What do you tip the dealer in a Live dealt $1/2 game???? (1 Viewer)

Trihonda

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I'm not an expert on dealer tipping, so I wanted to get a feel for what others tip, and make sure I'm tipping ok. In watching what others do, I think I'm middle of the road. I see people tip every single hand they've won, regardless of amount, I've also seen people not tip at all, or those who only tip if they win a huge hand.

Here's my philosophy on tipping the dealers when I've played live $1/2:

If I raise and only get the blinds (with maybe up to 1 limper), I'm not usually tipping (especially if I'm one of the blinds).

As a general rule, if there's a redbird in the pot that I didn't put there, I'm tipping (my standard tip is a $1 chip).

If I win a large pot with a sea of red chips, I'm tipping more than $1 (anywhere from $2-5 depending). I don't remember too many $5 tips, but I know there have been a couple pots worth $300+ that I recall tipping decently.

I also tend to tip more when the dealer is pleasant and engaging (and efficient). I also recall snubbing a dealer at Ballys who cost me a serious pot by completely screwing up a hand (and was unapologetic), this dealer had a major attitude.

I also try not to vary my tipping based on my chip stack, but if I'm doing well, I seem to be more likely to dole out higher tips. If I'm short stacked, it's harder to part with chips (when they give you an advantage). I've caught myself tipping a tad lighter when I'm extremely short stacked. Again, I try to tip consistently.

So, what are people's tipping guidelines?
 
I intentionally failed to tip a dealer for the first time in my life yesterday at Foxwoods, but that's because he cost me a $900 pot the hand before via a pretty egregious dealer error. Otherwise, same standards as you for the most part.
 
My dealer error was her failing to allow me the option to bet my BB... She just dealt the flop... Then when I said "whoa, I didn't check". She said "check?" And proceeded to deal the turn. Which allowed my villain to catch up in a hand I was initially ahead in... Two mis-steps. Then she was very unapologetic, and even continued to be bitchy
 
I usually play 2/5 but my rules are easy: $1 per pot, even if I just take the blinds. $2 for a large pot. $2-5 for a special effort or something that goes above and beyond typical dealer duties.
 
My dealer error was her failing to allow me the option to bet my BB... She just dealt the flop... Then when I said "whoa, I didn't check". She said "check?" And proceeded to deal the turn. Which allowed my villain to catch up in a hand I was initially ahead in... Two mis-steps. Then she was very unapologetic, and even continued to be bitchy

This is exactly what happened to me but he did it as I was putting out a $300ish bluff bet which villain called with a 6 high flush. I was raising the flop knowing he wouldn't call with a shitty flush draw. It helps to play better when you can have someone bet and then decide on the next street whether to call or not.
 
In a casino or other raked game: $1 per pot, regardless. $2 if I stack someone. $3 for a really big pot (like $600+) Tossed $10 for a $2k pot at $2/$5 against some guy who took like 5 minutes on every street to call me down, but that's the only time I recall going above $3.

In an unraked home game: more. Probably $2 if I win $50 and on upwards. $15 to Christine the Dealer for miracle hand that got me unstuck for DCS4. :D
 
Dealers work mostly for tips and most I know are happy to consistently get $1 per pot. It's annoying as hell for players to stop tipping based on runbad, and I've seen tables where majority of players just stop tipping.

I normally tip $1 or $2 per pot, and $5 or more on big pots. I've tipped $25 on several big suckouts in big multi-way pots, but that's pretty rare.
 
Agree to the above responses. Sometimes I will tip extra when coloring up to leave the table. Let say I have 384 in front of me. I'll tell them to keep the $4 in $1s as a tip
 
i have minimums for tipping, but no maximum. i will increase the below amounts if the table is particularly difficult. typically the tables with the most difficult - i.e., loudest, drunkest, etc. - are the tables i prefer to play as they are entertaining and often most profitable. that said, the below are my minimums:

i tip once every three times i raise pre and take down blinds/limps. i tip $1 for any pot that was raised pre and that i bet and take down postflop. i tip $2 for any pot that exceeds $500 and $5 for any pot that exceeds $1k.

a couple years ago i did experiment for about a month with a much different tipping strategy. instead of tipping per pot, i gave every dealer $5 when they sat down (so $5 per half hour) and never tipped when i won a hand. this was not as awkward as it sounds because at that time i was playing constantly, so i didn't have to go through the weird "i don't tip when i win - take this" every time. i had been dealt to by just about every dealer within a few days of starting, so they all caught on quick and knew what was up.

