New Rule: I don't tip if you let my opponent rabbit hunt after folding to me. Protect yo deck son.

Seems pretty reasonable / standard

Not a good reason because the one time they see they would've hit will make them either tilt or call you ten times when they shouldn't.

You sound like fun at the table

Are you also I wanna see that hand guy?

I've found that most cruise ship casino workers pool the tips .. at least by the day/shift.

Certainly wouldn't hurt to ask. There's a great HPT cruise headed out very soon ... jump on it and see!! Since the HPT will probably be bringing their own Dealers I'm leaning towards them keeping their own during cash play. GL

I dunno about that guy, but for me it's more about actively breaking rules. If they will break that rule that has an actual potential impact on the game, it's more likely they will break other rules.

But maybe I'm in the minority here.

My thing about rabbit hunting is that I’m not going to physically stop someone from rabbit hunting (but also not going to do it for them) because I don’t want to get physical with them.

We seem to be going round a bit here ... with some progress.

I know of some casino Dealers who could show you that they 'get taxed on' $19 per hour on their paychecks. But that rate includes what is assumed to be the tips they take in. It's an agreed amount that the IRS is willing to live with to eliminate the hassle of each Dealer submitting a tip form for each paycheck. The assumption is that most Dealers feel they are coming out 'ahead' of that taxation mark.

Don't forget that most Dealers DO NOT actually deal for their whole shift. There are gaps in the string where they are on break or serving as a Brush/Chiprunner. There are also MOST days where they don't get to work a full shift at all since they either draw bad at the start of the shift and work zero or they get sent home early if action is low.

So while one can assume that they do very well when actually in the box, but when you dilute those funds by the actual amount of time spent on the job it definitely gets watered down.

In our home casino the Dealers definitely want to get through the PLO table(s) as much as possible where tips per down might be 3-4x that of a NL table. GL

What answer20 says is true. I would say for the most part dealers are getting in 30-35 hands per hour and for the most part get $1/hand on average. Sometimes they will get a bigger tip and sometimes no tip, but I would assume on average they get in the $30-$35 an hour range while in the box (I could be way off base on that assumption though). However, depending on the business of the room and their normal hours the amount of time they actually spend in the box will vary greatly.

At my local room many dealers even if scheduled to work 4 or 5 days are week are only working ~25-30 hours a week due to many times leaving early for weekday shifts. Even on the weekends they probably have a few downs dealing tournaments or being brush, so an 8 hour shift may only generate 5-6 hours of dealing cash games even during busy times.

If you're wondering why my post seems to have no basis, it's because it was high-jacked from another thread that was discussing Dealer down pay and it's correlation to cash/tournament and WSOP and home games ... check it out in CCP!

While tipping and pay certainly don't go mutually hand in hand, IMO they do have a correlation when discussing what may or may not motivate a Dealer to come and service a/your game, which is a factor that the OP needs to consider when trying to add a tournament to his already up and running home cash game.

Players tend to forget who dealt to them before a Final Table and if a Dealer is no longer needed on site they may just leave ... which means that if they're not around when tournament tips are handed out then they will probably want to be paid something decent to deal a tournament down(s). GL

Copying this from my reddit comment

Dealer's perspective here:

1/2 live is not beatable for a living wage. Yes there are some great spots where people are giving away the farm but not 40 hours/week's worth. I personally ONLY have sympathy for non-tippers who are genuinely trying to make a go of it as a professional. I certainly don't expect a tip in a $15 pot. But it's definitely annoying to push a 40BB pot at any stake without a tip.

A great way for players to help dealers out financially is to 3bet and 4bet the correct amount at low stakes. If it folds to the button, they raise and you look down at KQo in the small blind, how many of you are 3betting? If 6 loose-passive players limp and you look down at tens in the big blind, how many of you are making it 10-12BBs? It's pretty tilting to watch people misplay by playing too passively because it leads to smaller pots.

