Casino Tipping Ettiquette

[NoWuckingFurries]

What is angle shooting?

 

[NoWuckingFurries]

yeah i dunno, i dont know anyone that tips at the end of a session.... 99.9% of people tip after each significant pot.

it just doesnt make any sense to tip at the end, especially if ur playing a long session...

Makes more sense if it's shared out between all the dealers

 

[aliengenius]

What is angle shooting?

For example, acting out of turn in order to get an advantage: I saw this @ the Plaza in Vegas: smarmy local bets in last position before noob tourist can act first, tourist then throws in his "call", local then 'raises' since tourist is first to act and therefore is betting out. The dealer was allowing this bs to go on, so I called him on it, and asked for the floor. He got ZERO tips from me the entire night, as his attitude about the entire thing was horrible: he wasn't controling the game, and was letting the "fish" get abused...

 

[roundcat]

Do you guys tip when you cash out if you've had a winning session?

 

[JOEBOB69]

I'm one of those that over-tip. I don't see anything wrong with it. For pots less than $10 I don't tip. Pots that are around
$10-$30 get $1-$3
$30-$60 get $2-$5
$60-$100 get $5-$10
$100-$150 get $7-$8 to $10-$12
$150-$200 get at least $10
$200+ depends

I vary this depending on the dealer, how good of job they did or tried to do. How well they controlled the table and the like. It also depends on where I am with profits. If I win a $300 pot and that only puts me back to even then I will tip $10. If that just adds to my profits I will tip $15 or $20. I really don't mind as long as I'm making profits. A couple weeks ago I was playing at a $1/$2 table and won my largest pot ever at those stakes, it was $815 pot! As I was already up $350 when I won this pot I tipped the dealer $25. A couple people groaned it was too much but I can tell you one thing. I am well respected by the staff in my local casino and anytime there has been an "iffy" call to make, they will ALWAYS side in my favor. So you've got that working for you as well. Same goes with the wait staff, the bartenders will give me double shots in my drinks more often than not because I take care of them and am nice and respectful to them. Wait staff will come to my table more often and take care of my needs more often than others because I will always throw them a buck even if I'm just drinking pop - with my mixed drinks I will do a little more like a $1 + the odd change amount of a quarter or two.

Hope this helps![/qu
$150-$200 $10 $200 depends?joke right yeah has to be

 

[StormRaven]

$150-$200 $10 $200 depends?joke right yeah has to be

No, it's not a joke. I guess I don't understand why you think it is. Plz elaborate.

 

[Tom1559]

I tip dealers at end of game if I am leaving a winner. I tip waitresses per drink.

 

[Monoxide]

No, it's not a joke. I guess I don't understand why you think it is. Plz elaborate.

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?

 

[StormRaven]

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?

I play for a profit and yes the tips do cut in to that but only a little if I am winning. I did say it is dependant upon if I am up already or not.

Last night at the $1/$2 (not enough interest to get a higher stakes game going last night - sigh) I was down $160. I won a $150 pot - I only tipped $2. Then I won a $105 pot soon after, I tipped $5 and the last hand of the night I won a $613 pot - I gave $20. So if I'm down I tip low, if I'm winning I'm happy to tip more.

Here are 2 examples from last night of how that has benefited me:
1 guy in ep raised to $6 pf, another guy in mp makes it $12 pf, I'm on the btn with KK and pump it up to $65pf, the original raiser in ep wants to reraise again and throws out a total of $95, I say the guy has to raise it up to $118, the guy then wants to pull his raise back and just call my $65, the dealer (who was pretty new to the poker room, usually deals blackjack) was going to let him. I argue saying because he has already thrown out over 1/2 of a raise he has to finish his raise. The guy argues with me saying it isn't 1/2 because he would have to double my bet of $65 to $130 therefore he only put out $30 when he would have to have had put out $65 instead of $30. I argue that since I raised the pot by $53 from the mp's $12 that his $30 is over 1/2 needed. Normally (not always) the floor would have allowed the guy to pull his $30 back and given him a warning. I would normally allow this to happen as well, except, this guy had been a real jerk to me during a tournament we had just played a couple hours before (made snyde remarks about how "cute" it was that a "girl" had been "lucky" enough to make the final table) so inisisted he had to finish his raise. Seeing as he wanted to pull his raise back I knew he didn't have AA and felt fairly confident my KK was good against him. The floor made him complete his raise, siding in my favor, and he went on tilt and shoved on the flop of 10 9 3 with his JJ, I ended up taking a total of $287 from this guy. So my being a generous tipper has made me more money from players in the long run because the floor will more often then not side with me on an "iffy" call.

2nd example: It's against the rules to do a showdown play. Another player and I wanted to play a blind hand for $50 after the last hand of the night was delt and the other players were lined up at the cashier cashing out. I had just won a $613 pot and was on a little heater. The dealer did it and the floor pretended to not know we were doing it. (Our showdown plays are where players get there cards and without looking agree to a specific amount and no betting - after the river card is delt we each turn up 1 of our cards that we had not looked at prior and the player with the best hand wins). I won that hand and gave the dealer $5.

People may or may not agree with these methods but I guess that is one of the benefits at playing at a smaller poker room with only 10 tables. You get to know everyone fairly well and whether its right or wrong, the staff does have their favorite players and I happen to be one of them. The extra tipping has earned me extra $$ in the long run.

 

[Stu_Ungar]

Mice Caro has written a few articals about the effects of tipping on your game and how they need to be factored in as though they are rake.

http://www.pokerplayernewspaper.com/viewarticle.php?id=1097

 

[beefcake413]

Do you guys tip when you cash out if you've had a winning session?

