questions about tipping dealers

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pooptarts92

Well-Known Member
Ok guys as a dealer somehow I feel obligated to tip every time I win, as long as it's over $100 or so. But I know tipping bits of your BR can increase RoR. How much (if at all) do you guys tip (depending on how much you win)?
 
Hardly any personally. But if you feel the need to you need to calculate your hourly EV and then take a small percentage of that and that's what you tip per hour. In fact, reduce it even further just to be on the safe side.
 
Playing on a $5 table, I bet one white chip per dealer rotation. If I win the hand, they get $2, if not they get nothing. An exceptionally entertaining dealer will get an extra toke, win or lose.
 
I only tip the dealer if they are exceptionally personable. IMO, all they're doing is dealing cards. My winning or losing has absolutely nothing to do with THEM. If I have a dour dealer, I don't care how much I've won - they don't get a tip. But if a dealer makes it fun to be at the table - I'll tip even if I'm losing.
 
I do it a little differently

When I play tips for the dealers.. I usually put the toke on top of my bet and if it wins I give him the win and keep the original bet to reuse at the proper time. I tell them I'm doing it so they will make more by letting me play the same money over and over. It helps you tip more without actually costing so much.
 
daddybo said:
When I play tips for the dealers.. I usually put the toke on top of my bet and if it wins I give him the win and keep the original bet to reuse at the proper time. I tell them I'm doing it so they will make more by letting me play the same money over and over. It helps you tip more without actually costing so much.
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Lets see.
I tip $1 by putting it in front of my bet. If my bet wins, dealer gets $2 at a cost of $1 to me.
Your way, bet wins and the dealer gets $1. A few hands later you repeat and you lose. Dealer got $1 at a cost of $1 to you.
I'm not seeing where it reduces the cost of tipping, only where it reduces the tips themselves.
Please enlighten me.
 
shadroch said:
Lets see.
I tip $1 by putting it in front of my bet. If my bet wins, dealer gets $2 at a cost of $1 to me.
Your way, bet wins and the dealer gets $1. A few hands later you repeat and you lose. Dealer got $1 at a cost of $1 to you.
I'm not seeing where it reduces the cost of tipping, only where it reduces the tips themselves.
Please enlighten me.
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It allows him to tip twice as often with the same money, although the tip is halved. I am sure some dealers think of this as cheap.
 
shadroch said:
Lets see.
I tip $1 by putting it in front of my bet. If my bet wins, dealer gets $2 at a cost of $1 to me.
Your way, bet wins and the dealer gets $1. A few hands later you repeat and you lose. Dealer got $1 at a cost of $1 to you.
I'm not seeing where it reduces the cost of tipping, only where it reduces the tips themselves.
Please enlighten me.
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Well, first of all you choose the proper times to do it where losing is less likely. If I'm losing I'm not tipping anyway... When I'm winning, I'm tipping way more than a white. (usually multi-reds or green(s)). I usually explain what I'm doing to the dealer and they get it.. believe me. The benefit is more of a phsyclogical benefit due to the fact you are tipping more often. It also has the added benefit of making odd stacks of chips and camoflauging bet increases somewhat. On a good day, your tips cost very little. The main goal is not really to reduce your tips as much as getting more bang for the buck.
 
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shadroch said:
Lets see.
I tip $1 by putting it in front of my bet. If my bet wins, dealer gets $2 at a cost of $1 to me.
Your way, bet wins and the dealer gets $1. A few hands later you repeat and you lose. Dealer got $1 at a cost of $1 to you.
I'm not seeing where it reduces the cost of tipping, only where it reduces the tips themselves.
Please enlighten me.
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The cost is the same either way (assuming you intend to keep using that dollar for tips until it is lost). With the "standard" tipping, you lose $1 whether you win or lose. With the "hanging onto our coattails" strategy, we win $0 on a win, but lose $1 on a loss (lets forget about doubles/BJ/etc for now). In a 2 hand time frame, a WW (Win + Win) gives a result of $0, WL = -$1, LW = -$1, LL = -$1 (we are not tipping again if we lose). This results in an EV of -$0.75. As you can see, anytime during the series of hands we lose, it results in a loss of $1. This means that given an infinite time series, our net EV will be -$1, as the WW..W series will be negligible.

This means that the only difference will be how the dealer perceives it. The standard tip will result in a tip of $0 or $2 (once again forget doubles/splits/bj). The coattails strategy will result in a tip ranging from $0 to $infinite. If you are on a "heater," you may be able to tip $5 or more, which may appear more generous. Its up to you with what you want to do with it.

However, using d-bo's strategy, we may not continue betting that $1 until it is lost, which means that the cost of the tip will in fact be less than the standard method.
 
I reserve my tokes for when the shoe is nearing completion.

