On Tipping the Dealer

[Still the Spank E]

How does one tip one's dealer and when? Is it a fixed amount (say, $1) or a percentage each time you win a pot? What about in tournaments--do you give them some percentage at the end if (and only if) you finish in the money?

[Kurn, son of Mogh]

Most people toss the dealer $1 when they win a pot. Some tip the dealer at the end of his time at the table. Tourneys are another story. Usually people tip a small % of their win when they finish high enough.

Of course, you don't have to tip at all.

[asdf1234]

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Of course, you don't have to tip at all.

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Hehe..don't expect the dealer to be polite to you anymore if you do this...

[Kurn, son of Mogh]

I wasn't advocating it, just stating a fact, though I don't tip if the pot is too small.

[Rams_Law]

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Some tip the dealer at the end of his time at the table.

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I've been thinking of doing this, but not sure how it would go over. I imagine $2 per down: If a dealer gets avg. $1 per pot (at 2-4, 3-6 or 4-8) and deals 2 orbits per down, then that yields $20/0.5 hr. My 'portion' of that at a 10 player table is $2 per 0.5 hour.

[RydenStoompala]

I toss a $5 toke on my first pot, $1 or $2 for the rest and, if it's a good night, another nickel on the way out. I play 10-20 and 20-40. If you do not tip, you're a dork.

[LetsRock]

I learned dealer tipping from watching. What I see and generally employ (from 2/4, 3/6 levels) is:

I tip when I drag a pot.
If it's and avg. pot $.50 or $1
If it's a large pot usually $2-3
If it's a nothing pot (no flop action) usually 0

If the dealer's session has been fun (and profitable) I'll often flip him/her a little more as he/she leaves.

Tipping is one of those things that can hurt your profitablility for the session. Between dealers, waitresses and the rake, it's pretty easy to have a good session and not bank much. I try to be reasonably generous because I know a good portion of their income comes from tips, but I don't get carried away - they had nothing to do with any fortunate cards I may have recieved; they were just the messenger.

[pudley4]

I've done this for a while now and haven't had any problems/comments from either the dealers or other players.

I tip $1 per down if they did a good job, $0 if they did a poor job. I think one time I tipped $2 to a dealer who was able to settle down a couple of guys who were being really obnoxious.

[Vehn]

Most of you tip way too heavy, other than the Pudley who's more of a cheapskate than me [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]. Here are my guidelines for tipping if you have nothing to do.

If you play $4/$8 or less never tip a $1 per pot. When you get your chips buy a stack or two of $.50 chips, all card barns should have them or an alternative. A corallary to that is when called for your game, go lock up your seat (have the dealer put a reserved button there) and then go to the cage and get your chips yourself, saving a toke to the chip runner.

My general rule is I do not tip unless someone besides me puts in a bet on the flop. Yes that means I can raise preflop, get 3 callers, and take the pot down on the flop and not tip the dealer. I would certainly stick to that up until the upper middle limits - I have relaxed that a bit when I started playing $30/$60 and usually tip if we see a flop.

I like the idea of tipping per down but the problem with that is of course unless you tell the dealer as he or she enters the box they'll get increasing annoyed with you until they're done. $1 per down is a bit light probably. I do this if I'm playing shorthanded but usually tip a redbird. However of course dealers are a bit more tolerant (probably not the right word but I can't think of a better one) towards the "high limit" players - as high limit as it gets around here at least.

I can count on one hand the number of times I've ever tipped over a dollar and ironically none on the few $1000+ pots I've stumbled into.

[mosch]

I tip a minimum of $1/pot. Good dealers (fast, efficient, run the game well) get $2/pot. Good dealers who don't deal me any winners get $1 at the end of the round. If I'm feeling generous, or if a dealer is particularly good, I'll toss them the occasional nickel.

If you win a tournament, I've always heard 3% as the standard tip, since the winners have to take care of toking the dealers for everyone, as fair or unfair as that may be.

Not tipping is allowed, but it's just bad form. It's akin to stiffing a waitress. Unless they've done an extremely poor job, they deserve something.