Of course. How else are you going to keep the drinks coming?

Tipping the bartender gets you stronger drinks.

Much like waiters and waitresses, bartenders get a small hourly wage, so tips are greatly appreciated and should be given based on service. If you sit at the bar it's easy to remember the occasional tip. If you sit at a table, particularly if you order mixed drinks, don't leave out your bartender.

Of course you tip! This is a crappy job at low pay. A bartender stands on his feet all day and listens to people who (a) think they are funny and aren't, (b) have all kinds of problems, (c) are grousing or complaining, (d) are all around misanthropes, (e) or are part all the rest of many assorted mopes infesting a bar, including myself.

I usually aim at 20% of the drink. If you buy a beer for 5-6 bucks, a buck tip out of the change is fine. Throw it into the tray on the other side of the bar.

Good bartenders are quick at making/serving drinks for a crowded bar and talented in knowing and making the latest exotic cocktail.   They are charming at best, a friend  to the lonely, and  a psychologist for the broken hearted.  Best of all, you enjoy being at this particular bar and know you will be back.  Yes, tip--it is deserved.

If I'm drinking at the bar, absolutely.

In a club it's always good to make friends with the bartender and tipping is always a good way to do that.

It really depends on whether you want to get a drink quickly or enjoy standing at the bar looking like a lawn ornament while others are getting served. Bar service is the last bastion of a truly unfettered free enterprise system.

One big, fat tip to start and it doesn't matter how many people are in line...your getting served first. End the night with another big, fat tip and you'll be served first the next time you show up.

I am extreemly spoiled at my regular hangout. I often eat there too so my bartenders are great. I even have my favorite seat and get the remote for the tv on my side of the bar. My drinks are great and the beer mug is never empty till I tell them I am done! At my second hang out I dont sit in the same place or get the remote but get the same treatment on the drinks. I tip my bartenders very well and a few of them are good friends too.
UPDATE: Remember too that at restaurants or bars you need to consider the amount of time you are there in your tips. Sometimes at Shoneys I read the paper or hang out with friends and we tie that table up for a while....and most do at bars...tip for the servers time as well as dollar amount...

Absolutely tip the bartenders. I tip them on the same scale I tip waiters and waitreses. On average I spend 12 to 15 bucks in the bar and I tip 2 to 3 bucks. The bartenders love me!

Like waiters and waitresses,they often get paid very little.You don't have to give them a huge tip-but it'll be appreciated and you'll probably get better service too.

A good bartender is very, very helpful in (err. . .) certain social situations. . .I had a favorite bartender in my old college town who would (on cue) give me and my lady-of-interest two quick drinks and not even charge me. . .I miss that. On the other hand, jerk-off guy-bartenders who only serve large-chested women first really make it impossible for me to tip. . .

I don't go to bars, but hypothetically; yes, I'd tip the bartender. It's just courtesy to leave a tip for their services.

When you don't order alcoholic drinks, bartenders tend to not even charge most of the time (noted, so far it's the guys who don't charge and the girls who do with one exception); either way, a tip is nice.

Its not to hard to water down a drink or to provide you with a free one. Tipping your bartender insures that you get the best service. Instead of waiting for your drinks, a bartender will come to you first if he knows you tip well. A lot of bartenders are often willing to give you a free drink or too if you line their pockets.