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How much does the average dealer really make? How much does the average dealer really make?

03-18-2008 , 03:34 PM
The folks who commented about dealers at Bay 101 are generally accurate. The dealers there get minimum wage, health benefits and tips (part of which end up to be taxable). I have talked to the floor manager there and they acknowledge a range of $250-350/shift, depending on the dealer. Like all casinos some dealers do a better job than others, are more friendly, faster, etc. That kind of drives the variation. Virtually no one starts full time. Many start as part time chip-runners/dealers.
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03-18-2008 , 03:35 PM
on avg. $150-200+ per night for an 8 hour shift
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03-18-2008 , 03:37 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by Percula
Come on, its not that hard to figure out.

Base salary is going to between $7 and $11 an hour plus tips and benefits. Figure $1 per hand dealt for poker as an average. So the only real unknowns are hour many hours can you deal with tips (not MTT) and how many hands an hour you can get out.
In other words, it's not easy to figure out.
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03-18-2008 , 04:18 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by Quadstriker
Now you may be one of the many people who thinks those two lines of thought are quite ridiculous. However, it seems the topic of tipping is very sensitive to quite a few folks. Very VERY little good can ever come from a dealer discussing how much he/she makes, and that's why whenever the question comes up we try to be as helpful as we can with our responses without getting into specific numbers.
Um, this is a forum. You are not dealing to me, and I'm not going to tip you or stiff you.
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03-18-2008 , 04:41 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by lavaman
Um, this is a forum. You are not dealing to me, and I'm not going to tip you or stiff you.
Poker players talk to each other. What a dealer says to one player can be repeated multi-thousand times around the poker room in various degrees of truth. Same applies on the forum.

I think this has been beaten into the ground enough for this month. Some understand why dealers are hesitant to throw numbers around. Some don't like the reasoning. *shrug*

Same time next month everyone?

Last edited by Quadstriker; 03-18-2008 at 04:47 PM.
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03-18-2008 , 05:11 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by *TT*
2) Problem with asking this question is that the people must likely to respond are dealers, and they probably shouldn't tell anyone how much they make because thats disclosing too much personal info. I don't tell anyone how much I make, I wouldn't expect others to do that either.
I think as poker players a lot of us (just about all of my poker friends, pretty much; but we're all young and stupid, dunno how different the B&M poker populace is in this regard) are so desensitized to money at this point that we don't care about talking about things like that.

Like, I would tell a fellow poker player, even one I don't know that well, how much I make poker or at my job pretty freely if it came up, even though I would still be pretty hesitant to discuss that with someone who doesn't play poker.
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03-18-2008 , 05:32 PM
BTW, I know very few poker dealers in Vegas, if any, that actually put in a full 40, week-in, week-out.

Early outs, slow times, going on the play list, force outs, taking an extra day off... all habitual.

For a Vegas dealer I would use 32-hours as the average work week.
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03-18-2008 , 06:07 PM
And before people jump to the conclusion that once you've put in 6mo and get a fulltime gig somewhere it's all roses... I was told by a fulltime Vegas strip poker room dealer he now qualifies for food stamps. Too few cash games, too many tourneys, too many dealers all standing around hoping the room picks up tonight, and too many <40 hour weeks.

Another strip dealer I know gave up and moved back to Seattle because he couldn't handle the cut in pay he took coming to Vegas, and it was just getting worse as the months wore on.

For a lotta Vegas dealers in a lotta rooms, it's not working out all that well the last year or so. Some are doing fine, but others... not so much.

Different conditions likely apply in different cities.
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03-18-2008 , 09:47 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by AngusThermopyle
Wrong. At least in California. No difference for tipped workers.
Damm, you are correct. I actually looked it up. It hasn't always been that way. I should check things when I don't know what I'm talking about.
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03-18-2008 , 10:04 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by bav
For a lotta Vegas dealers in a lotta rooms, it's not working out all that well the last year or so. Some are doing fine, but others... not so much.
I know of at least one room in town that's started to combat this by pretty much cutting all hours for extra board staff, going solely with full-time personnel, and the dealers there are ending up getting OT lately because of it. Eventually the XB staff should get hours as needed to offset people getting OT and to fill-in for vacations, etc.

