Joseph Hachem...Your Opinion New World Champion

[PokerPaul]

From what i hear around here he sounds like a good upstanding member of the poker community.

If there is one issue i can say its that thing about him stiffing the dealers. Not that i personally care, but surely he must have figured that he became an instant celebrity, with a microscope on him as far as poker is concerned.

EDIT:

To be clear, he didn't "stiff" the dealers. He just didn't tip anything on top of what was already withheld from the prize pool for dealer tips. To suggest that he did stiff them is missing the point of the earlier threads on this issue - Dids

even if he didnt "like' to tip or felt he was not obligated too, i think it would have been in his better interest to leave something, and keep his image pristine and charismatic.

Just that one little thing (basically the very first decision he made after winning 7.5 million and WSOP title) might give some people a negativew first impression.

Not biggie as far as im concerned, but for the sake of the public spotlight, i would have tipped cuz others might feel stronger about it.

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If there is one issue i can say its that thing about him stiffing the dealers.

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And that's going to be something he's remembered for, for a long, long time. No matter what he might have done later, after the spotlights and the mics were turned off. Too bad he didn't use better judgement.

To be clear, he didn't "stiff" the dealers. He just didn't tip anything on top of what was already withheld from the prize pool for dealer tips. To suggest that he did stiff them is missing the point of the earlier threads on this issue - Dids (yes, I'm putting this in every post that repeats this idea)

Then again, no telling what I'd have done. I'd like to think my habit of toking dealers and trying to be nice to all the room's staff would have kicked in, but I can't say since it wasn't me winning that monster stack of Franklins.

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Maybe I should look at the bright side. I don't have to worry about it!

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And that's a good thing?

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To be honest with you, I'm not positive that I'd tip. I mean, sure the man won 7.5 million, but it's his money, and the dealers get paid. And, doesn't a portion of the entry fee go to the dealers anyhow? I may be wrong. At the casino, I never tip. Maybe I'm a jerk, but I just don't see the point. I'm already paying them for the privelage of playing at their establishment. The dealers should stick up for themselves if they're not receiving a fair wage. I'd back them on that. If they went on strike, I'd bring them food and water (but I would save the Mountain Dew for myself).

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I'm already paying them for the privelage of playing at their establishment. The dealers should stick up for themselves if they're not receiving a fair wage. I'd back them on that.

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If the casinos paid the dealers "a fair wage", they would increase the rake to pay for it. You want to back them on that? And I'd be willing to bet that the total cost to the playing community would be higher than it is now if tipping was replaced with higher wages.

Also, with a higher wage and little or no tipping, bad dealers make as much as good dealers, all paid for by the players.

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At the casino, I never tip. Maybe I'm a jerk, but I just don't see the point.

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The point is that tipping is an economic reality, just like tipping waiters. It is paying for services on the honor system. If you don't tip, you are taking services without paying for them.

I don't like tipping, but I do, for several reasons. One is that I know that the dealers work for tips; that's the system, and I feel that I am implicitly agreeing to the system when I sit at the table. Another is that I would feel like a jerk if I stiffed a good dealer just for the principle of not tipping.

Let me clarify. I tip waiters and waitresses because they only make $2.00 an hour or something sad like that. However, if they're crap, they do get less. In Detroit we pay $10.00 to play. Multiply that by ten, that's $100 they receive from the table per hour. That should be plenty to pay the dealer a decent wage. Also, if it were possible to tip a specific dealer, I would tip those that keep the game running smooth, create a good atmosphere to play in. But I'm not going to give a tip that's shared by the dealers that do a poor job. Why should they be rewarded. Change the system, then, to allow us to tip the dealers we feel deserve it.

[B Dids]

Check what I edited into the ops on the tipping issue. To suggest that Hatchem didn't tip would be incorrect.

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Check what I edited into the ops on the tipping issue. To suggest that Hatchem didn't tip would be incorrect.

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I would not only suggest it, I would assert it. If Hachem did not give any money to the dealers beyond what was deducted from the prize pool (I don't even know if he did or not.), then he did not tip.

According to Merriam-Webster:

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Main Entry: tip
Function: noun
: a gift or a sum of money tendered for a service performed or anticipated : GRATUITY

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The definition for "gratuity" is:

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Main Entry: gra·tu·ity
Pronunciation: gr&amp;-'tü-&amp;-tE, -'tyü-
Function: noun
Inflected Form(s): plural -ities
: something given voluntarily or beyond obligation usually for some service; especially : TIP

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The key is the phrase "beyond obligation". Money taken from the prize pool is obligatory, therefore it is not a tip. It is no different than the $1 fee in a $10+1 sit and go. It is a non-optional cost of playing, an entry fee.

Tipping or not is his decision. The usual practice is 3% on top of the prize pool deduction. That may have been a bit high for the biggest prize ever, but something like $100K out of $7.5 million (less than 1.5%) certainly wouldn't kill him.

[jedi]

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The key is the phrase "beyond obligation". Money taken from the prize pool is obligatory, therefore it is not a tip. It is no different than the $1 fee in a $10+1 sit and go. It is a non-optional cost of playing, an entry fee.

Tipping or not is his decision. The usual practice is 3% on top of the prize pool deduction. That may have been a bit high for the biggest prize ever, but something like $100K out of $7.5 million (less than 1.5%) certainly wouldn't kill him.

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In your example, it would be a $10+1 tournament, the "+1" goes to the house (Harrahs), but then they also take away 30 cents from each of the $10 from the prize pool to go to the dealers. The more accurate analogy would be $9.70 + $1 + $0.30. I don't think the full $10K goes to the prize pool anyways, it's more lke $9700 + $300, then 3% from the $9700 goes to the dealers.

If they didn't take the 3% off the top, I'm sure Hachem would have tipped. I'm sure we can search the archives for what Greg tipped when he won.

[B Dids]

So if I go out to eat with a party of 15 and they automatically add 15% to the bill and I don't tip on top of that, I've stiffed them?

You're wrong, and arguing silly semantics.

[Punker]

3% of the prize pool was reserved; if you figure he got 14% of the prize pool, he actually "tipped" about $250,000.