Tip however much you personally comfortable with. You are a dealer,so you realize thats how they earn their living. I dealt for 2 years, hopefully again very soon. I tend to tip a little more since i've been there. So do as you wish. If 15 is fine for a 200 pot. So be it! After all' its your money once you rake the pot. Best of luck

Of course it's your decision on how much to tip, but based on your numbers it seems you are on the extreme generous side. Good for you, however your friend is right that you are giving away too much profit you are actually trying to make money with the game.

In most tournaments almost half of the prize pool goes to first and second place. When I manage to win or take second place in a tournament I will kick in ten percent of my winnings after backing out my entry fee. With for example a tournament with a hundred players and the top ten get paid the bottom five guys are not really winning a lot of money and when I have been in that situation I might only be clearing $100-200 I will still tip $10 or $20 but a lot of players in the same situation will tip zero but then again that is their call.

@Lester

Thank you!

Someone above mentioned the 28% or more that is taken out for the house and how much of that goes to the dealers. You can ask that at the time of registration and be told the truth, but generally it is not too much. Houses have now started a "dealer add-on", where for an extra $5 you get another 1000 or so in tips. When houses do that I you can almost count on that in the house take none of it goes to the dealers, just the $5. Tips at the end make or break a dealers down rate in a tournament. Tip what you can and base it on your experience with all the dealers. If you had one dealer that dealt you bad cards or made a mistake please don't take it out on the rest of the dealers and tip lower.

As far as the $15 for a $200 pot, please come into my room and let us deal to you

Tipping $15 on $200 is ridiculously high, it will catch up with you if you do this for a living. If you play for fun, do whatever you want (if you play for a living, do whatever you want as well, but I don't know how long you will do it for a living). I'm surprised your asking when you have the numbers right in front of you:

you made 4k, you tipped 2k.

I over tip sometimes, and when I get home and look at the long-term, I usually feel sick, and that's before considering the low limit dealers I tip have a better hourly and ZERO variance (yeah, they make like $60/hr).

This is pretty standard, from what I've seen, and it's pretty much what I go by:

$0 - no flop no drop, baby.
$1 - ok, I won a small pot on the flop/turn
$2 - I won a pretty big pot, like 100bb+ AND I like the dealer
$3-? - I like the dealer, so I add $1 for every 50-100bbs.

* Dealers I don't like fall on a slightly lower scale. There are not many dealers I don't like.

** I tip extra when the dealer coolers someone for me, the dealer has put me on a heater, I hated my opponent in the hand, or the dealer is just awesome. I've also tipped dealers extra when: they control the action well (i.e. telling players to flip for side pots first) or they make a good ruling (by this I mean the clearly convey to the floor what happened after advising the player what is going to happen. for example, i jammed river in a hand, my opponent placed his entire stack over the enforced betting line, I went to flip my cards, he quickly pulled his chips back - the dealer said "those chips must stay in the pot, FLOOR!").

side note: I hate when donkeys tip off their entire stack, it's like taking money off the table .

@NegligencePerSe

Where can I find this job?

your - you're

@psand

Where can I find this job?[/quote]

In Michigan, the charity rooms. I shouldn't say ZERO variance, but it does seem like clockwork: $28 in tips/30 minutes + $4/hr steady wage. I think the lowest I've seen, ever, was $16/30 minutes, and that was 4 handed with a lot of raise-folds and walks.

Whatever. This is making me more upset considering my recent losing streak.

@NegligencePerSe

Even if your numbers are right .... I think you may be forgetting something. I don't know anything about Michigan charity rooms..... but I know everywhere I have worked I have considerable time where I'm not making any tips .... because I'm not dealing ...... If you say a dealer is making $60/hr it means at the end of an 8 hour shift they have made $480. But if your dealers are really making $28 per down in tips (which as an average is very high) but they have 3 breaks, 1 brush assignment, and a dead spread over the course of their shift that $480 figure works its way down to $340 which is $42/hr not $60. Now that is still a lot of money. But I also have my doubts about them making $28 per down like clockwork .....

