shadroch said:
Two schools of thought on tipping.
This will basically sum up a huge 100-post thread about tipping. Both sides have merit.
Personally, for the OP, I tip a lot by card counting standards, but probably low by non-counting standards. I estimate my house edge to be about 1% total, but I give up about half of that in tips. At a $10 table, that's $1 for every $200 bet - or very roughly $1 for every blackjack I get (use your leftover $1's if you get BJ with an odd dollar bet out, or ask for 5 $1's if you bet an even dollar amount).
Betting along the way is much better than tipping at the end, in my opinion. Two reasons:
(1) If you don't tip during your play, you'll be expected to tip at the end if you've won, and depending on where you're playing, ploppies might tip the dealer 5-10% of their winnings (which translates to 2-5% edge), which is an absurd amount. By tipping more frequently, you can avoid the awkwardness at the end, even if you ended up tipping less.
(2) If you tip whenever you have a big bet out, you're linking the dealer's tips with your edge and sending a subtle signal that you're a long-term winner but you're willing to spread the wealth around.
Brock Windsor said:
the dealer belts out a sarcastic "Thanks for the tips".
Depending on what casino you're in, this may be against the house rules. In any case, if you feel offended, you should take it up with the pit boss.
When I was new to blackjack, my friends and I asked a dealer how much people usually tip. He gave an evasive answer about how different people give different amounts. When we pressed him, he just flat-out admitted that house rules prevented him from commenting on tips, other than the mechanics of how to give them.