Why are Las Vegas cabbies so weird about tips?

[shaniac]

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Yeah but you go to Vegas for all that stuff (gambling, strip clubs, etc.) So you pay a premium for it because some states don't even offer that stuff.

You don't go to Vegas to ride in a cab, you could do that back home. I don't see why you'd pay a premium to ride in a Vegas cab, as opposed to a NYC cab or whatever.

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You are paying a premium, but it's just because you're just at the mercy of the Vegas taxi-driver economy. If they were unable to extort these high-priced tips that everyone is so up-in-arms about, the price on the meter would rise.

Also, how about this scenario. There's 8 minutes left in dinner break at the Rio, and you're stuck behind a long taxi line at the Bellagio. You decide to take a $40 town car (usually a Mercedes at Bellagio, actually), even though it's only a 4 minute ride, because getting back to the tournament is important. What do y'all tip on that $40 ride?