One of my favorite movie scenes is the scene where Mr. Pink talks about how he’s not going to tip the waitress. It’s in the movie Reservoir Dogs. The moral of that part of the story is that even thugs and criminals usually have enough class to tip a waitress.
However for the most part, tipping a poker dealer is done with chips won from a pot. One situation in which you are not in a pot, but still may want to tip is when the dealer is leaving their “down,” or their time at the table. When either you, or dealer, are leaving, you may want to give them a tip. How to Tip a Blackjack Dealer in Real Life. When you’re tipping a blackjack dealer, or any other casino game dealer, it’s customary to tip using casino chips rather than cash. You can tip a blackjack dealer in one of two ways. One easy way to tip the dealer is just to push a chip toward the dealer and say, “This is for you.” But it’s.
A blackjack dealer isn’t a waitress, but Las Vegas is a place where most employees—including the blackjack dealer—make their living from the tips they get from gamblers. And this is true of both the dealers in the low rent places who are dealing $5/hand blackjack and the dealers in the high dollar casinos dealing the $100/hand blackjack games.
In fact, almost everyone in Vegas makes their living off tips, not just the blackjack dealers. Be a class act. Tip your blackjack dealer. This post explains how to tip a blackjack dealer, but I also have some tips about how to tip other casino personnel, too. And if you want to learn more about casino etiquette check our guide.
Why Would You Tip Anyone for Anything?
Tipping is (theoretically) optional, but I recommend everyone to tip no matter what. Even if you get bad service, tip. If it’s really bad service, complain to the management, but tip. After all, two wrongs don’t make a right.
Think about the economics behind tipping for a minute, too. Federal minimum wage is already a criminally low $7.25 per hour, but employees who make tips often only make $2.13 per hour plus tips. In other words, if a minimum wage employee worked 40 hours and didn’t get tips, he’d only make $85.20 for an entire week’s worth of full-time work.
Immanuel Kant, the great philosopher, once explained that when you’re deciding what you should do, consider whether it would be the right thing to do if everyone did it. I’m paraphrasing terribly, here, I know. But if everyone skipped tipping these employees, they’d all be poverty-stricken.
What’s the point of a tip? Michael Bluejay, a writer I admire, explains that you’re not tipping to ensure good service. You’re tipping to avoid bad service.
And if you’re planning on patronizing a place for any length of time, preventing bad service is something that should be on your mind. Imagine playing slots and not getting any free drinks from the cocktail waitress because you didn’t tip her. What a drag that would be.
How Much Should You Tip Your Blackjack Dealer?
It doesn’t matter how low the stakes are, if you’re gambling in a casino, you should tip your dealer about $5/hour minimum. You can do this in any number of ways, but $5 is the floor, not the ceiling. In fact, if you’re playing for higher stakes, you can (and should) tip more.
And tipping isn’t something you should do only if you’re winning. I’ve seen gamblers who do that, but that’s a low-class approach to tipping. At the same time, just because you’re getting lucky and winning a lot, it doesn’t mean that you need to give the dealer outrageous tips.
Why You Should Tip Dealers Even if They’re Doing a Bad Job
Most casinos require their employees to pool their tips during their shift. If you’re not tipping a dealer because he’s rude, you’re punishing all the casino employees working that shift. Instead of declining to tip, complain to casino management about the dealer’s rudeness.
How to Tip a Blackjack Dealer in Real Life
When you’re tipping a blackjack dealer, or any other casino game dealer, it’s customary to tip using casino chips rather than cash. You can tip a blackjack dealer in one of two ways.
One easy way to tip the dealer is just to push a chip toward the dealer and say, “This is for you.” But it’s more fun to place a bet for the dealer. That way they’re rooting for you to win, too.
You can explain to the dealer that you want to place a bet for them, and they’ll tell you where to put the chip. I’ll tell you now, but if you forget, just ask. You place the bet for the dealer next to your bet. If you win, the dealer wins, too.
You can also tip dealers at other table games, too, especially at the craps and roulette tables. Tell the employees what you want to do, and they’ll explain the correct etiquette for you.
What About Other Casino Employees? How Much and How Do I Tip Them?
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I’m a big believer in generously tipping the cocktail waitresses, and I have two reasons for this:
- The first is that I like to keep the drinks coming while I’m playing. If you’re not tipping well, the cocktail waitresses will ignore you.
- The second is that the cocktail waitresses work really hard and deal with a lot of nonsense. And they usually have to deal with boorish customers. So, I recommend tipping cocktail waitresses generally.
This means I always give them at least $5 the first time they bring me a drink, and I give them $2 for every subsequent drink. Every couple of hours, I try to give another $5 tip. This has the added benefit of improving the service I’m getting.
Waiters, waitresses, and bartenders should get the standard 15% to 25% tip at most restaurants and bars. I’ve never tipped anyone 15% in my life, always opting to go for 20% or more. I suggest you do the same, especially if you’re going to be a regular at any of these places. Besides, good karma won’t hurt.
20% is also a good rule of thumb for a cab driver, but I always offer a minimum tip of $5, no matter how short the trip is.
I make an exception for buffets. Since all the waitstaff does there is refill your drinks, you don’t need to leave even 15%. I tend to leave $2 for each person in my party. In other words, if five of us are dining, I would tip $10, regardless of the price of the meal.
If you’re tipping a valet for parking your car, you should tip $5. I’ve been known to tip $20 if I’m in a good mood. I’ve seen people suggest that a dollar or two is sufficient, but I’d never tip less than $5 to someone whom I’ve entrusted my car to.
$2 per is the standard rule for most everything, too. If you have a bellman help you with your luggage, you should tip him $2 per bag. If you’re staying in a hotel, you should leave $2 in tip money for housekeeping. That applies to the guy at the airport handling your luggage, too.
