I'm happy for dealers who are happy with choice to become a dealer. I hope dealers would be happy for players that are happy to choose to tip however they feel, whether it's > avg, avg, < avg, or $0, and not limited to only those that are avg and up.

I know there are poker dealer handbook publications. Do employers use these universally or do the provide their own? I'd like to know what it might entail regarding any proper ways a dealer should handle/discuss/accept tips. Any dealers care to share?

You yourself said that the system isn't going to change. What makes more sense: Protesting a system you cannot change by your own estimation or playing when there is a system that meets their preference elsewhere?

Unless you think that playing in a system where players are expected to tip but not tipping is some kind of noble action? Seems to me like that kind of player wants to have their cake (low rake, dealers considered better than their counterparts elsewhere) but not pay their fair share that nearly everyone else does. That's not a protest, that's just selfishness.

How often do you toke a dealer after you lose a pot?

He is probably not talking about you, then.

So you would be happy if your paycheck was for 0? Or you worked overtime and got your standard pay? Because that is what you say dealers should be when they get stiffed or push a large pot and get less than what most people would leave. Sorry, I won't be happy when I am stiffed and I won't be happy when I push a $5,000 pot and get a buck.

I will be professional enough to not show it, but you cannot control my emotions and my thoughts and even alluding to the possibility that you can or should be able to is arrogant and insulting.

So, how much do you expect on a $5000 pot? Moreover, say the game is $75/$150 limit, how much on a $5000 pot? How much on a $5000 pot in a $200/$400 limit game?

Would you not be happy with a system where you are not allowed to accept tokes, but you are guaranteed $1 per hand you deal even if it's a blind steal or the blinds chop? In other words, a $1 dealer drop before the cards are dealt?

Huh? Who said that the players should be able to control your thoughts?

That is all I ask.

Really? You found a way to turn that around? I know your paycheck will not be $0 (assuming you're working your dealer schedule), and I do not think you'd be happy with $0 paycheck, nor would I be happy if your paycheck was $0.

I'd like to offer you (this time I mean you, NYC, and not you as the general audience) a tip. I do not mean this as disrespect as if I would not give you a toke / $ tip. The intent is a pun that might lighten the mood. My tip is to take a look at yourself. Go back and re-read your posts and the posts you've responded to. You may notice that several of your posts are retaliations to neutral parties. You seem so stuck in your ways that what is actually neutral appears to be an opposition to you. I came across a post where I was directly offered a tip, though mine came in the form of stfu, it might have actually been for the greater good. I remember when I first found this thread and came across some, what I considered, bad representations of dealers and reached a conclusion that I would no longer tip anything anymore. I realized that was a hasty decision and shouldn't let a few bad apples spoil the bunch. Maybe I'm alone here, maybe not, but from what I see, much of your alleged/implied selfishness, arrogance, misguidedness, etc are blatant contradictions with what you are advocating. You're in favor of the current tipping system. From this current tipping system a dealer collects all their tips and the net is their fair share. Some dealers who are faster, more efficient, and friendlier might have a higher fair share than slower, sloppier, rude ones. Your reasoning is avg and above exclusively is what's expected so avg and above is your fair share. Do you not see that is not your fair share, rather your fair share does indeed include small and $0 tips? The fairness aspect may be cloudy, after all, how could $0 be fair? In actuality, $0 (as an individual tip, not a paycheck) has it's place in the system, thus is fair. If you have expectations, where everyone should tip at least avg or better, your expectations will not be met and by default your expectations are unrealistic, and you will find yourself disappointed more than you ought to be. That said, nothing in this post is advocating for or against the tipping system nor for or against tipping itself.

Let me just say that this is OK. Here are some of the reasons that some people ITT will say it is not:

1. The rake constantly takes money off the table, so if everybody does this, the tips will suffer, because the total amount won is less than the total lost.
2. If stingy players are the ones who win, tips will suffer.
3. If I make just one mistake during the down, my tips will suffer.

Here is why these are not concrete arguments:

1. YOU have decided to tip this way, and everybody else has their own way to do it. The guy who tips at the beginning of the down cancels you out and then some.
2. If you win, and you are not stingy, tips will be better. This is just the law of averages in action.
3. You may or may not care about one mistake, and take into account the whole down when figuring your tip. Others may not tip due to a mistake "ever again to that dealer".

Don't let anyone tell you what amount to tip, or how you should do it.

The obvious answer NYC, bolt, et al. will say is that you are tipping after service has been rendered to you - after each hand dealt. Of course that's BS, but that's their argument.