A lot of times if I've had a good night I'll give the dealer my whites ($1) if I only have a few left. That way when I cash out it's a nice round number

 

[beefcake413]

My biggest problem with waiting until the end of the session is what if you lose? You're basically saying to the dealer "it's your fault I lost money so you're not going to make any money because of that". IMO that's pretty poor manners. Is it really that big of a deal to give $1 tip when you win a hand. I realize it's taking away from your profit margin, but at the end of the night if you win money at all, are you really going to be that pissed off you don't have a few extra dollars??? Besides, if you're tipping more often then not, that means you're winning more often then not which means it's a good session as is...

 

[Stu_Ungar]

My biggest problem with waiting until the end of the session is what if you lose? You're basically saying to the dealer "it's your fault I lost money so you're not going to make any money because of that". IMO that's pretty poor manners. Is it really that big of a deal to give $1 tip when you win a hand. I realize it's taking away from your profit margin, but at the end of the night if you win money at all, are you really going to be that pissed off you don't have a few extra dollars??? Besides, if you're tipping more often then not, that means you're winning more often then not which means it's a good session as is...

In the article I posted above, Mike Caro suggests tipping in advance and aiming for a figure of $6 per hour.

So if the dealer shifts are 30 mins, then you tip $3 as soon as the dealer changes.

This way the dealer gets tipped win or lose, but as you are not tipping on a per pot basis you can enter pots with more margional hands.

 

[beefcake413]

In the article I posted above, Mike Caro suggests tipping in advance and aiming for a figure of $6 per hour.

So if the dealer shifts are 30 mins, then you tip $3 as soon as the dealer changes.

This way the dealer gets tipped win or lose, but as you are not tipping on a per pot basis you can enter pots with more margional hands.

I'll go back and read the article, thanks for the heads up. And seeing as that's how tips were originally meant to work (as in before service was rendered) I don't really have an issue with it. Only problem I see with pre-tipping a good amount is that if the dealer sucks or screws up royally you can't really pull your tip out of their tip jar...

 

[Stu_Ungar]

I'll go back and read the article, thanks for the heads up. And seeing as that's how tips were originally meant to work (as in before service was rendered) I don't really have an issue with it. Only problem I see with pre-tipping a good amount is that if the dealer sucks or screws up royally you can't really pull your tip out of their tip jar...

True, but from what's been said so far, I think a dealer would have to be really bad to not qualify for a tip!!

You would probably have to call the floor, and from what I can gather of the USA.. you probably don't want to call the floor because you will probably have to tip them too

$3 per half hour dosn't sound much, but 10 people doing this gives a tip of $60 per hour.

 

[beefcake413]

Nah, you don't have to tip the floor, they make enough lol And the only problem I have with pre-tipping is it only works if EVERYONE does it. If you're the only one that does it, no guarantee. And I agree, I would have to really be pissed (like the time I bet out and the dealer mucked my cards and I would have consequently flopped the nut flush) not to tip. As long as people realize that dealers live off tips (similar to waiters/waitresses) then it makes it a little easier to toss them a dollar here and there...

 

[mig2169]

At commerce i play 4/8 limit two three times a week and the normal tip on a won pot is one dollar. There are a few people who will tip two but the norm about 95% is one dollar. Avg pot at that limit is about 75 so it might not be much but at commerce it is like playing online those dealers run the game at a high speed and take no shit. they are trying to get in 40 plus hands in an hour and make about 50 on avg per hour in tips. hope this helps and see u on the felts.

 

[RightMeow]

drinks: $1-2
pots between $25-50: $1-2
pots > $400: $5

This is perfect in my opinion... normally what i do, when i get the chance to go play casino's live. Id personally say this is the way to go.:deal:

 

[OneMoreBust]

Lets look at 1/2 limit poker. If a dealer gets something like $5 an hour pay, and they deal out 30 hands an hour, and get tipped on average half of the time, thats 15 tips an hour, to be fair I think it would be more like 20 tips an hour, but lets say 15... if they get $1 per tip, that puts them at $20 an hour... and this is a low limit table with a conservative estimate...

I guess the real question is, how much should dealers earn for their work? I know Ive seen a guy given close to $100 after the guy won a 20k 4 way all in omaha pot, but beyond the standard $1 for a good size pot, I dont see why

 

[NoWuckingFurries]

I don't give any tips to dealers, only to waiting staff.

 

[Stu_Ungar]

drinks: $1-2
pots between $25-50: $1-2 = 4-8% extra rake
pots > $400: $5 = 1.25% extra rake

This is perfect in my opinion... normally what i do, when i get the chance to go play casino's live. Id personally say this is the way to go.:deal:

Do you see why the tipping in small pots effects you winrate?

Do you see why you have to play fewer pots and fewer marginal hands if you want to tip 4-8% on a pot you win?

 

[Stu_Ungar]

I don't give any tips to dealers, only to waiting staff.

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.

 

[JOEBOB69]

Stu good point but the fact still is what it is.They get paid nothing so if no tips no food,power,home,etc.I agree they should get paid to do a good job an not depend on people but they do.So i will continue to tip just not to the extend of storm said that was crazy by any means i have ever seen.

 

[NoWuckingFurries]

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.

Tipping is not mandatory. Also in the casinos that I go to you are not allowed to tip the dealers, but you are allowed to tip the waiting staff.

 

[beefcake413]

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.

I definitely agree with your argument, but as was stated unfortunately here in the states they live off the tips. However, I will tip a dealer more then usual if they are fast and keep the game moving. Real reason being (especially where you pay time for every dealer) the more hands you see the more chances you have to win and the more you're getting out of your time at the table. If the dealer is slow and basically seems like they aren't paying attention, I may not tip at all if they are truly that bad. Therefore imo I am only really tipping the ones that are doing an above average job. I especially enjoy a dealer that talks to the players, makes conversation and lightens the mood at the table. That to me is worth the extra dollar here and there...