Anyone want to do a Bouncer AMA? ( self )
submitted 4 years ago by BoredBouncer Warning: 0%
I am a bouncer in the Midwest that sees a lot of fakes from college kids. I'm laid off too right now, so drop me a question and I'll answer it.
fake123 — 4 years ago
outside of a bad ID, what are the most common giveaways that someone's underage?
BoredBouncer [S] — 4 years ago
Contrary to popular belief, there are no tells or cues about age. You can't watch for shy eyes or other bullshit. About 30-40% of the IDs I confiscate are real IDs used by someone else. It's just a matter of how close you're paying attention. Wrong eye color, height, eyebrow shape are big indicators. The things people can't fake or memorize.
murkus9 — 4 years ago
What do you do if a bouncer takes your ID and tells you it is fake?
In my state, just accept it (if you know it's fake) and move onto the next place. It's a misdemeanor here and the cops will enforce it because you're wasting their time.
Also: I never scan IDs. What's the point anyway? You know who runs great ID checks? The police. I always encourage calling them if people try to fight it. Sometimes I'm wrong. But it's less than a handful.
Do you keep the ID after taking it or return it to the owner? If so what do you do with them. I know personally if I was told my ID was fake I’d ask for it back and walk away not try and argue.
Each state is different but we are allowed to keep fakes. But we must give a real ID back to the real person at any time OR drop it in the mailbox if they ask. The IDs are kept behind the bar, or in the safe, or with me when I'm doing training away from the bar.
JayDubz — 4 years ago
What are the most common ways you are able to tell that a fake id is indeed fake?
Picture/Photoshop quality. Without a doubt. I laugh at how many 10s are given in the reviews on Photoshop. The Connecticut one on the front page right now is at best a 4/10. So much attention is paid to the ear shadows but the whole image needs to be natural looking.
HomeDepotEnthusiast — 4 years ago
Well from someone else who has been paid to do this before, the presets for a lot of earshadows here are not dark enough. I agree wholly on what you said about photoshop in general, but for all the attention given to earshadows and drop shadows, they are never dark enough imo
I know this was a double question, but another key element is UV. There are a few different vendors here that layer it too thick. So much that you can see the back UV on the front and vice versa.
I'm shocked you're saying you go to UV a lot. I would use a usb powered 365nm light because work didn't pay for batteries and the cheap ones devour em, but with UV layers intensity can vary drastically by state: for example Misouri has always been very dim while Illinois is bounds brighter, but one big UV clue is improperly inverted ghost images, which tends to be a more reliable clue
I don't use them a lot, per se, but after 9pm our bar turns into a club-like atmosphere and the house blacklights turn on. They're 12 ft from the floor but powerful enough to pick up the ID uvs.
That's convenient. All my place had was neon by the door lol
I'll throw my question out from the POV of the bouncer side: the last place I worked at wanted us to use facebook and insta to check for borrowed and fakes. I've also seen this start to catch on at other college bars. Have you seen it pick up? Thoughts?
Yes, and I do teach that (I train for fakes). But this is only a case where it's not their ID.
My twist is to always ask for the one they're unwilling to bring up. Say, if they are ready and willing to bring up Insta, ask them for Snapchat. Its often thepassword most unwilling to be shared.
I don't hate it as a method, but when some of the newer guys do it leads to longer lines than just the old fashioned ways
It's got to be real close. Usually for that younger sister/brother relationship.
fake123 —