Gambling Etiquette

[Californee Girl]

Sorry for the negativity, but I need to get this out.

Apparently the Giants were in town last night, and they wanted to do a little gambling. These guys held up a table for quite a while, bragging about their 7 houses or the fact that they are making 5 million this year. And you know what they did then? They stiffed their dealer. How classless is that? Unfortunately its pretty common around here. So Ive posted it before, and Im posting it again. Tip your dealers people. If youre going to tip the girl who spent a whole five minutes bringing you a drink, the least you can do is also tip the dealer who is spending all of his time with you. That or get off their table so they can maybe make a little money off the next guy. If people only realized the abuse that these guys go through every single day.

Casino tipping (http://casinogambling.about.com/od/casinoplayerinformation/a/tipping.htm)

Tipping.org (http://tipping.org/tips/TipsPageCasino.html)

Thanks for letting me vent.

[Kahlua Kid]

My Mother and boyfriend are casino dealers too - Blackjack, Texas Hold Em, and Craps - and you're right. They make your night fun? Good personalities? Made you laugh? How about you won under their deal? TIP THEM!

My Brother-in-Law is a dealer in Vegas for Craps - same thing - they get paid through their tips. Their salaries aren't real high.

[Yosemite_Wolf]

yes.. tip your dealer!!!! and tip your casino helpers.. the one who show you around. A friend of mine works on the floor of Harrahs in Vegas.. he makes squat. Tip these guys who show you around.

[monkey]

Hey, I'm all about tipping, but sometimes there are just too many people with their hands out.
Let's say you win $1200.00. You tip the dealer the average (and expected) 10% of $120.00. Then the IRS is going to take their cut of approximately 30%, which is $360.00, and then when you go to cash in your chips at the window, they also have their jar out for tips. So, your $1200.00 bonanza turns into about $700.00 and that doesn't count what you lost before or after hitting the money, or what you tip the waitress, guy paying you off at the slots because the paper ran out, etc., etc.
I know the dealers are making minimum wage and I love it when they make it fun for me even if I am losing money. I usually play a game with them called "Fill the cup", where I place bets for them and if I win, they win. If we are able to fill the tip cup with $5.00 chips, it equals $100.00 in tips for them that they do not have to split with anyone. I have also tipped the ladies that are cleaning the bathrooms if I have had a winning night., Not much, but they sure appreciate the $5.00 and the "Thank you" that I give them. The dealers at Chukchansi know me and know I am usually a good tipper, but if I hit something big, I do not tip the 10% expected as I feel I tip well whether I win or lose if the dealer is making it fun for me. I hit a Royal Flush that paid out $2,500.00 a couple of weeks ago and tipped $200.00, and placed bets for him with other money which I feel is plenty considering the circumstances. But, I did get a bit of a feeling the the dealer was expecting more. Sometimes there is a limit.

[Yosemite_Wolf]

i tip the dealers and the drinkgirls.. and perhaps floor personnel... if they help.. but cashiers? I need to tip them WHY?

[frmmts2sea]

I agree with most of what I've read. I used to be a dealer &, yes , if you win a hand, you usually tip the dealer. Also the person who is serving you drinks. However, I've never heard of tipping the cashier. http://oakhurstonline.com/icon/rolleyes2.gif

[CatdaBrat]

I've gotten into some big discussions about this very subject on some poker forums. I would not stiff a dealer because if they need tips to get the bills paid at home, I don't want to make things harder for them by not contributing.

At the same time, I resent the universal policy of casinos to pay their dealers squat to begin with, just because they know "Joe Customer" will step in to help pay the wages of employees.

With the millions the big casinos rake in every week, with many members wearing huge diamond rings on almost every finger and having luxury cars and boats, etc., and big fancy houses, why do they begrudge dealers a decent wage?

I think the answer to that is because they know the casino guests and players will cough up the money. It's impossible to stop this practice because even if players don't want to tip, they do it anyway so they won't look bad. (Also, who wants to make their dealer mad?!!)

It's nice to tip somebody when they give exceptional service, but to have the responsibility of actually paying somebody what amounts to a generous portion of their wages, seems like a raw deal all around, especially at casinos. The casinos can well afford to pay dealers the salary they need to make a good living without having to depend on tips.

Why call the money a tip or gratuity, anyway? A definition of gratuity is: "something given without claim or demand." But there IS a claim and a demand.

Oh well, I just had to vent. Like I said, I don't begrudge dealers their tip, because they depend on them. I DO begrudge the fact that they make so little money in wages that they have to be dependent on tips. There's no way out of this one.

[frmmts2sea]

just in case any of you don't know, the dealers tips are poole & spread out between them & the bartenders http://oakhurstonline.com/icon/cry.gif

[Yosemite_Wolf]

another point in tipping is this: It has come to be believed that tips are expected.... no tips are given for good/excellent service. Such as in the restaurant business.. if I get crappy service from a waitress... her tip aint gonna be great. But if the waitress is totally awesome, bends over backwards to give great service even when she is having a crappy day... then she/he gets a better tip. If I go into a place and am ignored for 20 min, never get the soda I asked for etc etc... than bah to the tip. Same goes for the dealers.... If I win.... but the dealer has been rude, not smiling, etc etc... then why should I reward him for that? Same goes for if I go to get my haircut and I get butchered... have to wait for a long time to be put in the chair. Places like Supercuts treat you like cattle.. run em in , run em out.... not the best of service.. I mean, do I give the counterjockey a tip a t MickeyD's?

