I am not pro-Harrahs either; I criticize them fairly often, however, the reason that the WSOP [And the Horseshoe brand and property.] was purchased by Harrahs was mismanagement by the Behnens. The Behnens managed to not take care of players, do damage to their brands, AND not profit.

Becky did profit she just bleed it dry without paying the bills.

It's as much of a hustle as the the timeshare j-offs.

Just say no thanks and be on your way.

I don't tip if they take out mandatory from the prize pool. Last year I played $1000 buy in (The smallest Buy In ,but hardly can afford that much). I cashed out around $2700. Total Prize Pool was $6.12 Millions. They took out around $601200. I think that is more then enough, no matter how they are splitting.

Note: To be fair, I must say that they did not ask me for any money for tips.

[QUOTE=SabaAba;19817830]You're right, Harrahs should not charge a thing because they have no expenses in running the largest and most prestigous tournament series in the world.

not because they have no expenses, but because without the players there would be no wsop. they should show good will and appreciation. even add money to prize pools. do you realize how much their casino win goes up during wsop? how much they get for the advertising from jerky,poker magazines, and tv rights from espn? the booth spaces they sell. hundreds of millions made all on the backs of the players. sure some players make money from endorsements, own poker sites, are sponsored players, but most dont get anything back for being a prop in the big production. all they get is 10% taken out of their prize pools.
johnny chan has more sense than most. he will not bend and let them use his image to make money anymore. he is smart enough not to contribute to harras greed. he just chooses not to play.
one day there will be an alternative to harrahs because of their greed.

Considering his "All-In" energy drink was the official energy drink for the WSOP for a couple of years, and was replaced by Red Bull...

To clarify; Dealers get 70% of the amount taken out of the prize pool. The other 30% is split amongst floors, cashiers, and brushes.

NOT TRYING TO START A TIPPING DEBATE, however I feel players should know that dealers are making less per down then they ever have at this years WSOP continuing the trend of the last couple years. More and more dealers quit everyday because they simply can't afford to stay. This is why you will see the same dealer at your table for several hours on busy days. If a dealer comes from out of town (which most do) they usually have a minimum of $1500 in expenses. Several are working 2 and even 3 jobs to make ends meet.

I know this looks like a sympathy thread, but that is not my intention. I'm well aware there are many jobs that are worse and dealing the WSOP is not a bad gig. I just wanted to give you some thoughts to keep in mind when making a decision to tip and/or thinking the dealers are over paid.

At the Venetian Deep Stack events, when you cash, you are also asked to leave something extra for the dealers - on top of the percentage taken, and the extra chips you get for that dealer special ten bucks.

How much are getting per down now?

Think it is possible to be down because of the 3% harrah's scoops of the top is less then if they scooped zero and let players tip themselves? I think by taking it themselves they must leave a bad taste in more people's mouths that otherwise would have left additional money.

I'd rather not say the amount per down as I have to tread lightly since I am employed there. All I can say is that it is the lowest it has ever been.

Absolutely people would tip more. I do think it would be very hard to reverse the trend of taking out 1.8% (10k events) up to 3% (1k's and 1500's) out of the prize pool to pay staff. There certainly would have to be a huge campaign to educate players about the new policy. I have no idea if doing this would make it so people tip enough so dealers could make a decent wage and Harrahs could retain quality staff.

Matt Savage has a good article on this and I think it is great idea:

A couple things from the article that I take issue with:

1. I don't believe players should not be solicited at all. A simple polite, "anything you would like to leave for the staff would be appreciated", and then walk away so there is no pressure. Or, even simplier, just have a toke box at the window.

2. Also if complete transparency is the goal then that needs to be the case. An example would be:

2.8% of your prize pool is being witheld.
Of that 2.8%, 70 % goes to the dealers and 30% goes to the staff
Of that 30%, 15% goes to the floors and 15% is divided amongst cashiers and brushes (I do not know if these are the exact numbers for how the 30% is divided). Many people think all the money goes to the dealers.

FWIW, I cashed in Event #1 and the $200 deep stack yesterday and was not solicited for a tip either time. There isn't even a toke box at the cage window. The OP really surprised me.