Re: another tipping question (sorry)
 

Interesting, although I couldn't disagree more strongly. . . I'll write out a reply when I finish this research paper. For now, back to "The Realist Consensus, the Zionist Mind, and the Arab Question."

Re: another tipping question (sorry)
 

"Trust me, the dealers are thinking nasty things about you, and over time you may be held more strictly to the nittiest of rules, not be given benefits of doubt, etc."

Trust me..this is so true. You stiffs out there will get screwed. The dealer will find some angle to screw you sooner or later.

Re: another tipping question (sorry)
 

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Trust me..this is so true. You stiffs out there will get screwed. The dealer will find some angle to screw you sooner or later.

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Ok... let's keep perspective. A dealer who is actually being professional will not look to screw an under-tipper, ever. But not all dealers are particularly professional. But they also don't want to lose their job over a couple dollars a day of tokes, so most of 'em won't try anything truly dastardly. But yes, if you tick 'em off you can expect that they'll be a little quicker to muck your hand if you've stood up from the table to adjust your underwear during a hand, or they may fail to notice some tiny rule infraction that is going to work against you that some other player is making. Mostly, though, they'll just glare at you and pitch your cards erratically. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

As well, failing to tip for a $3 blind steal is NOT going to tick off very many dealers (and those who DO get upset about it can just suffer). Few really do expect they're gonna get $1 out of your $3 of profit. So if it makes you feel like a chump to do that, don't feel obligated. Again... how do YOU feel about it?

On the other hand, if pot after pot is $6 and gets checked down to the river, how's the dealer supposed to feel about working for 15 minutes making his $1.50 minimum wage? So yeah, I've actually tipped a dealer when I lost money on a pot after rake and split just 'cause the poor guy hadn't been toked in 3 hands. I toked a dealer my stack of $1's the other day because when I asked "why'd they close the long table with the autoshuffler and bring those players to our jammed full stud table with no shuffler instead of taking us over there" he immediately volunteered to call the floor to move us. This left him at a dead spread making no tokes; that'd be an example of professionalism (giving up tokes for the benefit of the players) that should be rewarded.

Re: another tipping question (sorry)
 

i tip $1 every time it gets to the flop, $2 on big pots

Re: another tipping question (sorry)
 

Tip however much you want, whenever you want. Don't tip when you don't want to. Never tip if you don't want to. How much you tip is 100% your business.

Re: another tipping question (sorry)
 

Wow, I finally went to the trouble to sign up... This topic is always interesting.

For the record I am not a dealer (the uniforms usually look goofy and I have a low tolerance for dumbass poker players so this would not be the career for me!) I am however known as a "good tipper."

This isn't as tough (or as expensive) as you might think. When I used to play 1-2 I generally used the following guidelines:

1) The dealer always gets a dollar. Even if you raise and take down the massive 3-dollar blinds, give the dealer a chip. They only deal so many hands per hour and need a small amount per hand. This is your most important tipping issue because dealers will remember a dollar tip from you regularly more than the occassional large tip. (It has to do with positive reinforcement, I suppose).

2) As the pots get larger, tip on up to $20 (Usually only on 1000+ pots. This would not be uncommon in the 1-2 games in Tunica as cash plays and the games are usually uncapped.) The upside rule is that I almost never tip over 25 no matter how large the pot. The funny thing is, most dealers don't worry about it. If you just took down a 3k pot and they only get 20 bucks, they still feel like you took care of them.

3) It seems that there is some unwritten "10%" rule. I have never understood whether that means that you should tip 10% of the pot or 10% of the profits. I know of no sane poker player who has ever done either, but I suspect that rule is spread by the dealers anyway!!!

4) As a side note: If you get the chance, make sure you tip the brush 5 bucks or so. Once they remember you, it is amazing how seats will magically appear!!

_____________________________________________

I don't do this because I'm a nice guy. Dealers who respect you will make you a lot of money. They will steer you to good games, soft play you when they are propping, tell you about good and bad players in the room, and let you know which cocktail staff are available (just kidding!)

People who don't understand dealer psych 101 are often confused. Three months ago I was in a 2-5 game at the Shoe in Tunica and a really quiet college kid took down a 1200 dollar 3-way pot. He waited two hands later to tip the dealer a red chip and obviously thought that he was "the man!" (This dealer was stunning, just to make the poor kid even more confused!) Just after that I won a whopping $16 pot and tipped $2. The dealer made it very clear that she appreciated my tip a great deal and you could just read the look confusion on the kid's face. ("Wait, I tipped more and you didn't smile that way at me!!!")


The short version of the post is to always make sure that you tip something.

It pays, trust me!

Re: another tipping question (sorry)
 

When playing at foxwoods last weekend, I heard someone at the table ask why the dealers pool their tips. The dealer responded, "the guys who play in the high limit games tip in the thousands, and that just wouldn't be fair to those of us who deal 1/2 or 2/5."

I just chuckled.

Re: another tipping question (sorry)
 

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2) As the pots get larger, tip on up to $20 (Usually only on 1000+ pots. This would not be uncommon in the 1-2 games in Tunica as cash plays and the games are usually uncapped.) The upside rule is that I almost never tip over 25 no matter how large the pot. The funny thing is, most dealers don't worry about it. If you just took down a 3k pot and they only get 20 bucks, they still feel like you took care of them...

I don't do this because I'm a nice guy. Dealers who respect you will make you a lot of money. They will steer you to good games, soft play you when they are propping, tell you about good and bad players in the room, and let you know which cocktail staff are available (just kidding!)

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More power to you if you want to tip several dollars a pot; you're a nice guy and I'm sure the dealers appreciate it very much. However, there's no way this is a +EV decision for you; whatever extra money you make because the staff likes you is absolutely getting swamped by the extra you're spending on tips.

Re: another tipping question (sorry)
 

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I play very little live poker, but when I do it's 1-3 NL at the Argosy in Indiana. Based on what I've observed, it seems that it is customary to tip the dealer after every hand regardless of pot size. Most all players even throw the dealer a dollar after taking the blinds uncontested.

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I can't believe no one has commented on this? I didn't know there was such a thing as 1/2 or 1/3 No Limit where you could take the blinds uncontested! [img]/images/graemlins/ooo.gif[/img] [img]/images/graemlins/cool.gif[/img]

I need to head up to Argosy instead of Caesars next time.

Re: another tipping question (sorry)
 

Hah! Good point, Bluegrass. It's about 1 pot in 100 that doesn't see the flop!

And in response to the earlier point about a 10% tip, I thought that was only applicable to tournaments, and even then very rarely adhered to. And I have never, ever seen anyone tip more than $3 at the tables I play on. Maybe that's the thing, though. Tip frequently, but not as much?

On the point of EV, I always assumed this was the reason for being a little more stingy with tips. It's hard enough to make money at poker. Once you factor in the rake and everything else, tipping can really eat into your profit. Interesting that not many people have mentioned tipping in that context.