Well let me offer you some advice to get out of your losing streak .....

Play Better.

@psand

Even if your numbers are right .... I think you may be forgetting something. I don't know anything about Michigan charity rooms..... but I know everywhere I have worked I have considerable time where I'm not making any tips .... because I'm not dealing ...... If you say a dealer is making $60/hr it means at the end of an 8 hour shift they have made $480. But if your dealers are really making $28 per down in tips (which as an average is very high) but they have 3 breaks, 1 brush assignment, and a dead spread over the course of their shift that $480 figure works its way down to $340 which is $42/hr not $60. Now that is still a lot of money. But I also have my doubts about them making $28 per down like clockwork .....

Well let me offer you some advice to get out of your losing streak .....

Play Better. [/quote]

Yes, so I lied there is some variance.

One of the laws in Michigan charity is that the dealers cannot touch their own tips. So I often volunteer to cash them out so I can stretch my legs. I've seen a pretty good sample size (excluding outliers): Mean somewhere in the 25-28 range. As far as breaks go, I have no idea.

As far as breaking my losing streak: I hadn't thought of that .

@Boatontheriver71

If you are planning to make a living playing poker it matters, if not it doesn't matter and you should toke more because its not income its gravy. And if you deal for a living you already know what goes around comes around. Good luck

@jocoloc

You know I have frequently heard this argument that "professional players" should be tipping less because "it matters" to them. It is exactly backward.

The guys who benefit most from quality professional dealing are the "professionals". The guys who should most want to encourage quality professional dealers are the guys who are there day in and day out.

If anything these guys should generally be tipping more ....

If you want to paint your house go ahead and buy the cheap brushes. If you want to operate a house painting business you should be investing in the high quality brushes.

In the past I have way overtipped, especially at the blackjack and craps tables. know, I know -ev)

Had $3 each for me and the crew on the hard eight in Laughlin (of all places) one time and told them if it hits we are going to parlay. We hit the parlay and when the flabbergasted box man went to drop the $300 in the toke box I thought the floor man was going to frisk me. They actually came and asked for my ID to check, I assume, if I was a known cheater. Thought the crew was going to take me home with them. Apparently there aren't a whole lot of big tippers in the Laughlin rock garden.

On a different trip, at the Riverside, I had everyone at my end of the table put a dollar on the pass line with $5 odds for the dealers. The dealer next to me was so ecstatic you would have thought he won the powerball. We hit point after point and it does seem to generate some good kharma sometimes.

My son turned a $5 chip into $5000 (blackjack) once at the old Boardwalk casino on the strip. Was toking the dealer a green chip every hand and brought a huge crowd around him. The dealer was calling out loudly "...Notice he's TIPPING folks, THIS is how it can go for you WHEN YOU TIP!!..."

Now a days at the poker table a dollar or two per pot I drag is enough. If it's over say $150-200 I might toss a red bird to the dealer. If the dealer is doing a really good job and watching out for my best interests I've been known to give them a greenie, especially if I leave a big winner. Good Luck.

Thank you everyone for replying! As a dealer, most of my income is based on tips, but at the same time, I can work an 8 hour shift and make only $70 as a crap dealer. I do have to work a lot harder than poker dealers. A lot of movements are involved and I have to put up with cigar/cigarette smokers, whereas poker dealers do not.

I will incorporate some of the advices and make it as my tipping standards:

1) No flop, no drop. n the past, even if I won $3, I would give $1 to the dealer.) Unless, I won $8 or more, no toke.
2) Regardless of the pot, $5-$10 max. When the dealer is about to leave, another $5 if I am still up. (The dealer is still dealing the same number of cards. Yet, I am risking everything and could be empty-handed. Yet, they will still get something from someone.)
3) For dealers that give me shit, I don't apply the same standard.

I won't get into how I disagree with some of the suggestions given. Ultimately, I think the best advice on tipping is to leave it entirely up to what you as an individual are comfortable with. Do not be influenced by the self serving interests of others.

