Have you never been to a casino? Everyone gets tips. It's how the machine works.

When you do this and don't tip I promise you the cashier is rolling their eyes as you walk away. No one ITT is doing the staff any favors with this OCD behavior and if you believe otherwise you're delusional. I will die on this hill.

mod: all future tipping discussion can go in the tipping thread, not here

You don't have to turn in all of your checks at once. You can hang on to the chips that you don't want turned into small bills. (Obv. This only applies if you regularly visit this particular casino) Then, just wait until you accumulate those small chips until you can color them up for larger ones.

I'd agree with others before me when they say do it all together, chips and cash. Make your intentions clear and keep in mind its being recorded/monitored live. Don't want to make anything look "ugly".

I can only assume that your experience is different than mine. I really do have more to say, but I'm going to respect dinesh.

I don’t recall anyone claiming or implying they were doing anyone except themself a favor. But it also doesn’t make the cashier job any more difficult either

At least two posters said it was simpler and easier for the cashier. Yeah maybe it's simple for you or me, but cashiers' math skills often leave something to be desired.

I worked in casinos for 10+ years (table games) and this adding cash thing would be way down my list of annoying poker player habits. It's a symptom of a larger problem: you guys are doing too much.

Surely it actually is harder for the cashier.....

Duh?

Of all the responsibilities cashiers have, converting chips to cash is by far the easiest. I am truly baffled that there are people that think adding a few dollars to some chips is somehow imposing hardship.

SMH

I just went back and read all the posts in this thread again and the thing that's baffling to me is the hoops that are being jumped through, for what exactly? You know it's going to confuse or at least throw off a certain percentage of cashiers, and what value do you get from it? Do you need to satisfy your OCD by getting rid of all the small bills? Or do you enjoy that moment when the cashier hesitates and you get a chance to tell them how to do their job? (When I say "you" I mean everyone, not just Jay)

Again, this is a very small thing and I'm guilty of doing it myself in the past. But if you do this and think it's normal, you're probably engaging in other similar behaviors that are making people dislike you.

I'm beginning to think we live in a parallel universe. In mine, casino cashiers are reasonably intelligent people that have no issue with the simple adjustments that have been discussed. In yours, casinos seek out simpletons to work the cage.

In almost 50 years of playing poker, including a few years dealing at the Bike and Commerce, I have only met a very few cashiers that couldn't handle minor adjustments. And, I would add, exactly zero of them lasted more than a couple of months.

I really think the alternate reality explanation is the only reasonable one.

I would think that good math skills should be nearly the only major qualification of being a cashier.

Literally never seemed to confuse any single cashier at a casino in many years. Some at McD definitely but that is a very different skill level. Plus I don’t do it to get rid of small bills per se. I actually like to have some in my wallet. But I keep my poker funds in a separate “wallet”. That one can’t really hold more than 25 bills. So trying to carry $2000+ means I don’t have room for lots of small bills. When I travel or need to carry more than about 3 buyins the extra is carried separate. So my underlying reason is practical not OCD.

Btw, the reason I or that old lady can dig out the pennies or exact change in my case is because I am choosing to carry the exact amount including those small bills you believe I fear.

deleted

I've worked in poker rooms for 12 years and trust me when I say that the only qualifications for being a cashier are:

Being at least 21 years old.
Being eligible to work in the United States (or wherever the casino is located).
Passing a drug test.
Passing a background check.

After housekeeping and security, cashier probably has the highest turnover rate in the casino.

How bizarre. In the three rooms I've frequented most over the last 10 years, or so, there has been no turnover in the cage at all. Well, one person was added last year, but that's all.

This is 100% standard, I did the same thing last week.

But I tip a little extra if I make it harder on the cashier.

Don't think this could be true everywhere; I actually applied for a casino cashier position in downtown LV once. The application asked me lots of questions about my experience, and I never got a call back.

Of course, in my case, it is possible they considered my past experience as a professional poker player as a negative.

As a single counter-anecdote, I applied for a few jobs at a major New England casino when I was bored out of my mind near the tail end of the (economic) pandemic. As I make a comfortable living in my career, any work would have been a side gig and on my own terms or not at all. I received an email response from the cage hiring manager. The exchange went like this:

"How much cage experience do you have?" None.

"How much casino industry experience do you have?" None.

"We need someone to work weekdays and weeknights." Nope.

"Can you come in for an interview tomorrow?"