing in close proximity in a relatively bright and quiet place to virtually the same crowd that you will be inside a fast-paced loud club with. Not only can you see girls in natural light (which can be a huge difference when you add club lights and a few drinks in your system), but this is a perfect chance for you to approach them without sounding like a complete sleazebag. A good line would be “I’m here with four of my friends, and we all can get in quicker if we have some girls with us. We will deal with the doormen, would you and your friends like to get in quicker?” More often than not (unless they are locals), they will be more than happy to join your team.

You will usually want to speak only with the doorman that is holding the clipboard as most clubs only have one or two who actually handle the ropes. Regardless, fight your way to the nearest doorman that isn't totally bogged down and make sure to keep your new found female friends proudly on display towards the front of your group.

You need to remember that nightclub doormen cater to everyone from the owners of Google, to the people who grace the covers of every major magazine in the world. With that in mind, it's a pretty safe bet that they aren’t going to waste time listening to the same tired “don’t you know who I am...I’m going to have your job speech." Nobody cares. You'll attract more bees with honey and find a lot more luck in respectfully asking them "Hello, We have 4 girls and 5 guys in our group. About how long is the wait tonight?"

Best. Doorman. Line. EVER:
I ran into Tom from MySpace a couple of years ago inside Body English and he asked me to help him get his friends into the club. We walked back out of the club and found his 5 guy friends before I flagged Jason Habel down to stamp their wrists and help get them in. Noticing the penis heavy group, Jason jokes to Tom “You have 100,000,000 friends and you can’t bring any girls to the club?” Again, most doorman don’t care who you are - if they don’t know you.

For legal reasons, our advertisers won’t allow us to go into great detail over tipping doorman to skip the line since some nightclubs forbid it and most all of them won’t allow anyone to talk about it openly. Still, “taking care of people” is the foundation of Las Vegas, so it is always in your best interest to be upfront and ask the person you are talking to if tipping is allowed. Most anyone will be honest with you when you are talking to them in person and, even if they aren’t allowed to take tips, you certainly won’t be offending them.

Once you are inside….
Once on the other side of the rope, if you combined with girls to get in quicker you should certainly take advantage of the situation and ask them if you can buy a round of drinks. One of three things will happen: You will have found your ‘companions’ for the night, they will stick around long enough to bilk you for a few free drinks, or they will “head to the bathroom” as a group never to be seen again. Either way, you and your friends aren’t waiting in line anymore... | JC