Am I the only one who read "I am new to poker and made 4k, tipped 2k"? I guess you are playing 2/5$, but how come as a beginner?
If you are playing 1$/2$, you've got to PM me and explain me how you play for that insane winrate (with so much rake on 1/2).

This is in response to Swiss_bliss. Of those 23 days, I played in $2/$5 NL once at the Venetian, in which I won $746 because the spot was available and I didn't want to wait. the other 22 sessions were at $1/$2 NL. I usually am involved in a lot of big pot and played a lot of hours. For example, on one of the losing days, I tip over $216 to the dealers during my 12 hours and 32 minutes, yet I walked away losing $300 of my buy ins. My stack went up and down like a yo-yo. My stack was at $1,159 at one time, yet I continued to play, which was a dumb decision.

I probably was lucky to win that much for a beginner rather than my skills, as I was very lucky to sit down at tables that had a lot of donkeys. Instead of playing my usual aggressive games, I waited for a very strong hand and baited them, and won a lot of big pots. Of course, I also lost a lot of big pots too when their two small pairs or a small set beat my big pair.

At a typcial table a dealer is dealing 30 hands an hour. I've observed that the average tip is $1 to $3 dollars depending on pot size. That's about $60 an hour plus salary. I tip $1 per winning hand plus extra if it's a large pot or if I think the dealer is doing a good job (Being professional, moving the action along and being personable - I dislike a sour puss). Now I only play 1/2 no limit; I'm not sure what happens at higher stakes tables.

@Javer

I understand thats how you think it is.....

I suspect you are simply wrong about the average tip. yes that is the average tip when there is a tip. But what of all the hands without a tip. I just suspect you don't notice how many of those there are (for all kinds of reasons ..... small pots, chopped blinds, players who don't tip, players who forget to tip etc)

While it may be that somewhere dealers are averaging $60 per hour in tips .... that place is just a weird anomaly. I have been doing this for a while now. I know not just what I make, but I see my fellow dealers cashing out, I talk t other dealers, and for my own I keep records ..... And I can assure you that while there are times when I may make $60 in an hour ..... the hourly average is well below what you believe it to be ..... Its not even close to $60/hr.

That's not to say I don't make a good living. I do and that's thanks to the generosity of poker players. I appreciate that and I'm not complaining ...... just trying to help you guys understand that while this is a good job .... your idea of how much dealers make is skewed.

Ive been a dealer for almost 7 years now and have almost never made $20 per half hour (barring some special hand) *per hour is horrible way to equate it cause of all the breaks and such*
many many of my days i have averaged 10-12 per down *not counting hourly wages*
then you add 4-6 breaks/deadspreads/brushs per 8 hour shift and i make 70 a day in tokes sometimes less obviously sometimes more
and before anyone goes the competency route, i was actually told by my boss that 2 customers complained cause i was TOO nice

PS. as i tell anyone who'll listen, i cant think of any job i would rather have.

@Javer

In addition, I would say this is probably not a good assumption.

At one well-known mid-Strip poker room that quantifies their dealer performance, I understand their best dealer averages just over 30 raked hands per hour. The median and average, of course, are significantly lower.

Understand, too, that the game drives hands per hour. Limit game hands usually go further then NL, often to the river, and pots are often also often smaller, leading to lower tokes less often.

Saw one guy today get pushed a pot after hitting quads, a bonus hand. Didn't tip the dealer when he raked in the pot, didn't tip when he got his (higher than baseline) bonus). I am sure dealers will tell you that a significant number of people, especially in a tourist-driven area such as Vegas, don't tip.

30 raked hands /= 30 dealt hands.

@Pokerdogg
Indeed. But the chance of getting a tip in a non-raked hand (meaning, typically, that it's less than $10, often when a raise just takes the blinds) is probably close to the chance of the Huskies coming back against LSU.

