Apologize if this has been covered in this thread, but I did search "cage staff" and didn't see the answer easily.

In any case, at the local casino today after tourney cash, saw a box marked for "cage staff" next to "tourney dealers." There is a separate window for tourney payouts.

Is it customary to tip cage staff on tourney cash? I'm hardly used to the toke box thing sitting there, and am used to just tipping the cage staff "for the dealers".

I am used to the standard cage toke box, and do put in the odd whites there, but have never seen (or noticed) the one for cage staff? Is this expected on tourney winnings?

A rather annoying part of tipping is those who over tip and make comments about players who tip the norm.

Recently I was playing at the $200 NL at Commerce and won a medium size pot and tipped the standard $1.

A player who earlier tipped $10 on a big pot said to me "what's wrong with you the dealer has to support a family". I responded by saying sorry I'm not a billionaire like you. If I lose all my money gambling who's going to support me? Not the dealers that's for sure.

You might not want to say something to that type of guy that would get him agitated. Something closer to "feel free to tip whatever you like" would probably work better. Then just put your headphones in if you have them.

That would probably be the best way to handle the situation. But unfortunately when somebody makes a stupid offensive comment like that it ticks me off. Thus my response to him.

I don't tip when I win a pot pre-flop with a raise.

I tip $1 on any pot at 1/2.

I tip $2-3 on any pot over ~$700 at 2/5.

I never tip more than $3. Perhaps the largest pot I've won was ~$3500. I tipped $3, standard?

By the same token, 2+2'ers have no business telling anyone that they are "overtipping" or trying to define nittiness and cheapness as "the norm". And yet this site has been pushing that line for years. So I guess it's getting hard for me to feel sorry for people getting called out on it.

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What do you tip when you play?

Generally, I'm a $3-$5 guy. I appreciate good service, and I reward it. I also have no problem tossing an extra redbird or two to a truly great dealer at the end of their down. And yes, before anyone asks, I also do tip less for bad service, and there are maybe four dealers in the country who are on my permanent no-tip list (this is reserved for cases of professional misconduct only, not just "he didn't say thank you loud enough" etc).

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It doesn't matter what dealers tip other dealer when they play poker. What I mean is, its not relevant to what regular poker players tip.
When you are a dealer, you have other dealers play at your tables and tip extra good so when you go play poker in that same town then you return the favor.
You are both playing recreationally, even if you are trying to make some extra money and you are also promoting good tipping that others will see and you hope follow.

Are you a winning player? What games do you play and what are your winrates like?

Way off topic but at the casino I work in a customer just hit the Caribbean Stud jackpot for 199,xxx and tipped $100. lol

Yeah what a fish. What differing level of service did the dealer perform to deserve the $100?

The picture of generosity. Don't go overboard, you don't want to make anyone rich. Make sure to at least occasionally keep some for yourself.

As a serious response, no, I'd go out on a limb and say this isn't standard.

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I can't wait to get told that I'm evil for telling people how to tip/making fun of people for being "cheap", when he's the one who voluntarily put this out there in search of this type of response.

The other day I was playing 5/10 NL in a LV casino and there was a player that was tipping excessively. He was tipping 20 or 30 dollars on 300 pots. He then won a 2500 pot and tipped about 300. He racked out immediately and several players remarked he was a poker dealer. The next day he as dealing to the same table. I won several small pots and didnt tip. He began dealing my 2 cards practically in the middle of the table. He said something to another player that "I dont deserve cards".

That is true; I really dont deserve cards!

Either fold your cards right in front of you without tossing them in and make him reach far for them each time or report him.

I doubt anyone ever became a dealer expecting to get rich. If they're tipped an average of $1 for every hand they deal, they're making more money than a lot of teachers, nurses, and various other educated professionals, which is absurd when you think about it. When we start tipping larger amounts just because the pots are larger, we're really hurting the game. It's not like we get some kind of rebate when we lose a large pot. I understand that losing/recreational players won't see it this way, and that's fine.

I deal in vegas.SO as there is variance in playing poker there is a varience in dealing. So that being said i put out my 20 hands a down with a shuffle machine I make my tokes say thank you and run the game, But to get offened and start pitching cards short to players in the game cause there not tipping only affects me as a dealer because the hands per 30min go way down, So it really makes no since to act petty like that as a dealer. Anyways when I play its 1 or 2 for small pots and when i stack someone I usally throw a redbird just to see if I can tilt the player a little more to rebuy lol.

Poker is definitely not like other tipping scenarios. If it's your job (I GUESS ) it's OK to tip less on average. It's your prerogative to not tip at all (in any scenario ldo).

If it's your job, too, you should be a "trouble-free" player wrt the dealers (and other poker room staff).

Is there any dealers that post in this thread? Because if so, i really want their opinion. If a person wins a pot and always tips $1, even if the pot was say $800, do you get a bit upset if its not a redbird? I always overtipped and even tipped if there was no flop and i just stoled the blinds in a 1/2NL game.

Even for a $400 pot, i usually tip $5 but now after reading all this, it seems like its very very foolish. I don't know why but a $400 pot... even though i only won say $190 or so... looks very big if i was playing say a 1/2NL game and tipping $1 looks very cheap. But do dealers mind as long as they get at least $1 every hand? Do they consider $1 standard?

Also, to those who play higher limits, like 2/5NL, 5/10NL and 20/40 limit holdem and higher, is $1 usually the standard tip even if the pot is $800? Yes i know the fish would overtip but do most of the decent players ever tip a redbird? I mean... im imagining a $2500 pot in a 2/5NL game and then if the winner just tips $1, that looks very little. I think $5 would be standard. Thoughts?

Sorry, but yes, that "dollar or nothing" approach is extremely cheap, especially because the bigger NL pots can take a lot of time to play out.

Suppose that huge pot takes 4 minutes to deal (not unusual when you're talking a $400 pot on 1/2 NL). That's slowing the game down to 7 hands per down. So if everyone caps their tips at $1, that's cutting the dealer's pay to $7 per down or less, which is simply not enough to pay the rent.

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Lets just all give the dealer a redbird at the start of the down then that will amount to 100hr so he or she can pay her rent. But, feel free to tip even more during the down, if you win a big pot.

If I win a 500 plus pot it's usually atleast a redbird. My first 4k pot I gave the dealer, who in my opinion is the best dealer in the room, like 80 bucks I think.

I've always been an over tipper though even at restaurants. Learned it from my dad lol

You seem to be very pro dealer. Caring a lot about if dealers can pay their rent or not.

How about players who depend on playing as their only source of income. How much do you think they should tip the dealers? Would a buck a pot be too little in this case?

You stated before that you usually tip $3 or so per pot and sometimes more, and you also give $5 to a dealer at the end of his/her down if he/she was particularly good. So again, I ask you:

Two questions in response:

(1) is there any response I can give here that will convince the tip nits that I have a valid point in this thread? I don't believe there is. So really, who cares? I make 500 bb/hr. "Tip less!!!". I lose 500 bb/hr. "Tip less!!!" And I'll continue to tip well anyway

(2) do you still maintain that you are neutral as a moderator on this issue? I have observed for a long time that tip-reduction and tip-minimization posts here have been considered acceptable, but posts objecting to these approaches have not. Why is that?

But to get back to the question: I play right around the same limits that Howard Beale does, my winrate is positive, and I make enough that I'm happy playing and I enjoy the game. That's plenty good for me.

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