Something interesting: I was at Crown Casino last night in Melbourne, Australia (Where I live) and the dealer instructed the table NOT to try to tip her (As one person asked) as they are not allowed to accept tips.
Same here in NZ - while many reading this will think that is a good thing from a bankroll perspective - I actually find it to be a bad thing. The reason is it seems to kill the cameraderie between player and dealer/croupier.....
I tend to agree with this. Its just like going to a restaurant, why tip a bad waiter the same amount as a good waiter? There has been a few times where I was winning and I started tipping even though the dealer wasn't too nice. They certainly became very nice after that...
yeah the policy of pooling tips is 100% communistic. everybody gets the same amount regardless of the work they put in. the good dealers work hard and are nice and generate the majority of the tips, but the bad/mean/lazy dealers get the same amount. this is all done in the interest of "fairness", but it would be more fair to the good dealers if they got to keep all the tips they earned.
Just returned from Vegas this past weekend. I had a lengthy run at a 3-card poker table at Planet Hollywood's Pleasure Pit. Not only was the scenery great, I walked away up 3x my original buy in. I was placing pair plus bets for the dealer every 5-6 hands and eventually the guy next to me asked what I was doing with those. After my explanation, the dealer chimed in about the $7/hr wage. That got everyone's attention and the tips started flowing a little faster. One of my $10 pair plus side bets hit a straight flush, resulting in a $310 tip in one hand I'm with the others that have posted that pooling of the tips is somewhat communist. The two dealers behind the table in that 3 hour run were friendly, helpful, and never too full of themselves. They deserved the tips I was giving them. My friends were playing blackjack at the table behind me, and the main dealer was a total dud. She acted like she didn't want to be there, and didn't want to be around people in general. I feel it's a shame that she took home a share of that $300 tip from my straight flush. Anyway, 3-card at PH (and other Harrah's properties, I hear) has a $1million payout on a 6 card Royal of Diamonds. The conversation about tips let to the question - what would you tip if you hit that jackpot? Answers ranged from $50 to 5% ($50,000!!!). So I'm curious, what would fellow VMB'rs tip on a big payout like that?
Dealers care about the average shift's Toke Rate. Everyone will have some special situation sometime. One Vegas car dealer did real well at the craps table and he handed his business card to the crew and told them to come out to his showroom at a certain day and time. They thought they were all going to get offered a real good discount or something: he gave them all free cars. Sure this was decades ago but the principle is the same, anything can be a one-time fluke but what counts is the daily rate. Some players get exuberant and tip absurd amounts. Some players are simply cheapskates. Some players have tipped the shooter but stiffed the dealers. And once a shooter who got a big tip from an exuberant player who had stiffed the dealers simply rolled it over to the box and said "you guys did all the work" thus surrendering his tip to the dealers who had been stiffed. Now for a handpay I would NOT tip a large amount. Its a clerical payout instead of a machine payout. No one did anything special for you. At a blackjact table or a craps table the dealers have done something for you. Reminded you of stuff, kept the pace to your liking, watched out for errors and made suggestions. So if you hit big ... then you tip someone who really earned it. At a slot machine: if I could tip the RNG, I would do generously.
So how's this: I like to bet two-way hard ways. I've dabbled in two-way parlays but never did anything drastic. Having a larger bankroll nowadays, I want to throw a $5 and $1 chip on the hard 6 & 8 for the two-way parlay. If the first half hits, I want to throw another $1 out to put the table back up on the parlay. That way if it hits again they're "$100 and down" with another $10 working for them. I'm gonna dub the successive $1's "dealers back on deck" unless there's already a cool term for that.
What I don't like is if it has been a while since my last tip and there is a sudden dealer change. The last guy didn't see the money come to him that he earned and it feels weird tipping the new person right away.
Usually, as the dealer leaves the table, he will look at you and say thank you, the new dealer then knows that you've been taking care of the dealers.
yep, i've noticed that they always do that. i never thought about why, but that makes sense to let the new dealer know covertly.
I usually tip as I walk away from the table or just after coloring up. My tips have been less than 15% of my winnings. Howerever, I occasionally make a bet for the dealer at the blackjack table. They always seem to lose. Yet, a few times I've felt that the dealers were the only ones making money. Example. I played roulette 3 days in a row winning maybe $150.00. leaving a total of 15, maybe 14 or 16. On day 4, I lose my 200 bank plus the 150 in previous wins and the dealer is the only winner. I shouldn't feel cheap, but I do. On a percentage scale, but 10 bucks is an awesome tip.
Its not a restaurant, its a casino. I tip upon arrival or very shortly thereafter and I tip during play so as to get the maximum mileage out of the tips. I see no sense in tipping AFTER I've colored up.
You tip what you feel comfortable tipping. That being said, a significant portion of the dealers wages come from tokes (tips). After you begin to become a serious gambler (not professional, but put in time gambling), you start tipping more regularly. Now when playing a $10 hand and tipping $5 is clearly crazy, when playing $100-200 a hand and occasionally throwing down a $5 bet for them is not much of your bankroll. Regularly tipping will also get you recognized by the dealers and pit crew. They will take the effort to remember your name and occasionally, bump up the average bets you are making while the pit supervisor isn't looking. This helps out when you're looking for the RFB on your next trips. It also makes the dealers want to root for you as well as they become a little more invested in your success. This isn't true for all dealers, but most dealers begin to become more talkative and generally the table becomes a lot more fun to play at. Once again, it comes down to how comfortable you are with the dealer and the level of service they provide you.... I don't tip much if I don't have a rapport with the dealer, but if I do, sometimes they end up with more money than I do... =)
I actually avoid playing table games such as bj, 3 card poker etc as I'm unsure on the correct tipping form. I don't want to look cheap or basically overtip so I avoid playing altogether, poker on the other hand I'm totally comfortable tipping as I'm an experienced poker player.
There was a time when you were a beginning poker player ... you can be a beginning table games player anytime you want.
This is just what happened to me. So please take this with a wide grain of salt. Both times I played at the Excalibur. Trip #1: I played approximately 5 hours at a $10/min table playing minimum bets ($10 on pass line),$10-15 behind the line, and placed 6 & 8 ($12 each). At the end of the trip, tier credits were 7K. I had about $21 in express comps. I tipped a 2 two-way hard 4 & hard 10 every once in a while. Trip #2 (right now! woot!): I played approximately 7 hours at a $5 table. Betting $5 on the line, $10-15 behind it. Place 2 come bets of $5/10 with two numbers at any given time. I tipped consistently a hard 4 & 10 two-way. I got the dealers on the line when I was shooting. Tier credits at present: 24.5 K. Express comps at around $40. Maybe I did bet more... but I did the math. Not by much. So I think the pit boss took good care of me there. Yay! Now off to the buffet tonight because I don't have to wait in that crazy line.
Of course he did. You help him out by making his crew happy. They not only get your winning tip money but your actions help imbue others with the tipping spirit and give the crew an opportunity to pointedly say thank you to you in the hopes that other players will be goaded into tipping. So of course you are going to get a little sweetener in your rating.
Dumb question of the day here -- when a bet is placed, does the original value of that bet go to the dealers to be split regardless if it wins or not? I.e. If I place 5 on the passline for dealers but the point isn't made, does $5 still go to the dealers as a tip, or does the house get it?
Alas, the house takes all losing bets including those that were made on behalf of the dealer. Its considered a declaration of your intent: If this bet wins, then the bet and the winnings belong to the dealers. If it loses, it belongs to the house. That is why some people just do a "dealer hand in"... a tip direct to the dealers to go straight into the toke box and not be wagered.