@twriter
Indeed. But the chance of getting a tip in a non-raked hand (meaning, typically, that it's less than $10, often when a raise just takes the blinds) is probably close to the chance of the Huskies coming back against LSU.[/quote]

You made the point it is not a good assumption the average hands dealt per hour is 30, but your reason is based on metrics based on number of hands raked per hour. I don't think you can make that conclusion based on this metric, since obviously, the number of hands raked is less than number of hands dealt, but there was no indication what % of hands are racked, and what is the avg. hands racked by an average dealer.

@Pokerdogg
Indeed. But the chance of getting a tip in a non-raked hand (meaning, typically, that it's less than $10, often when a raise just takes the blinds) is probably close to the chance of the Huskies coming back against LSU.[/quote]

You made the point it is not a good assumption the average hands dealt per hour is 30, but your reason is based on metrics based on number of hands raked per hour. I don't think you can make that conclusion based on this metric, since obviously, the number of hands raked is less than number of hands dealt, but there was no indication what % of hands are racked, and what is the avg. hands racked by an average dealer.[/quote]

Yabbut.....

I think it's pretty safe to assume that a non-raked hand has a pot so small that a tip is very unlikely. So looking only at raked hands per hour is very likely to result in correlating very highly with hands that have pots large enough that tips are typically given.

In other words, even if a dealer is fast enough to deal, say, 40 hands per hour, but "only" 30 of them are raked, it's likely that said dealer could reasonably expect tips only from the hands with pot large enough to take rake.

@twriter

You made the point it is not a good assumption the average hands dealt per hour is 30, but your reason is based on metrics based on number of hands raked per hour. I don't think you can make that conclusion based on this metric, since obviously, the number of hands raked is less than number of hands dealt, but there was no indication what % of hands are racked, and what is the avg. hands racked by an average dealer.[/quote]

Yabbut.....

I think it's pretty safe to assume that a non-raked hand has a pot so small that a tip is very unlikely. So looking only at raked hands per hour is very likely to result in correlating very highly with hands that have pots large enough that tips are typically given.

In other words, even if a dealer is fast enough to deal, say, 40 hands per hour, but "only" 30 of them are raked, it's likely that said dealer could reasonably expect tips only from the hands with pot large enough to take rake.[/quote]

Sigh.... I do not disagree with what you said here. In fact, average raked hands per hour is arguably a better metric to use when estimating tips. The problem was, you tried to refute the (estimated) 30 hands/hour average dealt hand with this max raked hands/hour metric, but you didn't provide the average raked hands/hour in its place. Eccesntially, instead of furthering the discussion/analysis, it brings it to a stop.

@Pokerdogg
Indeed. But the chance of getting a tip in a non-raked hand (meaning, typically, that it's less than $10, often when a raise just takes the blinds) is probably close to the chance of the Huskies coming back against LSU.[/quote]

You made the point it is not a good assumption the average hands dealt per hour is 30, but your reason is based on metrics based on number of hands raked per hour. I don't think you can make that conclusion based on this metric, since obviously, the number of hands raked is less than number of hands dealt, but there was no indication what % of hands are racked, and what is the avg. hands racked by an average dealer.[/quote]
During one trip to casino in Oklahoma, all of the dealers were being evaluated. As such, they were all working as quickly as they possibly could and pushing the players' action as much as possible (consistent with providing good customer service). The absolute best that day approached 30 hands per down, but none exceeded that rate; most were in the low to mid twenties at best.

I think estimates of hand count in a forum like this are always going to be all over the map, since it varies a lot depending on the game and circumstance. LHE games on average (but not always) move along much quicker than NLHE for just one example, and day games often much quicker than at night in many tourist venues for another, as well as depending on who happens to be at the table (on both sides of it), and I've tallied some dealers as consistently getting out close to 40/hr and confirmed that in conversations with them about their electronically measured raked hand (JP drop taken) rate. But I wouldn't suggest that is average, or that it matters for this if it is. Put a few dealers I can think of in the box for something like a PLO-H/L game at some places at some times and I'd be shocked if they ever approached a double digit rate per down.