Wouldn't surprise me to see more rooms in town go this route as a means to re-configure staff and determine the number of dealers truly needed, or at least imo they should. OTOH not many will likely do anything until post-WSOP.
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03-22-2008 , 11:27 PM
i am a dealer in vegas, on call, part time right now i average $33/hr with 1/2 of that taxable. this is on days, swing and overnight are more
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03-22-2008 , 11:32 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by rodsmith111
i am a dealer in vegas, on call, part time right now i average $33/hr with 1/2 of that taxable. this is on days, swing and overnight are more
isnt actually all of it taxable? And you're just not reporting half of what you make?
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03-23-2008 , 12:30 AM
So how common is an early out? I've heard of eo but if the work is that quote unquote easy then why opt for eo unless you have an appt or something.
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03-23-2008 , 12:37 AM
Quote:
Originally Posted by AngusThermopyle
California minimum wage is currently $8.00, up from $7.50 as of the first of this year.

Local clubs (San Jose), poker dealers are in the box 6 hours out of your 8 hr shift. Most games are Limit Holdem, around 42 hands hr. (No stud, maybe one Omaha game, and maybe a fifth of the games are Spread Limit).

Roughly $250 in tips at Bay101 per shift. (minus tipping floor, lead floor, chiprunners, etc).
More than half of that is tax free (tip compliance agreement with IRS).

They might hire a walk in, if he has a lots of experience. Generally they hire and train from within. Poker dealers and Asian Games (Pai Gow, etc) dealers are separate.


This is the best answer. My ex was a dealer in SoCal and this is about what he made. A bad night might mean $100 in tips and a good night might mean $350 or more. The faster you deal (and the more quickly you squash complaints and keep the game moving) the better. To a dealer, every second counts and if you watch you will see who is trying to make money and who isn't. Beautiful women get hired more easily and are tipped better.

You can go to the dealer schools if you want. Out here they cost about $1000 but they are don't offer much except practice and confidence. Best bet is to start off running chips and work your way up.
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03-23-2008 , 09:54 AM
Now thats a great post, from someone with first hand experience, great advice too, again kudos.
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03-23-2008 , 01:30 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by jaybert
isnt actually all of it taxable? And you're just not reporting half of what you make?
Sorta kinda maybe not. Tip Compliance is the buzzword.

The IRS comes to an agreement with the casino about how much they will tax various jobs which receive tips. The IRS signs on the dotted line, and the casino signs on the dotted line. The agreement simply states that if employees participate in this tip compliance agreement, the IRS agrees to never go after the employees for failing to report income. I'm not sure if the employees are legally allowed to not report excess income above the tip compliance figure, or if the agreement just states they won't get in trouble for it. Either way... nobody reports more.
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03-23-2008 , 05:09 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by pfapfap
I'll say that if you're a good dealer in a good shift at a good location with good games, it can be a good wage considering the type of work it is. Better than flipping burgers, not as good as stripping.
I can say with 100% certainty that I would make more as a dealer than I would as a stripper
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03-23-2008 , 05:16 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by Wongboy
I can say with 100% certainty that I would make more as a dealer than I would as a stripper
LMAO. Same here. Well, I heard blind deaf women pay pretty well.
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03-23-2008 , 05:52 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by montanad12
By the way the highest avg/ yr right now is at the Wynn Las Vegas. 150K a year. that's just what i;ve been told.

I doubt that very much. I know quite a few of the dealers there who are whining at how bad they are hurting.

Many of them take the poker cruise jobs etc etc to escape the room and try to hit a score.
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03-23-2008 , 07:21 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by bav
Sorta kinda maybe not. Tip Compliance is the buzzword.

