What Should The Dealer Get?

Was playing this weekend at a table where a bad beat jackpot hit. Although I was not in the hand, the jackpot was just over 40,000 and the club breaks it down as follows: 50% to the "loser" of the hand, 25% to the "winner" and the table splits the other 25%. I got just over 1,100 for sitting there. The loser got 20,000 and the winner 10,000. I play at a small room (6 tables) and know the dealers and floor people well. I had to leave so I got a voucher and came back the next day to get my money. Before I left I gave the dealer, Tom, 50 dollars. (This club takes good care of me so maybe I tip too much). Anyway, Tom was off and I asked Marie, the floor person, how he did on tips. She said, "since you asked..." and told me the loser (20,000 dollar winner) gave him 200, the winner (10,000) gave him 100 and the rest of the guys gave him 20 dollars. She said she felt bad for him . I am not sure what the winner and loser should pay, but I think they were pretty tight given how much they won. I was wondering what everyone else thinks should have been an appropriate toke. Thanks.

I think he got plenty.

The last time I was at a table when the J/P was hit (same payout structure as in your club - 50/25/25) the big share was ~ $6,000 the small share was ~ $3,000 and the others got ~ $750.


- We were six handed at the time so the table share was higher than normal.


I gave the dealer $25 out of my $750 share.


One of the other three $750 winners gave $20; I didn't see what the other two gave.


The $3,000 winner gave $100.


The $6,000 winner gave $200 PLUS THE POT; it was ~ a $100 pot in a 6/12 game.


Amusing side note...


The two "big" winners were required to give I.D. in order to collect; the $6,000 winner didn't have his on him and he was due to leave town the following morning.


I offered to drive him back to his hotel to get his I.D. - the hotel shuttle would then take him back to the cardroom and then back to the hotel after he had collected.


Off we went, we got his wallet from the hotel but found out that the shuttle was out of commission until 6am (it was a little after midnight) and a cab would have cost him $50 each way. He knew because he had made the trip to the cardroom in a cab.


More importantly he didn't like the idea of jumping in and out of a cab with the entire cardroom knowing he had just taken down a J/P.


I told him I'd be happy to take another round trip but that it might not be right away; rumors were circulating about a 15/30 game being started by the same players as were in this game plus one of the floormen (who did NOT play well - nor did any of the original players in the game).


He said "great", we went back to the cardroom, he joined in the 15/30 and both of us crushed the game for about three hours; he won over $1,000, I won $1,200+.


When we got back to his hotel he said, "I want to pay you for all your trouble".


I told him it wasn't necessary but he insisted. In the dark he handed me what I thought was probably $100; it felt like about five bills and they were all twenties. I thanked him and he got out of the car.


Thre next day I got a phone call from the concierge at his hotel telling me that Mr. Roberts had left something for me at the front desk. I assumed it was a piece of software we had discussed.


It was the software, but there was also $400 in the envelope with a note saying,


"I don't see to well in the dark - I thought I had given you $500; I guess those hundreds were twenties. Here's the rest."


The moral of the story is:


There is none - I just like telling it.


P.S. Apparently I don't watch enough T.V. because the gentleman in question is pretty well known.


- He's not an actor but he does appear on T.V. quite a frequently.


He doesn't play poker very well but he's quite adept at golf (though that is not his profession).


- Have fun with that one if you like.


(No, "Roberts" is not his real name).


Chris L.

At a small club where everybody knows you, I would tip $100 if I got $1100 on a table share. On a bigger jackpot, I would give between 5-10% after any withholding. I would have toked a lot more than $200 if I took down the 20K. If I took the small end, I would toke AT LEAST $500, which is less than 10% after tax. I've only shared in one small jackpot, and it was a table share. We all agreed to tip the same, and it was like $13 each on about $143 or something. We got an even number, the dealer got about 10%. I tend to tip more on jackpots than tournaments, but I've had way too little experience tipping in either.:-)

Tipping on jackpots is like a girlfriend's birthday. Unless you go over the top, whatever you do is considered not enough.


If I had got the 20K I would have tipped $1000 and spread it around to every employee in the joint. Why not buy some goodwill with all that extra money form nowhere? But, if the dealer isn't happy with a hundred or two or whatever, then he's just like the professional poker player who complains about getting his big pairs cracked. He's in for an uncomfortable ride of his own making.


Tommy