I usually don't game my bartenders because they're my friends, and I don't want to mess that up by sleeping with them and complicating things. The one time I did game a bartender, I used the Apocalypse Opener on her.
It didn't go as well as I would have hoped, but it wasn't a total failure either.
Me: "Hey, what's up?"
Bartender: "Not much."
Me: "Whatcha doin' later?"
Bartender: "Probably going to sleep."
Me: "Would you like to come home with me?"
HOLD.
HOLD THE LINE.
HOLD THE FUCKING LINE.
Bartender: "Tell you what: if you can remember my name, I'll go home with you."
BLAST! This wasn't a fake test, because she HAD told me her name earlier in the night. And I couldn't remember it 'cause I was drunk (and wasn't really paying attention when she told me her name earlier).
By the way, this was before the Apocalypse Opener had been published and before I even technically got into pickup. This was right off the top of my head.
Me: "Gah! I forgot!"
Bartender: "Heh. Ah, well. Guess you're not coming home with me tonight. Here's my number, though."
I never called her because I was too ashamed.
As for what I do know about gaming bartenders (or really, just talking to them generally), you aren't going to get much done when she's busy. She's got a job to do, and that job involves a bunch of increasingly drunk people giving her money to get and make drinks. She's not going to stop to be hit on. Hell, bartenders have to keep moving and doing their thing even when they've got friends in the bar. They're on the clock.
If you're going to go for it, wait until she's actually got some time on her hands. I dropped that Apocalypse, for example, at the very end of the night. Of course, you can drop snippets of game on her when she's getting your drinks throughout the night and then go for the close later.
And I guess you can consider Apocalypse field-tested for use on bartenders.
