Etiquette question

[ptaylorcpa]

Are there some guidelines on tipping dealers? Assuming you win a fair share of your bets and you add a dollar or two for the dealer to your bets, is that sufficient?

Also do you normally tip dealers in tournaments?

 

[TXtourplayer]

Good question

In a major tournament (real or funny money) I like to tip $5 if I advance from each round maybe more if I do good in a live money round, there are always exceptions. If I make the finals I always tip according to what I win. Example: $10K I have give from $400 (told not to give more by the pit boss) to (once) $1,000 as a tip when caught a miracle card to swing for the win plus I told them I would tip $1,000 if I won.

It really depends on each person and if you enjoyed the dealer. The way I look at it, is it is found money so why be cheap? Don't give it all away, but don't piss the dealers off either. I know most of the Stardust dealers and listen to all of them after the tournaments. What they think is a fair tip for $100K is $3,500 to $4,500 (3.5% - 4.5%) for first. At the LV Hilton MD tournament I heard and (think myself) that for $1 million win $10K (1%) is a fair tip. So you can see there are no set percentages to use when figuring out tips.

The nicest thing is that if you're worrying what to tip it usually means you're winning anyway...LOL.

 

[S. Yama]

Tips on tips

Wow! $4,500 for $100K win seems too much, but hopefully you get the chance to carry it out it soon.
For winning Dust’s big one I like idea of tipping $1K or all cash won in the final round (should be slightly over one thousand) whatever is more.

Here is something I wrote for bjforum online – now defunct.

How much to tip?

Tipping is a very personal act so what I am expressing here is just my biased opinion.

I tip for the following reasons:
1. As a general courtesy in appreciation of good work.
2. As there is something in saying: what goes around, comes around.
3. To keep a good rapport with dealers and organizers.

Some digressions:
The better and cordial job they do - the better the tips.
I inquire about the way tips are shared – if it is limited only to people directly involved with the event then I am inclined to contribute more generously.

Rule of the thumb? Yes, there is one:
It should be at least 1% of your prize money.
My feeling is that 1% as a tip for a win of the magnitude of 100K or more is sufficient, then, it becomes 1.5-2% for wins of 25K-50K, 4% for ten big ones, and around 10-15% for some small (a few hundred bucks) premiums.
It may seem to some people that tipping over 10% is excessive. Perhaps it is, but here is the way I look at it. If you play tournaments (or table bj) as a recreation, than you may win 2-3 hundred bucks a couple of times. It probably makes no difference to your well-being whether you tip a total of $20 (4%) or $50 (10%).
If one considers oneself a professional player (sure) then income derived from “gambling” should be over $50,000. To achieve, let’s say 85K wins one would need to collect: one win 50k (minus 1.5%=$750), one 20k (2,5%=$500), one 10k (4%=$400), couple 2k (7%x2=$140), and five small prizes of $200 each (12.5%x5=$125). Total tips -$1915. If one, for winning $200, tips 5% (ten bucks) instead of tipping 12.5% (one green), then one saves a whole $75. That is $75 out of $1915, or out of $85,000.00 – depending how we look at it.

I saw a guy tipping 3K after winning 6K in a dice tournament, then, I saw a bj player winning 100K and leaving no tip, whatsoever!

I wish you had a tipping problem every time you play.

S. Yama

 

[TXtourplayer]

Tipping continued

S.Yama I didn't say I tipped out $4,500 only I have seen it, but what the hell you let me win $100K and I'd tip $4,500K and glad to do it...LOL.

ptaylorcpa as you can see it is up to each individual what them want to tip. The one thing most all players and all the regular tournament players agree on is tip the dealers something.

S.Yama is one of the best tournament players around (and I mean in all the games) and if he has a formula I can promise you it is fair. If anyone knows about tipping it would be him, (since he makes a final or two almost every month). Kennye is another one that has been hotter then a firecracker. You could make a good living off what those two have tipped out this year...LOL (I'm really not kidding).

Just remember the dealers are not working because they like us so much and a thank you doesn't buy food or pay their rent, this is their job and they work hard for it. If you don't think so try dealing the cards and rotating after each hand, now imagine several players talking and back ground noise and see how many mistakes you make after dealing regular BJ all the time. I can tell you from experance that it is not easy.

 

[ptaylorcpa]

Thanks for the input

Thanks for the input. I agree it is easy to tip when you are winning, but it only seems fair to tip regardless if you have had a good time at the table. It's really not the dealers fault if you get cleaned out, in fact I really respect a dealer who will tell players to leave the table when they see the cards going south and people increasing their bets in hopes of it turning when it won't. Being new and not playing tournaments before I didn't know what was proper. Hopefully the players besides the winners will tip the dealers too since it is hard work remembering how to move around the table when you are used to always dealing from the same first base. I didn't know if the house paid their dealers more to deal in a tournament or not. I noticed that the Frontier says they hold back 3% of the entry fee to go to the dealers. I don't know if that is common or not.

 

[TXtourplayer]

Most Tournaments

In most cases the dealers in the tournaments still have to share their tips with everyone on that shift regular tables included. As far as pay they get their regular hourly rate for dealing tournaments.