The dealers sometimes correctly infer my motivation.
 
Ok thanks guys. I'm usually the same way, tip nothing if losing or tip anywhere from $2.50 to $10 on a nice win, dependent on how much I've won of course.
 
pooptarts92 said:
Ok thanks guys. I'm usually the same way, tip nothing if losing or tip anywhere from $2.50 to $10 on a nice win, dependent on how much I've won of course.
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It really depends on your goals and reason for tipping. Where I usually play, I don't recall any dealers improving the game because of a tip. If you want to tip the dealers because you feel they deserve it, then tip what you want and how you want it. If I tip, which are usually small and far apart, I usually ask the dealers if they just want a straight tip or if they want it played. Some like to gamble, some dont.
 
Although I seldom tip

There are dealers in my favorite store who are just fun to play with. They are constantly rooting for the table, regardless of whether there's a chip involved for them or not.

Most of them have taken a good deal of money from me anyway so when I win they know it's getting back what I've lost before.

And win or lose those dealers get something from me. It may be a nickle for a small win or loss or it might be a quarter (which is well over 1 hours ev for me right now) if I had an exceptionally good night. I usually tip at the end of the session although I have put a bet on the line for them at good +TC, especially if I've lost a couple big hands. Get 'em to root a little harder.

Now the one's with no personality, or the sour pusses, or the one's that seem to enjoy taking my money or pulling 21 on my 20 with max bets and double downs - they get NOTHING, ever.

There are plenty of ploppies around giving tokes and betting for the dealer.
 
Unless there's a really good reason not to, you ought to be tipping at least a couple bucks an hour. I'm sorry, but these guys are working for minimum wage, and it won't kill you to throw a white chip out there every once in awhile when you've got a max bet out.

There's really no good justification for it either. Your refusal to tip doesn't hurt the casino, only the dealers, and it makes all counters look bad when you get tossed and haven't ever tipped.

That said, I think $5 an hour is more than fair to tip, even for a black chipper.
 
moo321 said:
Unless there's a really good reason not to, you ought to be tipping at least a couple bucks an hour. I'm sorry, but these guys are working for minimum wage, and it won't kill you to throw a white chip out there every once in awhile when you've got a max bet out.

There's really no good justification for it either. Your refusal to tip doesn't hurt the casino, only the dealers, and it makes all counters look bad when you get tossed and haven't ever tipped.

That said, I think $5 an hour is more than fair to tip, even for a black chipper.
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They are paid minimum wage because thats what they are worth. Im not saying that there is anything wrong with making minimum wage or being a dealer, but what am I tipping them for? All they are doing is dealing cards. The only reason a machine doesn't do it is because ploppies dont trust the casinos to automate the dealing (as of yet). If there is a particularly special dealer (or a hot one), ill be more inclined to tip. Tipping has become so customary in America that you aren't tipping for good service anymore, you are tipping to prevent bad service.

Now that I think about it, this is a combination of Steve Buschemi's argument in Reservoir Dogs and I think a comedian or something. Regardless, this is how I feel about tipping. Here comes the rampage...
 
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SleightOfHand said:
They are paid minimum wage because thats what they are worth. Im not saying that there is anything wrong with making minimum wage or being a dealer, but what am I tipping them for? All they are doing is dealing cards.
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Do you tip food servers? if so, why? All they do is bring your food and clean the table.


On a more serious note, I'm curious if you add to your toke when you double down or split?
 
21forme said:
Do you tip food servers? if so, why? All they do is bring your food and clean the table.
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Do you tip on service or price? Do you tip a waiter the same that brings you a hamburger as the one that brings you a lobster? If they work equally as hard why does price determine size of tip? Maybe tipping is more of an ego trip for the tipper than it is a reply to good service.

There should me no guilt in not tipping or light tipping in a casino game, afterall the dealer is the only one gauranteed to make money whether his hands win or lose. I do not tip the man on the street that offers me the shell game, and don't expect a tip from someone playing a game weighted against them in a casino. It sounds ludicrous if one thinks about it. Tip if you want, but there is no guilt in not tipping against a game designed to take your money anyway.

I have no urge to throw the movie attendant who gives me my ticket at the counter a tip either, I just paid the price for my entertainment thank you, now do your job and collect your paycheck there is no need for further compensation. Tip if you feel you must, but feel no guilt if you don't, statistically, you've already paid the price for your entertainment.
 
I'll tip something because at the table I'm in business, the dealer is part of my racket, and nobody works for me without getting paid. It's important to me that everyone gets paid. So the amount I tip is the amount I estimate that if everyone playing in the casino tipped that amount, the dealers would make an honest wage. That amount is really insignificant at my WR.

One thing I will never do is tip after the dealer makes a mistake in my favor.
 
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