Honestly I think a large part of the reason some people never tip is an indigence/envy that dealers make as much as people think they do. It's easy to think "These guys are clearing $50/hour without a college degree? **** that, they'll be fine without my tips." Dealers are only at a table for 1/2-2/3 of their shift. You can't look at a dealer making $15/down and think "oh that's $40 an hour" because it's really not. Dealers have to subsidize their own benefits and their paid time off is for minimum wage. These differences make the financial outlook for dealers significantly bleaker than a standard 50-60k/year job.

Ultimately, dealing would be a very cushy job if every player tipped $1/hand and nobody was an ******* at the table. But this isn't how things are. I understand that it's frustrating for the onus to be on reasonable people to be a compensating differential for all the tightwads and drunk idiots at the table. If people want fast, personable, qualified dealers, the majority of players have to be tipping. And just recognize that if you aren't tipping, you're in the minority.

Also I just want to contribute this perspective to the recent talk about whether to tip on a bad beat jackpot because it's the players' money anyway:

You're basically paying into a BBJ fund that makes games better. The worst, most degen players love the idea that they can hit it big at any time. Promotions give people hope to get unstuck at any time and keeps them in the game. So yes there's a small rake by having to tip on a jackpot but it's well worth it to keep games better.

Also for the person who's played X # of years and has been paying into it the whole time: most people never hit a jackpot. This is the equivalent of saying "I'm stuck $50k at 1/2 over the last 20 years, I'm not tipping until I get unstuck in live poker."

LOL small rake....

Taxes are already a HUGE rake on a BBJ win.

Then tipping on top of that.

In some places there is an admin fee as well.

I think the usual question is how much to tip.


Some come in here and say they were told 10% was "usual", which in my opinion it is not.


On a $100K jackpot, split 50-25-25, 8 handed, what do you think a proper tip is from the Big End?

It’s a shame poker rooms don’t just switch to a higher rake to compensate dealers and drive players like you out of the game for good.


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P-h-s .. welcome to the forums. Hopefully you can find a lot of topics here that you find useful and are willing to contribute to. Don't let the trollers get to you when challenged as the best threads are those when a post can be legitimately discussed for 2-3 pages of posts .. and the original poster sticks around!

I've been around, so I'm going to comment on some of your points just as I read them based on what I've seen.

1) 1/2 is beatable, it's just hard for most to be satisfied with what 1/2 produces. I know at least 2-3 Players who've never had 'a job' and pretty much just play 1/2. That is not very many when you consider how many Players I've come across, but there are some out there .. and most who can beat it typically move up. (Not a good idea to present comments with 'never' or 'can't' in them as they will get eaten up in these forums.)

2) Your assumption/experience is that the larger the pot, the larger the tip. And while I certainly don't disagree with you that 'some' Players tip based on pot size, I'll also toss out there that your point is also your counterpoint. Typically at lower stakes a 3B is a very small range and a 4B is 'only' AA/KK. So when those bet types occur they generally produces folds, not big pots. You want 'everyone' at the table to play 'Poker' when they are really there to play 'Cards'. And that will probably never change at the lowest stakes offered by any room/site.

3) In my experience there are very few Players who don't tip because they think a Dealer is making bank. I've seen Players adjust/lower if there's a whale at the table just dumping tips on the Dealers, figure 'that's enough' for tonight. But typically tips are based on winning and service. Obv with CV19 dealing poker is not looking too good right now, but there are many many Dealers who made a career from Dealing .. it's a choice and requires acceptance of the circumstances at each room they work in.

4) Agreed that $1/hand would solve most Dealer woes, but it also diminishes the toke IMO. Remember the 3B/4B comment? That all goes away if everyone reverts to the min tip. We 'had' a PLO game that the Dealers would line up to deal since 2 downs at that table would be plenty for a 'decent' shift.