Of course the tokes sent across a table while a game is active is not at all the same as the dealer's income, since the dealer is not a table. I think it is kind of a little like the inverse of thinking of an employee's pay as equivalent to an employer's wage & salary cost; when I was an employer the hourly payroll cost was generally about 130% of what they saw, and it is now often more like 140-150% of their pay and rising rapidly towards the direction of being double their gross pay. Thinking about the reverse of that for a tipped employee's income, consider: In a room with six games consistently running, how many dealers does one think they will need to have on duty to cover that shift? It sure isn't six. It may be more like eight, I've never worked in the business and I don't know, but the hourly rate of toking at a table isn't going to be all that close to dealer hourly income. They often have other tasks, and do require some breaks (when not forced into involuntary down time on duty sitting at a dead spread), and even without that an employer in any workplace cannot run anything effectively with just the bare minimum on hand. And the number of full-time equivalent positions on staff will have to be still higher than that, unless one thinks dealers will never be ill or otherwise off for any reason while employed.

I also wonder about whether and to what extent being a tipped employee might result in them being partially screwed on things like unemployment and worker's comp and other mandated benefits that are partly determined by employer paid taxes on wages, and to what extent a responsible individual working in that business needs to self-insure for some of those things to a greater degree than others.

I don't consider dealer income at all when thinking of "how much to tip." It isn't relevant to my reasons for toking, and I don't give a sheep about it anymore than I do how well a restaurant's business is doing as I complete a similar transaction at the end of a meal or care about your income as I stack a pot you contested. It doesn't enter into it for me, since I'm not about dispensing some sophomore's notion of distributive justice when I do it, or trying to win any brownie points either. I do it because I think there is an implied informal contract between us when that person comes to work and I sit in the game they are working, and my intention is to perform my end of the bargain somewhere within the range that is commonly understood, most of the time under most circumstances. There are some things I don't like about that arrangement, but it is the one I know exists when I come into the poker room.

For me the tip amount depends on 2 things and 2 things only. 1- Amount of the pot and 2-Dealer attitude and service. There are many sociopath dealers who I have chosen not to tip at all. There are many very pleasant dealers that I have over tipped. I agree ; there is an implied contract between the player and the dealer. Don't forget the contract depends on both entities doing what they think is implied. I'm against one way streets in every relationship.

It's very much a matter of personal opinion. I don't think I'd ever tip 15 on a $200 pot, but that's me. On pots over 20 bucks I'll usually go with a dollar, $2 if it's in the neighborhood of $100 and a redbird if it's more substantial than that. I pretty much play 1-2/1-3 exclusively and don't see many gigantic 4 figure pots, or I might go higher.

That's still dependent on a few things of course. If the dealer has been snarky to me in any way or appears to be fishing for tips (one of my big pet peeves), then I'll be less likely to do so. The type of venue matters as well; I sometimes play in a local game with no rake where they bring in pro dealers part time. I'll tip quite a bit more there than I would in a casino.

@pknight212

Right on P. Tipping should always express value. I hope that soon you will make it to QKnight.(Sorry my bad)

$15? Sounds like you are a very good poker player, but not a great accountant. The way I see it, (and I know I'm going to offend many on here that love dealers, are dealers, or whatever), they are only dealing cards. It's not like tipping a waitress 15%-25%. The waitress normally only has 3 or 4 tables to handle per hour. Dealers are dealing a minimum of 20-30 hands an hour and getting paid at least a dollar per hand tip, plus whatever hourly wage they earn. The house is raking 10% of every pot (up to $5 or $6 in most places). You're really lowering your profitability and/or killing your chances of a comeback on a bad day by overtipping on top of that.

