Stupid #$@$! ingrate dealers

I'm always a well-behaved player. I never give any dealers reason to hate me or treat me with contempt. I act quickly, I don't throw cards, I don't blame dealers for bad beats, I don't berate other players, etc etc. But last night, apparently I was just too stingy for my own good. I'm playing 3/6 Omaha at HPC and I make nut low/full house (which gets me 3/4), and I take my portion, which is about $150. Now, the dealer for that game, while he wasn't BAD, certainly wasn't good. He had a bored, disinterested look on his face, and basically looked like he didn't want to be there. So, I just tipped him my customary $1, and went on to the next hand.


A couple hands later, he starts chatting with the nice woman in seat 5 (I'm in seat 7, so I can easily hear what's going on), and the dealer tells her something to the effect of "Sigh... you know, someday I'll start making some money... people taking down $200 pots and I only get $1." Now I'm no Fox Mulder, I'm not usually the paranoid type, but this remark could only have been talking about me, as the pots since my win were fairly small. After that remark, I wanted to win another pot so badly just so I could stiff this dealer. What would you guys do? Would you have tipped more in the first place? If you won another pot would you have stiffed him, or tipped him more? There are some dealers at HPC that are truly nice people, and for them I'd have no problem tipping them a few bucks more, but this guy'd shown me no reason to tip him any more than my $1 minimum. Am I out of line?

It is very bad form for poker dealers to make ANY negative comments regarding tokes,ESPECIALLY while in the box.

The proper attitude is to devote their attention to doing their job as well as possible AND work towards improving their skills at the same time.The amount of tokes they receive typically varies very little from month to month,assuming they put in similar hours.Paying to close attention to each individual toke is counter-productive for that reason.Saying anything negative is just plain STUPID.

You would be entirely justified in putting that individual on a private mini-toke list but perhaps a word to their dealer co-ordinator may get them some additional training to correct the error in his/her ways.

thatd be the last dollar he got from me for awhile. any dealer who complains, fine, see how they like $0. usually when dealers make this kind of idiotic statement, it usually means they dont understand the monetary aspects of the game. the fact that your tryin to beat the rake, and the JP drop. dealers who actually play also, tend never to bitch about tokes.


i didnt realize how much all this plus the tokes added up til i played turbo TH for 1 weeks worth of hands and looked at the stats. jesus christ! it was alot.


if everyone tipped $1 per pot at say 30-40 pots an hour, thats a pretty good livin. course that doesnt happen, but even half of that isnt too bad.

also when a dealer makes a remark like this

$1 is a good tip. I tip $1 where I play locally and the dealers and floor treat us very well. I think I've tipped $2 twice on huge pots to dealers I like, particularly if I suspect they need the money. But if they only have a 3-6 game going and I play it, it means I am trying to beat a $3 rake, $1 jackpot drop, and $1 tip. Almost a big bet per pot. The games are so soft you can do it, but it really eats into your win. In Las Vegas I feel like a live one throwing a party if I tip $1 every time. I tip a half usually in Las Vegas, particularly in the games that have half-dolars. I will get the dealer to chop a couple blue chips to have money to toke. I will tip a dollar if there is no change in play or if the pot is pretty big.


I would NEVER tip a dealer who complained about a $1 tip. Particularly when that dealer showed you up in front of the table. He would never get another tip from me EVER. I would hope to win a big jackpot or something so I could stiff him. I might go find another dealer to tip just so he knows I am not a stiff, I just stiff him. I would never tip this guy again unless he apologizes sincerely and perhaps publically.


If you consistently tip more than $1 in LL O8 I think it will cut your win substantially. I don't know what the rake is at HPC and I don't play a lot of Omaha, but with all the splitting and 3/4ing you will suffer, excess tipping and the rake can kill you.

theres two dealers where i play who i will never tip (unless its just auto reaction) because when they used to play in the games they were directly insulting to me (one turns to the other and talking about me says that im a total idiot (knowing i can hear em too!) ).


even if i win a jackpot from them i will tip 0.


another issue is that where i play they take a total of *5* dollars in rake (2 is jackpot, promos). so when i play in the rake games i average tip 1 every other (decent pot)hand, if im doing ok (i hardly ever lose really bad) and i think that that is really generous.


brad

there is only one appropriate tip for ALL dealers and that is ZERO.


the rake+jackpot+everything else is a lot to overcome even as a winning player. why add something extra to it just because everyone else does it? save those extra dollars every time and dont feel a bit bad about it. let the recreational/rich/superpro players pay the extra.


despite warnings on here ive never been treated less than fairly in a ruling or anything. at the higher low limits and mid limits (6/12-20/40) you rarely even get a dirty look. so if youre gonna reply and go down that road in an attempt to make yourself feel better (cause youre a chump who tips) then please stop here. ive played 600 tip free hours now without any problem.


as for hollywood park casino, that place is great cause it's full of fish, but it's also a friggin dump. i was playing 15-30 the other day and i had to pay $2 for my meal, a meal that wouldve been free anywhere else in town. what a rip!

