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I think it's not uncommon for people to forget to close their tab at bars and accidentally walk out without their card. I feel just fine with handing over my card upon opening a tab.

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Many bars will have a default policy for unclosed tabs. My local bar assumes a 10% gratuity and calls it a day, so walk out as you please. Though it's the type of place where the bartenders notice 20+% tips and will serve you significantly better for it.

This always catches me out. Places where you don't pay first are an exception so whenever I go to one that doesnt I always find my self walking to the door until I remember "oh wait, I haven't paid yet"

I think that really depends on where you live. Here it is basically the other way around, you order, you drink, order some more, and before leaving you pay the bill, with the bartender keeping a tab of what you ordered (these days with a mobile POS). The only "regular" exception is when they're about to close the place, then they often ask you to pay on delivery.

Except the "our card reader is broken, we can only accept cash"-surprise, I can only remember three occasions this actually caused some hurdle for me in the past decade-and-a-half.

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