Tipping your dealer?

[UncleImpy]

I know we have several casino workers active here, so I'm hoping to get some advice from the horse's mouth:

How much is an appropriate tip to your blackjack dealer?

Some addl information:

I live in Washington State, and my usual haunt is one of two local tribal casinos. Table max is $250, and I usually make between $500-$1000 before I call it a day. Based on those numbers, what would be considered an appropriate expression of gratitude for having a courteous and friendly dealer? 10%? the only basis for comparison I have is the general rate I tip food service at, and 20% seems a little excessive in this case.

[Nekojin]

Speaking as a former Blackjack dealer: There's no such thing as an "inappropriate" tip. Although some Dealers are passive-aggressive about it, and want to take a percentage of your winnings, they aren't entitled to it. Some people will grumble if you tip less than *imaginary figure totally fabricated in the dealer's head*, while the reasonable ones know that any tip is a good tip.

If you want to be totally fair about it, tip the dealers based on how much you enjoyed playing, not how much you win or lose. Unlike waitressing, dealing to someone playing $1000 per hand isn't any more difficult or strenuous than dealing to someone playing $1 per hand.

- - - - -

Totally anecdotal: When I was living in Las Vegas, Kerry Packer (At that time, Australia's richest man) was known to visit Vegas fairly regularly (and got lots of unjustified negative press from Australian news over it). He was known to be a generous man, often tipping large amounts when he won. He generally stayed in the upscale hotels (IE, no place I ever worked).

One time, he visited the MGM Grand while I was working at the Westward Ho. Word around town among the dealers said he was having a bad time of it, losing much more than he won. The dealers at the MGM Grand were getting a bit pissed about it, because he's KNOWN to tip big, and he wasn't tipping anything, because he was losing.

So, come Sunday night, he's tipped nothing. Tips are around their usual figures, but the dealers are in a sour mood because they didn't get the expected windfall. Mr. Packer gets done with his trip, and swings by the pit one last time. He talks briefly with the Pit Boss, and hands over an even one million dollars, to be split among all of the dealers in the house.

So all that grumbling was totally pointless, and served only to perpetuate a totally unjustified bad mood. If he hadn't shown up, it still would have been a good weekend.

I guess it's sort of off the point... but what I'm trying to say is that good dealers will be grateful no matter how you tip - and bad dealers will be ungrateful, regardless.

[Tuxian]

Speaking for myself, as a casino dealer, let me say this. We make barely more than minimum wage from the casino itself. The vast portion of our paychecks come from the players tipping us.

What does this mean? Well, for me... I'd much rather have a player who tips, even if they were to tip $1 a hand, or at least make the ATTEMPT to tip (via making a toke bet on their hand). A good rough estimate of tipping would be the same as any other service industry. 10% of your winnings is a nice round number to go by, but by no means should you take that as gospel.

But, please try to think of it from our side. If we are standing there, emptying the rack to you, and you aren't giving anything back to the dealers, we start to get more than a bit annoyed. And then, say you take all your winnings, and walk away, while tossing us a palty amount (on the order of $1-3 for, say, a $500+ win)... well, think how mad we'd be.

Dealers are in the service industry, just like the people who work in a restaurant. We don't bring you food, but we do work hard to give you a fair game, and make sure you have a good time.

Now, then, as for this:


Unlike waitressing, dealing to someone playing $1000 per hand isn't any more difficult or strenuous than dealing to someone playing $1 per hand.


I beg to differ. Why? Because people playing that high on the scale tend to be more... shall we say, demanding of their dealer, than someone playing on a $5 table. Also, we are under a lot more pressure, because when someone is playing that high, we have to be very careful about game protection and making sure we're paying the proper amount. And some of the people who play high-limits are, plain and simple, asshats, no two ways about it. Tipping us $5 on a $10,000 win is insulting, to put it politely.

[Kiwi]

oh im such a naughty girl, I didnt realise you meant casino dealer

my boyfriend usually tips one out of every 5 chips he wins so if hes playing $5 dollar table he tips $5 out of every $25 he wins, its slightly smaller if he is playing a $20 table but he gables all the time and thats his usual percentage. The local dealers seem to like him

[UncleImpy]

Yeah, I figured dealers didnt get paid much. I've worked in retail and the service industry long enough to recognize a job that management wont pay much for, and yet you have to sit and deal with folks that are going to blame YOU because they doubled down on a hard 13 and dammit if a jack didnt come up? Because, you know, you have that kind of psychic control over the boot.

I'll probably stick with my 10% rule of thumb then. I know tipping at the places I go to is a bit of a rarity (lotsa retirees and vacationers), but I'm not so generous that I feel the need to overcompensate for other player's stinginess...and a $100 tip for 30-45 mins of work I would think is pretty damned good. Thank you for the input!

[smileyeagle1021]

I have to admit that when I play I usually tip by doing the (I didn't know the term before) toke bets... normally on blackjack I'll always do my insurance as toke bets and sometimes do a royal match bet as a toke depending on how well I'm doing. On craps I'll normally do a hard roll toke or sometimes i'll do my backing as a toke bet.
Only very rarely do I outright tip, and normally that's when I've had a good time playing but I'm out of money and don't have enough for the minimum bet, I'll just give the chips I have left as a tip.

[marasbaras]

I tip insurance on BJ tables. That's all. Then again, I can't think of a BJ dealer that I've liked. I think I have bad luck there as I'm sure they're not all grumpy jerks.

With craps, which I prefer, I'll toss out a $5 or $10 Yo-for-the-House every half-dozen rolls or so. Given the odds of rolling an 11 on the next roll and that dice are rolled about once a minute ... I tip about $100 an hour to the table.