Stupid is indeed the operative word here. A dealer should never be chatting with a player, he/she should deal, period.


I play 20-40 and 30-60 in Commerce in L.A.; $1 is the standard tip even in pots that are $1,000. Sometimes I'll tip $2 if the dealer is a particularly good dealer and it is a big pot.


If a dealer is less than polite (the only response to any tip should be "thank you sir"), then he should be tipped nothing. I think you should have immediately gone to the manager to tell him what happened.

A $1 tip is normal and completely acceptable under any circumstances.


When I win high hand bonuses at the Monte Carlo (or elsewhere), I'll give a larger tip. Yesterday, I gave a dealer a $50 tip when I got a big $279 payout for making quad 7s. They remember those occasional big tips and it makes up for my typical tip amount- which is noticeably lower than $1.

1. I would never tip him again.


2. I would complain to management that dealers should keep their mouths shut and concentrate on their jobs and that there should be no extraneous talking in the box. Use him as an example and tell them that in your game he was complaining about not getting tipped enough at your table.


3. If you are not satisfied with their response, I would consider taking your business elsewhere.

Thanks for all the responses. Unfortunately I didn't catch his name, but I know who he is so next time I go down there I'll see if he's dealing. In any case, if he's ever at my table again, I don't care how big my pot is, he's not getting any of it. If he starts making remarks again, I'll make sure to go to the floorman or manager.

Sounds like you play at Casino Arizona.. $2 jackpot drop per hand is insane..


Later,


CJ

Instead of tipping halves, and taking time away from the game, why don't you just tip every other hand? The dealer makes more money, you make more money, and you tip the same?

Guys like Andy Fox and Mike L crack me up. It's a service industry. The person provides who provides the best service should get the most customers and the most money. The tip is what speaks to your level of satisfaction.


Here's an idea: Instead of going directly to management (who pays the dealer close to minimum wage) why don't you address the problem yourself? Dealers work more for the players than for the house. He works for you. You can manage him just like you would any other employee. Catch him when he's alone and say, "Hey, the other day, I won a big pot, and only tipped you $1 when I usually would have tipped more. I felt as if you were acting "put-out" by having to be there, and that's why I tipped you less than usual. I thought is was very unprofessional of you to speak to a player regarding the tip I left you and in the future your tips will suffer greatly if that behaviour persists". What's wrong with telling a person why they aren't diserving of a bigger tip?


Some may make the argument that it's not a player's job to manage the dealers, but the dealers work for the players so what's to lose?

I play tight enough that I don't necessarily win two pots with the same dealer. I don't want to stiff them. Las Vegas dealers perform the chopping maneuver enough that it doesn't take a whole lot of time.

There is a dealer at the casino who is somewhat unpleasant towards me (along with some other issues I have with the way he runs the table) and I don't appreciate it. What I ended up doing was during his down, I simply pile up what I would have given in tips seperate from my stack.


The second he goes on break, but BEFORE he walks away, I toss the tip pile to the new dealer, making sure the old dealer sees it. This way I don't stiff the dealers I do like (at our casino, tips are pooled), but do make the point to the dealer I don't like that I have a problem with his service. If he wants to know what it is, I am more than happy to tell him. If he doesn't, fine. I have also been playing more at another casino in town just to not have to deal with this.


I also have no problem with showing him up at the table (which it clearly does) since he does the same in reverse to me.


But, really, the optimal solution is to talk to the floorman. I choose not to since I don't want to end up being the catalyst in getting someone fired.

What is it I said that cracked you up?

i only tip the 3 or 4 best dealers.


many dealers where i play get out 11-15 hands per down. F that. i will never tip a dealer who cant get 15+ hands every down.

I'll take passive agressive any day of the week! Nobody likes a tattle tale, so I think I'll opt for the Ottosen solution if this ever becomes a problem for me.

Your solution is actually viable. I'll admit that I'm a chump and still tip. Some time ago a friend of mine brought in a role of quarters to tip the dealers with. He did this because the lowest denomination chip was $1 in the cardroom. On his first pot won my friend gave the dealer 2 quarters and the dealer told him to go shove the tip. Needless to say my friend didn't bother tipping anymore after that. Perhaps if none of us tipped the cardrooms would actually have to pay their dealers decent wages instead of the players paying their wages. We could go on and on about tipping but I don't think it's a practice that any player really likes. Oh yeah the rake will go up if the clubs have to start paying the dealers.