The IRS comes to an agreement with the casino about how much they will tax various jobs which receive tips. The IRS signs on the dotted line, and the casino signs on the dotted line. The agreement simply states that if employees participate in this tip compliance agreement, the IRS agrees to never go after the employees for failing to report income. I'm not sure if the employees are legally allowed to not report excess income above the tip compliance figure, or if the agreement just states they won't get in trouble for it. Either way... nobody reports more.
A dealer can report more if they want to. The agreement is that the IRS won't claim they made more and the dealer won't claim he made less.
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03-24-2008 , 12:24 AM
[QUOTE=jaybert;3286528]isnt actually all of it taxable? And you're just not reporting half of what you make?[/Q

the irs has a set amount to tax as tips based on hrs worked if you agree the to this the irs will not audit you on tip income and you do not have to report any over the agreed amount
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03-24-2008 , 01:04 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by Percula
Come on, its not that hard to figure out.

Figure $1 per hand dealt for poker as an average.
Are you serious? Occasionally a hand is not tipped, but most hands are tipped $1, and many are tipped more than that. Some hands are tipped a lot more, such as unusually large pots or pots in heavy action games or pots where a fish ran a successful bluff.
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03-24-2008 , 04:30 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by JasonInDallas
Are you serious? Occasionally a hand is not tipped, but most hands are tipped $1, and many are tipped more than that. Some hands are tipped a lot more, such as unusually large pots or pots in heavy action games or pots where a fish ran a successful bluff.
where do you play, I see player tip about 1 in 5 hand sometime one in 10. it $1 or $2
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03-24-2008 , 04:41 PM
I play in AC @ the Borgata, the Taj, Caesar's, and the Showboat.

I play mostly 2/4 LHE but sometimes 1/2 NLHE.

Usually one or two players at any given table will be "that guy" that just won't tip at all. Everyone else gives $1/pot won.

So I would say $1 per (almost) every hand is fair at the limits I play. I say almost because not every hand sees a flop and most people don't tip on those pots.
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03-24-2008 , 04:48 PM
If you're starting in say, Atlantic City:

You're going to start off with a base rate of $4.25/hr or whatever that is this year. Without experience you would start in one of the smaller houses, most likely Showboat, Bally's, Hilton, Resorts, or the Trop. With no experience it's very unlikley you can get into Caesars or Borgata other than as a temp tourney dealer for a major event or WSOP circuit.

Anyway, most of these houses primarily deal low limit NLHE like 1-2 and 2-5, with the occasional limit table. You might find a stud game on occasion, maybe.

Being knew you won't be as fast and will have your growing pains as to come to realize all of the ways you and the players can possibly **** things up in the course of a poker game. Even then, while dealing cash games getting easily $20+ an hour in tokes (poker generally pays better than floor games).

On the other hand, you're going to get stuck dealing tourneys which generally pay less, as do limit tables. These bring people into the room at least so they're a necessary evil. ANd yes there are a few stiffs, but thankfully not nearly as many as the pit games. You'll see a lot of $1 and $2 tips, with the occasional $5. At the end of a shift you'll generally walk with something like $100 - $160 cash, but you will have crappy nights here and there too and the occasion big night.

And in a smaller place later at night you're going to waste dealing time when tables close down on you and you're basically guarding a rack. You might also find yourself on break for an hour and a half per shift. Obviously you're not getting any tokes there. Same goes when they don't need all the dealers and a few are sent home after 5 or 6 hours instead of 8 (like after the tournaments break down).

Last but not least, you're going to be part-time to start, getting 3-4 days in the summer months and as little as 2 days in the winter.

I don't recommend anyone get into poker, there's a lot of out of work poker dealers and the schools are training tons of them right now. And since you're in school, it's not a bad part time job, just make sure you finish. I couldn't do it FT, I barely do it now.

Also it helps to be a hot woman

Last edited by Gonzirra; 03-24-2008 at 04:56 PM.
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