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tipping etiquette in live games tipping etiquette in live games

04-30-2010 , 02:09 AM
is it considered rude to not tip the dealer in a live game? this is assuming you actually care about your winrate. i live in fl, so once the 100bb rule comes on july 1, im withdrawing my fulltilt monies to play live vs the fish. it my local casino, they take 10% rake PLUS more for a bbjp. it seems like tipping is soooo bad. i don't want to be an ass if this is totally taboo. can anybody who plays live for a living tell me what their strategy is?
04-30-2010 , 02:33 AM
well normally 1 buck per hand wouldn't mean much. but i plan to play 1-2, and if your winrate is 1-2 bb per hour (which is like 4-5 bb/100 i believe), tipping a buck every time you win a hand definitely adds up. over a large sample size, you are killing your win rate.
04-30-2010 , 02:39 AM
Yes, it would certainly be considered rude to never tip the dealer.
04-30-2010 , 02:44 AM
You should win far much more than 1-2 bb per hour live at $1 $2 NL.
Tip $1 on any pot of significance.
If it's just a few limps and you win a pot of $5-$10, don't worry about tipping.
04-30-2010 , 02:48 AM
i've seen players on hsp tip 5 bucks for winning a 100k pot. this is understandable. tipping a dollar for winning a 20 dollar pot seems like way too much. most people playing 1-2 are just there for recreation (where i play). i would gladly tip them .25 cents if i could. i understand how dealers make most monies off tips. the rake is ridiculous. the bbjp rake is unnecessarily high. and im expected to tip every hand in addition to that? does anybody honestly expect to beat these games? jeez i thought the rake on full tilt was bad.
04-30-2010 , 03:05 AM
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04-30-2010 , 03:06 AM
i live in FL and i always tip when i play Live. Pretty terrible if you dont tip
04-30-2010 , 03:07 AM
$1 a hand is very acceptable... If I double up, 2 or 3 dollars up to one big blind... (depending on size of pot / amount of suck out...)
04-30-2010 , 03:09 AM
quick question since i saw this thread on tipping,

i'm planning on moving up in live stakes to 2/5 + 5/10. is tipping etiquette any different at those levels? still $1 a pot or should you tip more? what about if you double up?
04-30-2010 , 03:12 AM
I know players who play $200/$400 stud,

dont tip...

when the dealer gets up, throws in a $5 and says chop it up...

then the dealer passes back $4 chips and goes to put $1 in the rack and the player says...

"thats not for you"

just to rub it in their faces...



When I dealt... I would get more tips at 2/4 Limit then I would at 200 or 500NL...

the more "professional" the players, the less they tip...

2/4 limit player will tip 2BB's if they win a big pot! sometimes if its a $8 pot they will still tip $2!!!!
04-30-2010 , 03:14 AM
Quote:
Originally Posted by gunn2122
is it considered rude to not tip the dealer in a live game? this is assuming you actually care about your winrate. i live in fl, so once the 100bb rule comes on july 1, im withdrawing my fulltilt monies to play live vs the fish. it my local casino, they take 10% rake PLUS more for a bbjp. it seems like tipping is soooo bad. i don't want to be an ass if this is totally taboo. can anybody who plays live for a living tell me what their strategy is?
Stay online please.
04-30-2010 , 03:24 AM
Quote:
Originally Posted by Quadstriker
Stay online please.
im here, i read your post. after sieving through it i saw the part about tipping, and how talking about it is so common. im not a troll, just wanted some quick answers. you can delete this thread if need be, im not trying to clutter the forums. if somebody would point me in the direction of the thread this should be in i would gladly move the discussionl
04-30-2010 , 03:48 AM
playing 1/2 u hardly make money in the long term, most of them would be break even, its more for fun.

rake+tipping dealer+bad beat jackpot+ tipping waitress, its really hard, only 2/5 n above its profitable if ur a winning player
04-30-2010 , 04:21 AM
Quote:
Originally Posted by Quadstriker
Stay online please.
Agree. Tipping is a cost of doing business. Like your internet connection or your HUD or pt3, hem, table ninja whatever.

Plus, if you are noted as a "stiff" by all the other regs, you will get played back at hard and/or all of your action will be killed. The other players do not want to tip for you and it is better ITLR if you tip a buck or two.

Your stiff label will get you in trouble too if a ruling needs to be made and you are relying on the dealer and floor to make a tough call.

gl
04-30-2010 , 04:31 AM
I tip generously, $1 at least (blind stealing), then $2-$10 depending on the pot size, etc.

My friend tosses the dealer like $5 everytime he wins a pot over $45ish, and it only gets higher the more drunk he gets. All the dealers seem to love him if they give him any winning hand
04-30-2010 , 04:34 AM
Here's my personal approach to tipping at 1-2 NL. Hope it helps.

Raise it take it preflop - no tip

Raise it pre, cbet flop HU, take it - no tip

Raise it pre, cbet flop multiway, take it - $1

Win 30-50ish - $1

+50 - $2

Edit: When dealer's ending his/her down and I really liked him/her - $1 or $2

If I stack a full stacker or close to it - $3
04-30-2010 , 11:31 AM
Live poker staff work almost exclusively for tips. That arrangement only works if customers actually take care of the staff.

q/q
04-30-2010 , 11:37 AM
tipping is standard, imo. there's been a few times where i've raked $1600+ pots and thrown the dealer a 25$ chip. but hey, i'm just a nice girl.
04-30-2010 , 11:57 AM
Quote:
Originally Posted by gunn2122
i understand how dealers make most monies off tips.
so, you understand that they make their money from tips yet you don't want to tip?