I don't tip the dealers because I expect to get treated well when a dispute arises. I've had very few disputes in my time and the resolution of them had to do with the rules of the room, not the dealer's attitude towards me.

No, I tip because I feel it's the right thing to do. The dealers are providing me a serivice and, when they do it well, I reward them.

I don't refuse to tip my waitresses because "everyone else in the restaurant is going to tip her anyway so what would my tip matter?" If you have a problem, fight the system. Complain to management that a dealer's salary needs to be increased. Don't stiff the person who doesn't make the rules.

Yea, I've never even considered not tipping the dealers just because I don't want to tip. Whether you like it or not, dealers depend on tips to make a decent wage, that's just the way it is. Perhaps for those professional poker players who depend solely on poker to make a living, I can understand trying to save every dollar possible, but for the 99.99% of the other poker players who just play recreationally, or as a 'side-job', I think one should have a good reason NOT to tip a dealer, otherwise, tip. Personally, I don't play poker with the primary goal of making money. I realize that at the 3/6 Omaha tables, the rakes plus the tips are hard to overcome, but it doesn't matter. I play poker to have fun for a few hours on the weekend, and maybe make a few friends at the table in the process. If I win a few bucks on top of that, great. We're not talking $10, $20, $50 tips here. Tipping a dealer a buck or two really doesn't make much difference one way or another to me, nor should it to anyone else, and if a dealer is doing his/her job competently, he/she should be tipped.

Your rigid definition of a dealer's job. Believe it or not, people's ideas of what a pleasant dealer is varies quite a bit.


"The only correct response is 'Thank you sir'". Does this rule out "Thank you very much, I appreciate it"?

that they deal slower than other dealers. It's odd, but dealing poker is much like playing poker. Everybody thinks they do a good job. I'm certainly in favor of anything that makes dealers deal faster.

I would definitely show him up.


Laugh audibly. Let him know you heard him. Put your index finger to your temple, look up, and say "Note to self. Tip only the appreciative."


Competent, polite dealers should be the norm, not the exception. Let's starve out the bad dealers.

Yes, and it also rules out:

"Thank you sir, may I have another?"

"Thank you very much-o, Mr. Roboto."

and

"A whole dollar? I can call 10-10-220 and talk for up to 20 minutes with this!"

Tipping a buck is fine, IMO. This dealer screwed himself, and hurt dealers as a whole by allowing you to hear his comment. He got tipped, therefore, he should not bitch. Bitching about the size of tips in the presence of those who are in fact giving you these tips is a great way to:


1. alienate your customers

2. reduce the generosity of your customers in the future

3. hurt the bottom line of both dealers and cardrooms

4. gain proverbial "enemies"


The list could go on and on, but the folly of this particular dealer's course of action is pretty clear....


I usually tip $1 a pot, unless it's a particularly tiny pile of chips which gets pushed my way, which might occur in a split pot or when I steal the blinds. I occasionally give out bigger tips when they are deserved, especially if I can reward someone who's doing an especially good job, or is somehow positively affecting the overall atmosphere of the game (or my bottom line). But I usually tip a buck a pot, and I'm good with this. Keep in mind that I HAVE worked for tips before, and I DO "know what it's like." The difference is that I never BITCHED about GETTING TIPPED. Why? The alternative was getting stiffed....


Dave in Cali

Maybe I didn't say what I meant to say clearly enough in my original post. Here's another try:


A dealer should, in my opinion, not be chatting with the players, even if it's pleasant conversation and the player being chatted too is enjoying it. Most of the mistakes I see dealers make come because they are not paying attention and most of that because they are talking instead of concentrating on dealing.


A dealer should be polite, which means he should say "thank you" when given a tip. The exact wording is irrelevant. Complaining about a tip to another player while dealing is unacceptable.

I don't think expecting a dealer to pay attention, be quiet, and be polite is a rigid definition of the job of the dealer.

I see people all the time tipping dealers when they are LOSING!!! Are you kidding me. Or tipping

a dealer after they win a $20.00 - $30.00 pot.

This is stupid. It's hard enough to beat the rake

let alone toking the dealer all night long. If these dealers complain about tokes tell them to go bar tend. I tip dealers by how they deal and their control over the table, the outcome of a hand is irrelevant. Sometimes they look at me crazy when i muck through their whole session yet tip them a dollar just because i felt they did their job correctly and provided solid service which is what they are supposed to be doing.

good idea. dealers should be tipped after service rendered. if they are a bad dealer, then no tip.

That dealer is an @$$hole. Lets see, $1/game times 30 games/hour......


Perhaps I'm missing how $1/game is bad?