Joseph Hachem...Your Opinion New World Champion

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Played played decent poker in my mind. Nothing great or spectacular. Got lucky in some situations. Made questionable bets.

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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.

[TheBlueMonster]

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That Q7 move in was terrible. He was only going to get called by a better hand, which is what happened.

I don't understand how he could put his tournament life on the line with a predetermined play like that. He didn't even have a read on the other player.

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Quite the contrary, Aaron Kanter had been raising very frequently when it got short-handed and Hachem limped from the button (very suspicious). Kanter folds a majority of his hands there and Hachem is only crushed if hes called by AA/KK/QQ/AQ.

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You're saying that it looks suspicious when Hachem limped, yet Kanter raises him. Doesn't look very scared to me. Still, Hachem decides to use a predetermined play to try and push him off, but again, he'll only be called by a better hand.

Remember, Hachem is putting his tournament life on the line. It's not smart. I don't see how you can justify putting all your money in when you'll only be called if you're an underdog. Just because he won't be "crushed" doesn't make it any less of a bad play.

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let me guess, everything you're using as evidence is from what you saw on TV

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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.

[jedi]

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You're saying that it looks suspicious when Hachem limped, yet Kanter raises him. Doesn't look very scared to me. Still, Hachem decides to use a predetermined play to try and push him off, but again, he'll only be called by a better hand.

Remember, Hachem is putting his tournament life on the line. It's not smart. I don't see how you can justify putting all your money in when you'll only be called if you're an underdog. Just because he won't be "crushed" doesn't make it any less of a bad play.

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You're missing the times that Hachem wins the pot when he gets Kanter to fold a better hand. If Kanter is raising with Q9, he's got the better hand, but he's not going to call. This isn't the beginning of a tournament where you raise 10K to win a 100 pot with KK. It's the final table, moving up the ladder isn't trivial, and the money in the pot is justified in taking a shot at it, especially against an agressive opponent.

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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&-'tü-&-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.

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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.

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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?

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Probably. 15% is a marginal tip, particularly for someone serving a big party. And as long as we are into silly semantics, the 15% is usually referred to on the menu as a service charge. And since it is not optional, it is not a tip.