Quote:
Originally Posted by gunn2122
the rake is ridiculous.
then don't play

Quote:
Originally Posted by gunn2122
the bbjp rake is unnecessarily high.
then don't play

Quote:
Originally Posted by gunn2122
and im expected to tip every hand in addition to that?


the two are mutually exclusive. the rake and the BBJ are your fee for playing at that particular casino. the tip is for the dealer providing the service and running the game that you are sitting in. Presumably, the tip is also for the dealer enforcing the rules, keeping the game moving in a quick manner, dealing without mistakes, getting you service or chips when necessary, etc. The dealer isn't involved in setting the rake and the jackpot drop. that's the house. if you're being a tightwad about tipping a dealer a buck because you already paid the house 5 on that pot then fine. but not tipping the dealer simply because you don't have a choice about paying the rake or the BBJ drop would be very rude.

I tip a buck on any pot that went to a flop and had more than 10 bucks in it (I play 1/2 as well and in California most houses drop 3 for the rake and 1 for the jackpot the instant there's a flop and they'll pull an extra buck after the pot reaches 20). On average, I figure that's fair. More is a leak and less is rude. the dealers are doing a job and performing a service that should be rewarded.

having said that, if a dealer makes a mistake or isn't doing what I think is a good job they get nada on occasion too.

do you tip the waitress for bringing anything for you? do you tip a waitress at a bar when you go drinking? do you pay 5 bucks for a bud on tap? that's overpriced too.

Last edited by mfpaul; 04-30-2010 at 12:03 PM.
04-30-2010 , 12:40 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by jFearxx
quick question since i saw this thread on tipping,

i'm planning on moving up in live stakes to 2/5 + 5/10. is tipping etiquette any different at those levels? still $1 a pot or should you tip more? what about if you double up?
Same.
04-30-2010 , 12:47 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by Percula
Same.
As long as you're friendly, cordial, and not a douche, and help move games along and are courteous to dealers who run a good game, tipping a buck for the casual pot is fine, if you raise pf and everyone folds you don't need to tip (I usually do, but I just tend to tip a buck on almost any win, except for gigantic pots and then I add more).

Again, the amount you tip is all up to you, as long as you just tip the minimum of a buck on all pots that make it to a flop.

Additionally if you always tip a buck, sometimes you can get in people's heads and tip like 5 for no random reason after they make some sort of laydown and want to see your cards. Just put the $5 chip on top of your cards and sloooowly slide it to the dealer with a smirk on your face.
04-30-2010 , 01:04 PM
i won a few $300 buck pots ( 150 bucks in profit)... and i would tip 5 bucks which is a little more than 1 percent of the total pot.

the small pots that total only like 20 dollars i usually just tip 1 dollar. if the pot i win is usually around or above 60-100 bucks ill tip 2 dollars. for some reason i dont tip 3 or 4 dollars, i just go straight to a 5 dollar chip for really big all in pots.
04-30-2010 , 01:20 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by gunn2122
i've seen players on hsp tip 5 bucks for winning a 100k pot. this is understandable. tipping a dollar for winning a 20 dollar pot seems like way too much. most people playing 1-2 are just there for recreation (where i play). i would gladly tip them .25 cents if i could. i understand how dealers make most monies off tips. the rake is ridiculous. the bbjp rake is unnecessarily high. and im expected to tip every hand in addition to that? does anybody honestly expect to beat these games? jeez i thought the rake on full tilt was bad.
I also seen on HSP for about 10 hands in a row Gabe said they were tipping $100 a hand.
Tip what you feel is right, don't feel you have to tip every hand, I don't tip on small pots, like just the blinds and one bet in a 2/5 game say I made it 15, everyone folds (not often) but the BB so there is 32 in the pot, now they pull the bad beat, $1, Rake in FL $3 so it is a $28 pot where $15 was mine I don't tip but on a $100 multi-way pot I may give 2 or 3 bucks.
Dealers understand this but stiffing the dealer every hand is wrong. If everyone stiffed the dealers then just think of the worst dealer you ever had, that would become the norm.
04-30-2010 , 01:25 PM
Local cardrooms, dealers get $8/hr plus benefits.
They make $150-$200 a shift in tips. Only $100 of that is taxed.
That is at, on average, $1 a hand.
04-30-2010 , 01:40 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by AngusThermopyle
Local cardrooms, dealers get $8/hr plus benefits.
They make $150-$200 a shift in tips. Only $100 of that is taxed.
That is at, on average, $1 a hand.
$8 hr and benefits? Where is this? In Florida they get $5 hr and are kept part time (under 30 hrs) so they do not get benefits. Plus they are taxed on 100% of all tips in there box on a check every other week, they do not take home the tips nightly. But then they do make more then $150 a shift in most places in S Florida, you have to love the Latin community for that, hot women and good tips, gotta love em.
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