Need suggestions for paying your Poker Dealer in this scenario..
It is a private home game with 6 to 8 players, typically running for 6 to 8 hours. It’s a lively and friendly environment, complete with drinks, cigars, and a full meal catered for the evening—usually Italian cuisine, which also includes any meal requests the dealer might have, along with ample snacks.
The limits mostly played are: 2.50/5 NL (we used to play 2/5 NL, but now we have snappers), sometimes 5/5 or 5/10. The max buy-in is $1,500, though we allow players to match stacks (or up to match the stack) as the game progresses, especially at higher stakes. We average about 30 to 40 hands per hour and play a variety of no-limit mixed games: 7 Card Stud, Hold’em, Omaha, 5 Stud, 2-7 Draw, Double Draw, Triple Draw, Razz, Stud Hi-Lo, and a few others.
Dealers are welcome to take breaks as needed, with longer breaks available every hour and a half.
We’ve tried a few different ways to compensate dealers, and it’s worth noting that no rake is ever taken by the house:
1. $2/hand mandatory tip – This worked when we had $2 chips, but with the $2.50 snappers now in play, it’s cumbersome. So we started to tip 2.50 per pot. We prefer to keep fewer chips on the table and avoid having to make change or color up chips for tips just to keep the snappers in circulation. This process slows the game and isn’t ideal.
2. Bomb pot rake – At the top and bottom of each hour, each player puts in $10, and we take out $30 for the dealer. However, players aren’t particularly fond of bomb pots, and we eventually imposed a $200 per player cap on these hands.
3. Hourly rate – We’ve paid dealers $70–$80/hour, with players tipping(seat time) $10/hour each, for a minimum of seven players. This is the players’ preferred method: it’s clean, easy to calculate, and straightforward. However, some dealers seem to feel short-changed—perhaps because they don’t see the steady stream of tips like they would if tips were coming out of every pot.
In addition to the structured pay, players also tip periodically—often for big pots, exciting hands, or dramatic suck-outs. We estimate that these extra tips add up to around $20/hour, though we haven’t tracked that precisely.
We have a few important rules: dealers are strictly prohibited from discussing anything that happens in the game or mentioning players who participate. We did have to part ways with a dealer who violated this trust. Over the past three years, we’ve rotated through three different dealers.
About four months ago, we started dealing ourselves because a couple of dealers either talked about the games or constantly asked for more money. However, we’re back to wanting to bring in a dealer again. From our perspective, $60–$70/hour for a game that runs from 6 or 7 p.m. until 1–3 a.m.—with free meals and drinks—seems fair. But perhaps we’re out of touch.
We’re hoping to find a straightforward, fair way to pay dealers that avoids constant renegotiation, minimizes the clutter of chips, and doesn’t require us to track hands or make change constantly—nor do we want to continue dealing ourselves.
Any suggestions, methods, or ideas would be greatly appreciated!
It is a private home game with 6 to 8 players, typically running for 6 to 8 hours. It’s a lively and friendly environment, complete with drinks, cigars, and a full meal catered for the evening—usually Italian cuisine, which also includes any meal requests the dealer might have, along with ample snacks.
The limits mostly played are: 2.50/5 NL (we used to play 2/5 NL, but now we have snappers), sometimes 5/5 or 5/10. The max buy-in is $1,500, though we allow players to match stacks (or up to match the stack) as the game progresses, especially at higher stakes. We average about 30 to 40 hands per hour and play a variety of no-limit mixed games: 7 Card Stud, Hold’em, Omaha, 5 Stud, 2-7 Draw, Double Draw, Triple Draw, Razz, Stud Hi-Lo, and a few others.
Dealers are welcome to take breaks as needed, with longer breaks available every hour and a half.
We’ve tried a few different ways to compensate dealers, and it’s worth noting that no rake is ever taken by the house:
1. $2/hand mandatory tip – This worked when we had $2 chips, but with the $2.50 snappers now in play, it’s cumbersome. So we started to tip 2.50 per pot. We prefer to keep fewer chips on the table and avoid having to make change or color up chips for tips just to keep the snappers in circulation. This process slows the game and isn’t ideal.
2. Bomb pot rake – At the top and bottom of each hour, each player puts in $10, and we take out $30 for the dealer. However, players aren’t particularly fond of bomb pots, and we eventually imposed a $200 per player cap on these hands.
3. Hourly rate – We’ve paid dealers $70–$80/hour, with players tipping(seat time) $10/hour each, for a minimum of seven players. This is the players’ preferred method: it’s clean, easy to calculate, and straightforward. However, some dealers seem to feel short-changed—perhaps because they don’t see the steady stream of tips like they would if tips were coming out of every pot.
In addition to the structured pay, players also tip periodically—often for big pots, exciting hands, or dramatic suck-outs. We estimate that these extra tips add up to around $20/hour, though we haven’t tracked that precisely.
We have a few important rules: dealers are strictly prohibited from discussing anything that happens in the game or mentioning players who participate. We did have to part ways with a dealer who violated this trust. Over the past three years, we’ve rotated through three different dealers.
About four months ago, we started dealing ourselves because a couple of dealers either talked about the games or constantly asked for more money. However, we’re back to wanting to bring in a dealer again. From our perspective, $60–$70/hour for a game that runs from 6 or 7 p.m. until 1–3 a.m.—with free meals and drinks—seems fair. But perhaps we’re out of touch.
We’re hoping to find a straightforward, fair way to pay dealers that avoids constant renegotiation, minimizes the clutter of chips, and doesn’t require us to track hands or make change constantly—nor do we want to continue dealing ourselves.
Any suggestions, methods, or ideas would be greatly appreciated!