With that said, the most I have ever tipped at any cash game is $2, and 99% of the pots I'll only tip $1. If the table hits a high hand special promotion the casino has going on (bad beat, aces cracked, quads, whatever), I will tip 5% of winnings to the dealer. If people question the amount I tip (which has only happened one time, on a quads jackpot), I don't let it bother me. I have been to Vegas 12 times in the last 3 years, each time for 10 day stays, and every time I've been I finished in the green at the end of the trip in poker, from $400 to $4,100 which includes the losses for tipping, house keep, drinks & food to the table. I'm not giving away anymore of what I earned to a guy in Seat 0 that is averaging a mnimum $30-$40 an hour throwing cards around a table. Besides, every year I'm there, it's the exact same dealers at the tables! They aren't quitting. They're doing just fine.

It doesn't make you a cheapskate...just smart. I make a good living, and I had to work hard to get to where I'm at. 5 years in the Marines, earning my bachelors, then masters, and now 15+ years in systems engineering, managing a fairly large sized group of people at a large corporation. I now have properties I rent out, and a couple of small businesses I run on the side. Only because I was smart with my money. Poker players work hard to get to be successful poker players. Countless hours and money invested either travelling to casinos or playing online. Tons of losses when starting out and learning the game. But if they have the brain for it, and they don't get stupid, they can be profitable until they day they die.

Dealers go to school, learn to deal, and deal cards and make small talk all day. Doesn't take a doctorate to deal. In fact most of them just have a H.S. education. Yet, I can guarantee you they are making much more than the average American income. I love hold'em dealers. There's alot of great ones out there. I want to be a dealer part-time when my wife and I move to Vegas in a few years. I think it would be fun. But I'm no sucker when I rake in a big pot to toss that dealer more than $1 or $2...he's dealt several big pots that same hour...throwing cards around a table, and I've already seen him put more money in his shirt pocket than most of the grinders in the casino have made in the last 5 hours.

$15? Sounds like you are a very good poker player, but not a great accountant. The way I see it, (and I know I'm going to offend many on here that love dealers, are dealers, or whatever), they are only dealing cards. It's not like tipping a waitress 15%-25%. The waitress normally only has 3 or 4 tables to handle per hour. Dealers are dealing a minimum of 20-30 hands an hour and getting paid at least a dollar per hand tip, plus whatever hourly wage they earn. The house is raking 10% of every pot (up to $5 or $6 in most places). You're really lowering your profitability and/or killing your chances of a comeback on a bad day by overtipping on top of that.

With that said, the most I have ever tipped at any cash game is $2, and 99% of the pots I'll only tip $1. If the table hits a high hand special promotion the casino has going on (bad beat, aces cracked, quads, whatever), I will tip 5% of winnings to the dealer. If people question the amount I tip (which has only happened one time, on a quads jackpot), I don't let it bother me. I have been to Vegas 12 times in the last 3 years, each time for 10 day stays, and every time I've been I finished in the green at the end of the trip in poker, from $400 to $4,100 which includes the losses for tipping, house keep, drinks & food to the table. I'm not giving away anymore of what I earned to a guy in Seat 0 that is averaging a mnimum $30-$40 an hour throwing cards around a table. Besides, every year I'm there, it's the exact same dealers at the tables! They aren't quitting. They're doing just fine.

It doesn't make you a cheapskate...just smart. I make a good living, and I had to work hard to get to where I'm at. 5 years in the Marines, earning my bachelors, then masters, and now 15+ years in systems engineering, managing a fairly large sized group of people at a large corporation. I now have properties I rent out, and a couple of small businesses I run on the side. Only because I was smart with my money. Poker players work hard to get to be successful poker players. Countless hours and money invested either travelling to casinos or playing online. Tons of losses when starting out and learning the game. But if they have the brain for it, and they don't get stupid, they can be profitable until they day they die.

Dealers go to school, learn to deal, and deal cards and make small talk all day. Doesn't take a doctorate to deal. In fact most of them just have a H.S. education. Yet, I can guarantee you they are making much more than the average American income. I love hold'em dealers. There's alot of great ones out there. I want to be a dealer part-time when my wife and I move to Vegas in a few years. I think it would be fun. But I'm no sucker when I rake in a big pot to toss that dealer more than $1 or $2...he's dealt several big pots that same hour...throwing cards around a table, and I've already seen him put more money in his shirt pocket than most of the grinders in the casino have made in the last 5 hours.

