Tipping

I thought I should chime in again on this topic as some of you don't know, but there are casinos out there that takes 20% of the dealers toke to pay their floor persons besides their salary. Many thanks to Steve Wynn, he's the one that introduced this practice to the industry. And now it's all over Vegas LOL. Any upper management that came from the Wynn, they enforced the same b.s thing to other casinos. SLS is an example of how pitty it is. They literally have no players and the casino is very slow most days and nights. Some day, they don't even get 5000 in tokes and yet they have to cough up 20% to their floors. And whatever left over, they would have to split that evenly to hundreds of dealers.

And this is how it works in the casino, let's say you have 100 dealers that day and they work 8 hours each

100*8=800 hours

4000 tokes / 800 = $50 bucks for that shift

50 / 8 = 6.25 an hr + their 7.25/hr (58/day) =$13.50

But anyway, somebody in here already said it. If you're a tipper you're gonna tip no matter what, and if you're a cheap person you're not gonna tip. And that's that. They will have every excuse in the book for their reasons. Just be who you are, in the end everything will eventually work out and life goes on.

Why is tipping wait staff generally not controversial at all while dealer tips are a perpetual argument. I suggest it is because the expectations for dealer tipping are not well understood. At a restaurant I know the procedure. I know the amount of a reasonable tip and a generous tip. In the casino it's not clear at all. Should I tip at the beginning or the end? A dealer said somewhere that no one expects you to tip if you are losing. The Wizard said somewhere, one half of your typical bet per hour. At Micheal Bluejay's site, he suggests $5 per hour no matter how much you wager is adequate because if everyone did that amount it would proved a reasonable pay rate to the dealer. If I decide to tip a certain amount per hour do I need to divide it between each of the three dealers per hour that work the table? Are they supposed to get some of the loose chips after I color up? There is no consensus on any of it. What kind of time honored tradition is that?

I don't mind being called cheap (though I don't know why you don't call your employer cheap, they run it that way), but I never worked a job where I depended on tips. I always worked a job where you were expected to do a good job for every customer -- at least the way the boss saw it. And if a customer is not getting even that he/she can complain.

Let other people pay an extra charge when they want extra special service. Why make it optional pay?

this is the way I want my service

Example

No bell hop- no fee carry your own $0
Bell hop - delivery in 20mins 1$ Nothing damaged guarantee.
Bell hop - delivery in 5 mins $5
Bell hop - no waiting $10
Bell hop - no waiting, kiss your ass, tell you you're pretty and smart, best customer had all day. $50

There are people who love the last bit out of customer service, I don't need it.

Quote: JimRockford

If I decide to tip a certain amount per hour do I need to divide it between each of the three dealers per hour that work the table?

Do they keep their own tokes, or pool?

I hope you can take it from there.

Quote: Dieter

Do they keep their own tokes, or pool?

I hope you can take it from there.

So if they pool, it doesn't matter when I tip. I could tip ones per hour and 2/3 of the dealers think I am a stiff. Or I could throw out a white chip fairly frequently and the dealer who left shortly after I sat down thinks I am a low tipper. The point is there is no norm with which to compare my behavior.

Quote: JimRockford

So if they pool, it doesn't matter when I tip. I could tip ones per hour and 2/3 of the dealers think I am a stiff. Or I could throw out a white chip fairly frequently and the dealer who left shortly after I sat down thinks I am a low tipper. The point is there is no norm with which to compare my behavior.

Please explain in more detail. Are you saying dealers change tables every 20 minutes, you tip one dealer $1 and the other 2 dealers in that hour $0? If you're tipping $1/hour, you're a stiff.

Quote: JimRockford

So if they pool, it doesn't matter when I tip.

Sort of.

If you want the dealers to see you tipping, you need to spread it around. It doesn't affect their pockets, however.

If they keep their own tokes, you need to spread it around, unless you don't like one of the dealers.

If you're getting about 6 shoes an hour, a dollar a shoe is pretty close to $5/hr, and should spread the tokes around somewhat fairly.

I used to bet a white and cap my bet with a white at the start of each shoe. I was looked at as being a stiff. I no longer do anything. However, when all I did play recreationally, I did tip more. I do believe there is a huge difference between craps and any other game. A dice crew should be taken care of. I do not play.

Quote: MaxPen

I used to bet a white and cap my bet with a white at the start of each shoe. I was looked at as being a stiff. I no longer do anything.

Just curious...did someone come right out and tell you you were a "stiff?" Or was it just something you could sense in the dealers' general demeanor towards you? If the latter, was it really every dealer at every place you played?

I can't speak for all dealers, of course, but I thank players for all tips, even if it's only a dollar. My philosophy is that every little bit helps (even in a pooled house like mine), and doing so draws attention to the fact that dealers accept tips--especially on a low-limit game, where many first time-players may not be aware of such.

Just curious, some restaurant have a 10 course set menu costing $300 per person. Tipping still 15% to 20% ?

Quote: rxwine

this is the way I want my service

Example

No bell hop- no fee carry your own $0
Bell hop - delivery in 20mins 1$ Nothing damaged guarantee.
Bell hop - delivery in 5 mins $5
Bell hop - no waiting $10
Bell hop - no waiting, kiss your ass, tell you you're pretty and smart, best customer had all day. $50

I suspect bell hop don't want to sell their service as such.
1) The bell hop may hope to charge different prices depend on individual customer attributes. Higher price if the customer is rich/old/weak. Lower price if the customer is poor/young/strong.
2) The bell hop may want to charge higher prices during busy periods, and less when they are standing around doing nothing.
3) Customer who will pay the $50 category will not buy it if it is explicitly contracted as such.
4) The bell hop may persuade the customer into paying for a service by delivering it first. A service the customer may otherwise not paid for.

In one of the dozens of tipping threads here, the Wizards tells the story of having an expensive meal at the Wynn with a friend who was a host and said friend picking up the tab. Wizard offers to leave tip. Host orders $800 bottle of wine. The question of tipping was raised. Why is the tip on the wine $144 (18%) when the exact same amount of effort was made to deliver that bottle as opposed to a $20 bottle?

Quote: 1BB

In one of the dozens of tipping threads here, the Wizards tells the story of having an expensive meal at the Wynn with a friend who was a host and said friend picking up the tab. Wizard offers to leave tip. Host orders $800 bottle of wine. The question of tipping was raised. Why is the tip on the wine $144 (18%) when the exact same amount of effort was made to deliver that bottle as opposed to a $20 bottle?

It is around this idea that I usually under tip at expensive places and over tip at cheap places. I usually tip the bartenders roughly the same amount whether the establishment is charging me $3 or $10 for a beer. Tips are for service, yet the big difference in restaurant prices are usually quality of food and location, nether of which the waiter has any real bearing on. Yes the service at a downtown steak house is usually better than at the local Applebee's but is it 5 times better?