5) The BBJ tip is well hashed out in this thread and I don't think you've really fully given a stance to work with. The decision to have a BBJ is the room's, not the Dealers. So the room, not the Dealer, is making the game 'better'. So I say this tongue and cheek to stir your pot ... So the room makes the game better, which results in better tips for the Dealers on a daily basis due to longer, fishier games. And now you want a second tip from those better games when someone happens to score a BBJ? Also, I'm reading your 'stuck' comment as only applying to Players who don't tip 'unless' they win a BBJ? I've never met a Player who thinks that way .. so there's some cross over that you need to define for me, if you would.

I'm pretty gentle when it comes to discussing stuff, so hopefully I've given you some food for thought and come on back with some additional viewpoint .. if your post was just a rant, then so be it. GL

PS .. This is a tipping thread, so the Mods may remind us that your post has multiple topics and may need to be hashed out elsewhere.

interesting.. why dont you expect a tip in a $15 pot?
or is this only from grinders making living at $1/2 or $1/3?

so where are the dealers for the other 1/3-1/2 of their shift?
also, in the 3 casinos near me (MD, near dc), i've never seen a dealer sit at an empty table for more than 1 down.

are you seriously complaining about how people play their hands with their money? you have a lot of nerve.

and everyone knows 1/2 nl is the best game for tips long term. specifically because there are way less pros and people aren't thinking about ev, hence playing their hands poorly. if these people were better poker players they'd also realize they should tip entitled dealers (note not all dealers) like you a lot less.

and stop whining about maybe getting stiffed on bbj. you're the type that would cry about a 500 dollar tip if someone hit a big BBJ thinking you're entitled to high 4 or low 5 figures for pushing pieces of cardboard and getting an hour or two off while waiting for paperwork to be filled out. get real.
We both know dealers get MASSIVELY overtipped almost every time on these forced lotteries. Even if they do make the games better (often not the case) that has nothing to do with you being owed anything. These better games already lead to bigger pots and more tables following your logic so you're already making more money because of them.

Dead spreads
Tournament downs
Brushing
Breaks

Then don’t forget the early out shifts and shifts where dual rates are flooring, albeit at a better fixed rate than dealing.

lmao@ players like him.

it's comical you think someone could deserve thousands of dollars for merely dealing a poker hand.

I never said anything about deserving thousands of dollars. I never expect any % of a promo hand and I’m thankful for any tip I receive. Try again...


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hm.. i play in md.
all 3 casinos near me have dedicated brush staff.
didnt know other parts of the country use dealers as the brush.

also, tournys in my area usually offer more chips if you do a dealer add-on.
that deal add-on $ goes to the dealers. (aka tip?)
not so in other parts of the country?

how often does a dealer take a break in a 8hr shift?

Yes, many rooms use dealers as chip runners. These days many dealers including some in MD get a turn sanitizing cards for a down as part of the rotation. Some rooms also take a percentage of the dealer tips and redirect it to supervisors. It's illegal but they mostly get away with it.

Sometimes tournament dealers are paid via a "staff fee" added to the buyin, sometimes they make it an optional add-on. I don't know why they choose one or the other. Sometimes this adds up to a reasonable down rate, sometimes it's only a few dollars a down.

We get between 0 and 12 breaks per 8 hours. 4 breaks seems typical but it varies by room and shift.

Dealer day at my home casino .. (which is a thing of the past now)

1) Drive in .. and don't be late
2) Cross fingers that you don't get low carded and get sent home due to too many Dealers being scheduled/not enough tables open
3) Cross fingers that the Floor doesn't set you up for Brush then Break early in the sequence since it will generally happen again, therefore four 'downs' with no tips
4) Cross fingers that we get the PLO table twice (or maybe 3 times)
5) Play the EO game properly as to not piss off Floors or other Dealers .. which leads to #3 happening more often
6) Hope to make hay in the 5 'actual' downs we might get to deal

That looks like a few 'daily' hurdles to navigate to me.

Can you imagine getting low-carded 2-3 times in your 5 day cycle? Happens .. GL

Serious question for any dealer:
If you have so many struggles and challenges with getting good downs, and or making a decent wage, why do you still deal?

Is it on the hopes / assumptions you're going to be amazing tips on the tables you do get to deal to?