As it should, no? I'm not saying you should get $0 at the end of a down for a single mistake, but your mistakes during your down should reflect your overall tips for the down.

If you make just one mistake, well, maybe you won't be penalized at all or just a little.

More often than I pay rake on a losing pot, that's for sure...

If it's obvious, then why bother saying it? Anyhow, I'll answer for myself....

The biggest issue I have with the system of tipping at the end of the session is that most poker dealers don't pool tips. Let's say that an average poker session lasts 2-3 hours (just for the sake of an example). That means that you're going to see 4-6 dealers during your session. Are you going to go around the room and tip each dealer who dealt to you during your playing session? Will you even remember who dealt to you? Or are you just going to tip the full amount to the last dealer right before you leave?

As for my preference, sure I'd like to get tipped after each pot, thank you very much. But if you really want to be diligent and just give me one tip at the end of my down to cover the full amount of whatever you feel like giving me, that's fine too. However, I've never come across this in all of my time as a dealer.

Well, he did ask.

Bolt, it's pretty clear he meant after a dealer's down. He said, "People have said stuff to me BC they don't think I'm tipping. Until a dealer change then they c what I was doing."

Do you have an objection to being tipped at the end of your down only? I did this once upon a time, and I tipped even when I never dragged a pot - my tip was based on dealer aptitude and not something arbitrary like winning a hand.

My preference is to be tipped after the hand. But if you'd rather tip me at the end of the down that's fine and well too and I have no objection to it. It's just not my first choice.

No

Why?

I, for one, was tipping significantly more when I tipped at the end of a down.

I've never encountered a player who tips at the end of a down and not after winning a hand, so I can't speak from experience. However, the reason that sticks out is that when a player stiffs me, it usually begins with me pushing him a pot and him not tipping me. So I'm going to be dealing to you for several hands and thinking that you're a player that doesn't tip.

After I've dealt to you a few times and realize that you never tip after a hand but always when my down is over I imagine I'll not really care much either way.

You mistake finding it unlikely to ever change and realistically acknowledging this with being "opposed" to it.

I would welcome the casino paying me a fair wage. If I become a supervisor, that will happen. I would be happy to make a little less if I was able to take a vacation without losing an entire week of my real income, if I had the security of knowing that I made as much on a dead spread or tournament down as I did dealing big games.

But we all know that is unrealistic.

As you can see, others are not as charitable. It would be nice if you denigrated them as you do dealers you disagree with from time to time.

In a high-stakes NLHE game, I woudl expect no less than a redbird and would not think that $10-25 is unrealistic (or particularly rare).

Limit players are notoriously low tippers and to be honest, my room doesn't have any high limit action so someone else should reply to this. The highest limit game I deal regularly is 20/40 Stud and if I get a buck a hand, I am pretty happy. Some players will toss an extra buck or two up to a redbird for larger pots.

No but I would be happy with a system where every player gave me $2 each. That would closer approximate what I make. At any game save for the lowest limit games, getting more than a buck a hand is pretty common especially for me since I am fairly well-liked in my room.


Have you even paid attention? Dealers have been told exactly what they can and cannot even think about, how we should be happy no matter what happens. I directly quoted these things. It's not Esperanto, man.

My pay period is a lot shorter, that is the only difference. You get paid once every two weeks; dealers get paid 15-20 times per half hour push.

You would be furious if you got a check for 0 or considerably less than you reasonably expected but that's because you don't get paid for another two weeks. We get right onto our next pay period after the insult which softens the blow but it does not mean that we cannot feel unhappiness - nor that it is improper to do so.

I don't care when you tip me. However, be aware that if I ship you six pots, one of which is stealing the blinds, two of which are small to medium pots (say $25 pots in $1/2) and one pretty big hand (say in excess of $250) and a hand where your opponent got coolered and you stacked him ($550 or so) and as I stand up you toss me a buck, I will not feel warm and fuzzy inside.

Also, if I ship you all of those pots but before I go you lose a huge pot and most of your winnings and then use that to justify not tipping at all, I obviously have a big problem with that.

All that said, if you get shipped x-number of pots and you toss my way a number equal to or greater than x, that's not a problem at all.

And I certainly don't mind it if you toss me something even though I never pushed you a pot. That happens quite a bit to me actually, on average a time a night I would say, because I am personable and memorable and fast and passionate about what I do and some people like to reward some or all of these traits. I have also had people toss me tokes for telling a good joke or handing a jerk player or even busting out someone in a hand they didn't play.

But I don't expect those things. It's like found money.