Well its just, i dont see how you can really beat the game long term with such incredibly huge tips + rake...
or maybe you dont mind about profiting and you just play for fun?
Okay so I had a few conversations with some of the regulars at the casino about this. Many of them said what you did and along the lines of what Stu has written. I decided to try something new as I want to remain open minded about this, people have a right to tip little, too much, not at all, etc; Friday night I decided I would only tip $1 per pot that was $50 and under (most pots I play in are an avg of $100). I also lowered my tips to $2 for pots of $50-$150 and then lowered my tips to $5 for pots of $150-$300. Friday night I did not win any pots over $300. I only had a small profit Friday night anyways, wasn't a good night. Most people feel my tipping Friday night was acceptable, several dealers did notice the difference and kept asking if I was alright or ahead for the night. Overall, there did not seem to be any effect on how I was treated by the staff and there was 1 iffy call that a supervisor had to make (1 dealer who normally doesn't deal poker was having a fit cuz I was playing around with my ipod while at the table but not when I was in hand. She continued although I showed her that I had an ipod and not an iphone and was only going through my music playlists.) The floor came over and still sided in my favor and stated I was allowed to have my ipod in my hand. Now I know she was being pissy because I had won a $150 pot and threw her a $2 tip. She doesn't normally deal poker but she has been in there lately due to a shortage in poker dealers. The floor still sided with me either way. I do worry that if an iffy call had to be made by the dealer involving money she would've been a witch to me and sided with someone else. But on the other hand, I stopped tipping her altogether because of her bad attitude and because the dealers share tips it hurt all of them.
I have to think about this some more. I think next week I will experiment around again some more with over-tipping vs under-tipping (depending on people's viewpoints) and see how it goes. I always lower my tips if I am losing and the fact is dealers are paid a lower hourly amount because they get tips. Nothing I can do can change that. I do like Stu's idea of no tipping, just have people do their jobs but that isn't the way things are set up and I don't see enough people will stop tipping altogether to try and make the house change their minds.
I think when you are established you can probably get away with lower tips but if you are a new player to a place I think tipping a little extra (as long as you are winning) will make the dealers and house side in your favor on iffy calls.
I only tip the valet $2 after they bring me my truck. I don't tip when they go and park it. I know most people at the casino I play at tip $5+. So I guess it's in how we view the job the person is doing and the value we put upon it.
I don't know for sure. I know most people will tip the odd $1 for each blackjack, some tip after a few winning hands and some tip after the end of the shoe. I do the later, if I'm up I throw them some money straight out instead of trying tip with the hand, if I lose the hand then the house gets that extra money I was trying to tip the dealer with and the dealer and the player both lose out that way.I usually to tip after winning a big hand and giving 1-2, Anyone know ht e etiquette for blackjack?
I don't know for sure. I know most people will tip the odd $1 for each blackjack, some tip after a few winning hands and some tip after the end of the shoe. I do the later, if I'm up I throw them some money straight out instead of trying tip with the hand, if I lose the hand then the house gets that extra money I was trying to tip the dealer with and the dealer and the player both lose out that way.
The more I think about it, the more anti-tipping I am.
Ill try and explain as maybe it is a cultural thing.
To me tipping is something that is done when someone goes out of their way to help you. They do something which they really didn't have to and therefore you personally reward them.
I don't see how a waiter bringing me a drink qualifies as 'above and beyond' How would a waiter do his job without bringing me the drink?
Now the argument that often comes back is that these people don't earn all that much.. they make their money up with tips.
I don't get it.
Why not abolish mandatory tipping and just pay them more?
Well the argument goes something like... well the employer will incur additional costs as he has to pay his staff more.. this means that prices will rise.
This doesn't hold water. The prices are already high if I am obliged to tip anyone and everyone who simply does what they are employed to do.
In fact I would go one step further and call the tipping culture in the US degrading. Employees are effectively being asked to live on handouts or 'scraps from the master's table' rather than getting a pay cheque for their work.
The problem I see with tipping at the end of a session is lets say during the course of play early on you win a couple sizable pots say $200 + and you don't tip and then say you get into some pots where maybe you have aces and get a allin preflop and get outrdrawn and end the session down money are you still gonna tip at that point? probably not that's why its better just to tip when you win a pot and its done.
for me it depends......i dont tip unless im up at i dont go past 50 dollars a session...they get paid well to deal at casinos anyway so there is no big hurry to make them richer.....they arent waitresses who make half or minimum wage and depend on tips
How about tournaments? Are you expected to tip if you bust outside the money?
Poker players who bust out early do not tip the dealers. But that means if you do fall into the money your going to be the one tipping so do so well!
There is a solution to the tipping problem i have read about tho. At the orleans in Vegas when you sign up for a tournament you can tip $3.00 to the dealer for 10% more chips. This makes sure that the dealers are taken care of because there are many many players that do not tip because they feel the winning are simply covering their losses.