If someone is busking, performing on the street for tips, you should probably be willing to tip them $5, too. You can get away with tipping less, like $2, but it depends on how long you watch them perform.
Getting an Upgrade When You Check Into Your Hotel Room
I’ve seen multiple reports that said you could get a room upgrade by tipping the front desk person $20 when you check in. Don’t just hand the front desk person a $20 and say, hey, can I get a room upgrade for that $20.
Be a little cool about it. When you hand the front desk person your credit card, fold the $20 and include it. Ask if they have any availability in a nicer room at all. You’ll be surprised at how often this works.
Conclusion
Learning how to tip a blackjack dealer is one of the first things you should do in Vegas. For one thing, it means you’re playing the right game. It also means you’ve got a little bit of class.
In fact, you should know how to tip just about anyone in the service industry in Las Vegas. If you can remember to tip 20% for some things and $2 (or $5) for others, you should be fine.
A little common sense goes a long way here. What kind of tipping do you do while you’re in Las Vegas playing blackjack?
Let me know in the comments.
Please enable JavaScript to view the comments powered by Disqus.“Right now, when it comes to tipping, it is a gray area with a capital G,” said World Series of Poker Media Director Nolan Dalla.
By definition, a tip is an optional payment given in addition to a required payment, usually to express appreciation for excellent service. It is also called gratuity, or, in poker terms, it is referred to as a toke. With the rise in popularity of big buy-in multitable tournaments, the landscape of the game has changed. Instead of a rotation of five or six dealers, events can require hundreds of them who rely on tips for most of their income.
In the past decade or so, it has become common practice that a certain percentage of the prize pool be withheld for dealers on top of the house cut. This has become a controversial topic among players and dealers alike. Tips have traditionally been considered an “optional payment,” so now that they are being automatically taken out of the prize pool, it has led to some confusion, disgruntled players, and stiffed dealers.
“In the old days, they didn’t take anything out for the dealers, but all of the players would usually tip 1 percent to 2 percent. I really don’t think they should take anything out,” said 1996 WSOP champion Huck Seed. “The house should get paid, and then people should tip what they want to tip. It shouldn’t be a mandatory tip.”
Tournament Poker Tips
Seed says that he is an average tipper who always does so when he cashes in a tournament. The amount he gives depends on his experience and the amount of money he wins.
“We have had final tables where no one tipped,” said Dalla. “This is somewhat demoralizing. You have got to have some guarantees. You can’t have dealers essentially gambling on whether they will be compensated.”
Standard Practice?
Do You Tip Poker Dealers Near
Most players say that they tip anywhere from 1 percent to 4 percent of what they win, and usually more toward the bottom of this range if money has already been allocated for dealer tips. Information on what percentage of the prize pool is withheld for dealer tips can usually be found at the bottom of any tournament structure sheet in small print. Nearly all big buy-in events, including the recent Wynn Classic and most WSOPCircuit events, take out 3 percent for tournament staff.
At the WSOP, the percentage taken out varies with the buy-in amount of the event. Lower buy-ins, including the $500 buy-in events, have the most taken out at 3 percent. The $1,000-$2,000 buy-in events have 2.7 percent taken out, while the $2,500-$5,000 buy-in events have 2.4 percent taken out. All $10,000 buy-in events, including the main event, withhold 1.8 percent for tournament staff, and the $50,000 buy-in H.O.R.S.E. tournament withholds 1.2 percent.
Among the many players who agree with withholding money for dealers is 2006 WSOP champion Jamie Gold.
“I think that it is a good thing that they take out a certain percentage, because they (the dealers) deserve to be taken care of. I definitely think they should (take out the money), because there are some people who don’t tip,” said Gold.
Gold is known as one of the most generous tippers in cash games, but he was railed for his main-event tip snub. He said that what people might not know is that he personally tipped the final table dealers. Gold gave a dealer money to evenly distribute between the five to 10 dealers who sat in the box while he won the biggest first-place prize in live tournament history.
“Back in the old days, it was always expected to toke,” said Dalla. “Now we are in a new age where some people say, ‘Well, they are already withholding this amount of money for the dealers, why should I be expected to tip more?’ Those are both legitimate, valid points of view. Ultimately, the industry standard should be a compromise between the two.”
A compromise is exactly what dealers are looking for. Winner of the WSOP dealer’s event Erick Narciso agrees that dealers are just looking for a gratuity that is fair. When he won nearly $105,000 for the event, Narciso tipped four percent on top of the 3 percent that was already taken out.
“There is no reason to tip anything extravagant, but a tip is necessary, for sure,” said Narciso. “There are some people who don’t tip, and the dealers have to get paid, so I don’t mind up to three percent. I don’t think it should go any higher, though.”
Director of Poker Operations for Harrah’s Entertainment Jack Effel compares dealers to other workers who rely on tips to make a living.
“It’s like any other service industry. Yes, you can tip your waiter the regular 15 percent or pay the automatically added 18 percent gratuity for big parties, but if you get excellent service, you may want to leave something extra,” Effel said. “I think our dealers are worth every penny.”
Taking a percentage out of the tournament prize pool has become standard in the
Do You Tip Poker Dealers Uk
Cantu responded to the issue in depth and said that he assumed the dealers and staff were already taken care of from a part of the prize pool.
Read Part II of this article and more from Cantu.
[Correction: The story has been updated to remove the inaccurate statement that San Jose, California, prohibits tournaments to withhold a percentage of the prize pool for dealer tips. The city does allow that practice, but it must be approved ahead of time. Coordinators for Bay 101 simply did not submit an application in time to withhold tips for the Shooting Star event.]
Do You Tip Poker Dealers Near Me