Im done.

[monkey]

Originally posted by frmmts2sea:
just in case any of you don't know, the dealers tips are poole & spread out between them & the bartenders http://oakhurstonline.com/icon/cry.gif
Really? I know they have to pool their tips in Vegas, Tahoe, etc., but have been told that the dealers in the local Indian casinos don't have to.

[frmmts2sea]

I think they do too

[BGW]

Originally posted by monkey:
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by frmmts2sea:
just in case any of you don't know, the dealers tips are poole & spread out between them & the bartenders http://oakhurstonline.com/icon/cry.gif
Really? I know they have to pool their tips in Vegas, Tahoe, etc., but have been told that the dealers in the local Indian casinos don't have to. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

It seems to me that they don't split tips at our local Indian Gaming Center.

When the IRS auditted the casino tip alocation system, the employees wore their own personal locked tip pouch.

I also remember hearing some grumblings early on about the cocktail servers sales getting added to a bartenders sales. Therefore, bartenders were being taxed for tips and sales they were not making.

I also remember one of my dealer friends bragging that they were making way better tips than the other dealers on his shift.

Unless things have changed at Chukchansi recently...I am fairly sure they don't pool and split. But, I am sure there are forums members that can clarify that for us.

Now...does anyone tip the baggers at the grocery store if they help you at to your vehicle???

[frmmts2sea]

oh, ok wrong again..........lol

[frmmts2sea]

ok, wrong again :roflmao:

[Yosemite_Wolf]

and I thought that tips were "OK" only for non professional jobs such as waitressing bartending etc etc. As a nurse with a state license I am not allowed take money or gifts from patients. But hair professionals have a state license... make good wages (ever been to an Aveeda salon lately... not cheap!) ... why do we tip our hairsylist? You dont tip your insurance agent etc etc.

[CatdaBrat]

Yeah, how come some people are expected to be tipped and others are not? It doesn't seem fair that some businesses (casinos, as an example), pass on the wage-paying to customers and all they have to do is throw in a few crumbs, but other business owners have to pay ALL of their employees' wages themselves?

I realize that ideally, they are supposed to be making enough money with their businesses to cover that expense, but I am pretty sure it's safe to assume the casinos make way more than enough.

If I walk into a fabric or hardware store (or whatever) and make a purchase, I am not expected to make a cash contribution so the employee at the counter can eat that day. Places that make their employees depend on tips ... places that have customers pay their employees' wages, have a pretty sweet deal.

Like I said before, the stage is already set and I would never stiff a poker dealer out of a tip, but all the same, I am a bit unclear about what it is a dealer does that warrants a tip in the first place. Especially tips from the "losers" at the table. What exactly did they do? Not to sound critical, because that is not my intention...but I am just curious.

If somebody wins at gambling, why does that automatically mean they are expected to share? When I lose, nobody seems to think they should share in the loss!!! I'm thinking, "Hey, are we partners or not here?" If tipping is done just because "it's the nice thing to do," then maybe the pot should be also be shared with all of the losers at the table, the ones who actually had something invested in the deal. But then you see where that goes ...........

I'm not saying they aren't good at what they do, but isn't being efficient at your job just sorta expected of everyone? That's how you earn the paycheck. I think I am just befuddled about the whole concept of what a tip really is these days.

[monkey]

Originally posted by BGW:
Now...does anyone tip the baggers at the grocery store if they help you at to your vehicle???
Well, I don't have baggers help me at the grocery store, but when I am buying a truckload of supplies at Sam's or Costco and I ask for help, I always offer a tip. 90% of the time, the helper will refuse, saying they are not allowed to accept tips. So, I usually will throw the bill on the ground, point it out to the helper and tell them that it's their lucky day, they just "found" some money.

[Yosemite_Wolf]

thats a good idea Monkey
I cant accept tips as an RN... but grocery baggers should get them.. esp when they arent expected to take loads out for ppl


and that was my point Cat.... tips are EARNED... not expected.

[Californee Girl]

Im not really sure what determines which jobs get tipped. I once heard a rant about how the casinos can actually make money on the dealers from what they lose when people bet for them. This works both ways too http://oakhurstonline.com/icon/wink3.gif but on a bad day, and with paying them as little as they do, they make money off everyone, including dealers. I dont fully understand that either.

And from what I can tell, what a dealer does is stand there for several hours literally as walking calculators and taking a lot of unecessary abuse from players. Not everyone of course, but a fair amount of people, one after another, verbally bashing the dealers, day in and day out. It really wears on a person. And from what I hear the local casinos are particularly bad about not protecting their employees like other casinos do. Its not an easy job by any means. Sometimes the money can really be worth it, but nothing is ever definite and that makes nights like the one that the Giants provided very very frustrating. Thats all I was getting at. I dont think dealers really expect anything from you if youre not winning. That also wears on a dealer because they want people to win, especially if youre nice to them. Everyone has bad days, and I wouldnt tip for crappy service either. But chances are if a dealer is giving you an attitude its because you dont tip or youre mean.

Nope, they dont pool tips here. But they are threatened with it whenever they question the way things are being run.