I have seen people that have won a $1,000 pot and tipped $5. That's like $5 per 2 minutes. Remember, the bigger the pot, the more money you risk to win it. The dealer is not risking anything, so you don't have to tip proportionately to the pot.

@meetmeinfrisco

You are right on. There are a few, very few, surly dealers who I give zilch to.

I agree with all the people that say its not up to them to tip for me to make a living. I would rather go to the australia way of paying the dealers a fair wage when i was at the crown i was in formed it was between $25-$30 a hour all in my check but then you still would be responsible because they will take up to 12 bucks from the pot to make up the difference.

Ugh..Even BEFORE I was a dealer this subject sickened me. And now that I am I just find most of it comical.First off, I love the assumptions of how much dealers make. I've actually had guy at my table make comments like " I know that you guys make at least $500 a night" Really? Then why am I driving a Corrolla and living in a 2 bedroom apt? The big misconceptions about dealers that are fairly common

1) We all work 8 hours shifts, 5 days a week, dealing the whole time:
Most dealing jobs are part time, and even the full time dealers rarely work 8 hours a day, and when they are they are not dealing for 8 hours. There is a lot of down times on slow days, where you may only deal a total of a couple of hours a shift. When your not dealing you're not making money.

2)We are union and make a decent salary and benefits on top of tips:
Nope. No union for dealers . Most of us don't have insurance, and those glitzy casinos pay us minimum wage

Is dealing a hard job? Not really. In fact I never even went to dealing school. Just learned from playing. But making money at it is hard. You know why? You have to make people separate you from the cards. You have have to keep their game flowing, protect their interest and their money. And do your job well. And when they lose that big pot, they'll understand it wasn't your fault, so when they win, they will tip you.

How much to tip is your business and yours alone. But the guidelines I used when I played ( and still used) before I dealt was such:

How much was in the pot? this is important- not to the amount of the tip though! Think of it this way
If there was multi steet action with multiple players, did the dealer keep and protect the integrity of the pot? ( Counted all bets, correctly separated side pots, etc)
Did he protect the integrity of the game? ( Made sure people acted in turn, made sure there was no collusion, warning people about talking during the hand etc)
Did the dealer keep the game moving quickly? Getting me more hands per hour? Was he fun/friendly/nice? Then that's what I Base MY tips on, the same way when i go to a restauraunt. I'm paying for the meal, and tipping for the service. if I had a large meal, and special requests, and the server was attentive then they are getting a bigger tip. Same rules apply

And as for the guys who calculate all the tips and how much they cost and blah blah. These are usually the same guys who regularly call off their entire stacks with Top pair, or make stupid side bets at the table about what color shoes the next guy in the room will be wearing, so it's not a respect of money thing or about the "bottom line" It still amazes me how they guy who stiffs the dealer because it "affects the bottom line" tosses the waitress a redbird every time he gets a drink because he actually thinks she might one day sleep with his fat disgusting ass..

Remember my favorite saying, from a sign in a private club I played at in Florida

"Please don't blame our dealers because you suck at poker"

@Dmuz75
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Good call on the problem. I agree with you entirely on the fact that tipping is like sex, personal. The greater point however, is that the job one does is also a choice. You choose to be a dealer; great then you inherit ALL the pros and cons of the job. It is not fair to anyone for people unionized or not to feel entitled to gratuities. I often over tip dealers because they make the game fun. I break even, on tips, by not tipping the surly ones. Sounds fair to me.

Agree 100%
I chose this job. I like being responsible for my own pay. If I'm acting like a jerk or not doing my job then I don't deserve the pay. The players are my employers. They pay my salary so it's my job to provide good service. And just like you don't blame the usher cause the movie sucked, dealers shouldn't be blamed for things out of their control ( bad beats, high rake etc)

@Dmuz75
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Bravo! My kind of guy. We are both capitalists. Are you in the top.01 % like me??

dmuz75, i have a quick question. Whenever im at any casino i like to chitchat and make small talk with alot of the poker dealers, table game dealers and pitbosses. i have heard from dealers that some poker players don't tip dealers because they are asian. i have also seen that some players like to berate and demean asian dealers but don't do it to dealers of other races. have you ever seen such racist attitudes in your experience?

@notsober2nite
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Never have seen any overt racism at a poker table. Seen players who are angry at everyone but that guy is usually an equal opportunity slob, slamming everyone.

@alf1052
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Never have seen any overt racism at a poker table. Seen players who are angry at everyone but that guy is usually an equal opportunity slob, slamming everyone.[/quote]

I have seen plenty of overt racism at poker tables .... but it tends to be towards other players..... couldn't say that I have noticed it as a tipping issue.

Hi, my name is Evan and I'm a tipaholic.

How much to tip? Easy answer. As much as you want! I personally overtip - because ______ (fill in the blank - you won't hurt my feelings). I play for fun. I hate losing and try to play my best game - every hand. I enjoy a friendly conversation with the majority of the Dealers I encounter. I make a trip to Vegas twice a year generally. The floor and dealers where I play know me by name - I like that. My normal spot is MGM and at least once per trip, during a Dealer's down I literally have split (50/50) the winnings (each pot) for the ENTIRE down (call me a sucker I don't care). Devon, Fox, Vince, Spike, Big John, and Chino are my favorite (at MGM) - I hook them up as much as possible. Why? Because I can. Same as I do my favorite bar tenders local. BTW - I don't drink in Vegas so that is not a consideration in my generosity. I'm looking forward to my impending trip (very soon) and I will certainly overtip on MANY hands. With that said, the majority of my tips will be in the $1-2 range. If I played poker for a living, as opposed to for fun, I would certainly have a different mentality for tipping. As it stands, I'll continue to tip the way I choose!

See you at the tables!

*I'm one of those fat guys (DMUZ referred to) who red bird tips the waitresses, not because I have an expectation that they will sleep with me, but because I like the way they look (and they generally get very friendly after 3 or 4 red birds). Call me crazy, but I like it when pretty young women are friendly with me - even if it's for the tips. Guess what, it's part of the game - and more importantly they are trying to make a living slinging drinks to a$$holes. Why not hook them up.

@Dmuz75
And no one rewards the usher when the movie's good either. Whether the pots are big, or whether the movie's good, has nothing to do with the dealer, or the usher. I wonder if there are theater forums out there where ushers post about how quiet they were and bought little soft flashlights so as not to disturb anyone, and they never got a tip, even though the movie was a big hit. "What cheapskates!" they must think.

@loose cannon

Other than the bolded part...cos I do drink...'Brother from a different mother'...and I'm from the UK.

@notsober2nite

I have seen it yes. mostly towards other players. However most of what I saw towards dealers was more in the pits. Years ago I played BlackJack a lot. There were players who wouldn't play when there was an asian female ( called "dragon ladies") because supposedly they were all "coolers". I also see players tip only attractive women. I see players not tip latino or mexican dealers. Lets face it, there are a lot of assholes from all over the world that come here, so its unfortunate but it does happen.

@zippyboy
And no one rewards the usher when the movie's good either. Whether the pots are big, or whether the movie's good, has nothing to do with the dealer, or the usher. I wonder if there are theater forums out there where ushers post about how quiet they were and bought little soft flashlights so as not to disturb anyone, and they never got a tip, even though the movie was a big hit. "What cheapskates!" they must think.[/quote]

Yes, and there probably isnt forums dedicated to "professional" movie watchers who complain endlessly about how much they have to spend on popcorn and how they are a much better movie watcher then that Ebert guy and how they were enjoying the movie but the usher spoiled the ending....

Apparently you missed the first part of the post- I said it's not about the size of the pots- it's if the service provided was satisfactory.

Like I've said before if you want to tip, then please do. If you don;t want to thats fine also, its your right. But don't impede a persons right to make a living either because you don't agree with the system in place.