some liked it and some didn't. they should have all liked it because after tracking my tips for 120 hours of both traditional and this new tipping method, the dealers were definitely getting the better of it with the new method. i have since gone back to traditional tipping out of convenience, because it's cheaper, and because i don't play nearly enough nowadays that all the dealers would know me and not need it explained to them every session why i'm giving them $5 per down instead of just tipping like a normal human being.

my experiment was inspired by a durrrr story, the source of which i can't remember. evidently his practice on the televised cash games was to simply give the dealer $500 at the beginning of the taping. since all the dealers for the tv shows pooled their tips during each filmed session, it obviously had the same effect as if he had tipped $500 cumulatively through the session. i don't know how he came to the $500 figure, but i thought it was an interesting way to approach tipping, and since i don't play anywhere that requires dealers to pool tips, i adapted it for the above-described experiment.
 
All the posted tipping guidelines are good by me. As a part-time home-game dealer (usually working for just tips), I'm happy to get $1/hand average, and usually do better than that.

Somewhat related story to Jack's:

When I host cash games (very rare occurrence), I usually give the players four options on how to pay the dealer:

  • the table ponies up $15 once per hour for dealer pay (if five-handed, each pays $3), tips are totally optional
  • smallest chip in play is raked from every pot, two chips at flop, three chips at river. tips are optional
  • no dealer rake, but tipping is required (same as above). additional tipping is optional
  • totally optional tipping with no dealer rake (depending on a very tight-fisted crowd, I may exclude this one).

Any guesses on which is most popular with the players, and which is preferred by the dealers?
 
Any guesses on which is most popular with the players, and which is preferred by the dealers?

I'm guessing dealers prefer optional tipping & players prefer $15/hour, but I suppose this could vary based on ante/blinds.
 
All the posted tipping guidelines are good by me. As a part-time home-game dealer (usually working for just tips), I'm happy to get $1/hand average, and usually do better than that.

Somewhat related story to Jack's:

When I host cash games (very rare occurrence), I usually give the players four options on how to pay the dealer:

  • the table ponies up $15 once per hour for dealer pay (if five-handed, each pays $3), tips are totally optional
  • smallest chip in play is raked from every pot, two chips at flop, three chips at river. tips are optional
  • no dealer rake, but tipping is required (same as above). additional tipping is optional
  • totally optional tipping with no dealer rake (depending on a very tight-fisted crowd, I may exclude this one).

Any guesses on which is most popular with the players, and which is preferred by the dealers?

Guesses:

Player's Choice:
  • totally optional tipping with no dealer rake (depending on a very tight-fisted crowd, I may exclude this one).

Dealer's Choice:

  • smallest chip in play is raked from every pot, two chips at flop, three chips at river. tips are optional
 
Mostly the same as everybody else. However, I have a tendency to whine when I'm running bad, getting sucked out on, etc. When this happens I penalize myself by tossing a $5 chip to the dealer. I've never met a dealer who objected.

L
 
FYI in general, higher stakes doesn't mean higher tipping. $1 (90% of the time), $2 (5% of the time), $5 (5% of the time). I never tip $3 or $4 for whatever reason.
 
Mostly the same as everybody else. However, I have a tendency to whine when I'm running bad, getting sucked out on, etc. When this happens I penalize myself by tossing a $5 chip to the dealer. I've never met a dealer who objected.

this how a gentleman handles running bad and being short for all you "i don't tip when i'm losing" people. good on you, Leonard!
 
I'm more into tipping a dealer who is doing a good job running the game, rather than just because I happened to win the pot with a hand they dealt me. So I'm inclined to tip them sometimes even if I'm not involved in the hand or when I'm getting up to leave.

Generally prefer to stick with the $1 tip amount (kinda like when you go to a strip club, the sucker throwing a fiver at the dancer ain't getting anything more than I'm getting for my buck)

And higher stacks sometimes equal LESS tips! I took a shot at the 75/150 O.E. game MANY years ago at Foxwoods and it was like I was playing poker on another planet. You had all these guys sitting with 5K-15K in front of them, guys who owned construction companies and shit, and every one of them was a miserable cocksucker.

The entire time they berated one another, swore at the dealer, and not a single one of those fuckers tipped, EVER. Not even a dollar, while they were dragging in four-figure pots. It was sickening.
 
All the posted tipping guidelines are good by me. As a part-time home-game dealer (usually working for just tips), I'm happy to get $1/hand average, and usually do better than that.

Somewhat related story to Jack's:

When I host cash games (very rare occurrence), I usually give the players four options on how to pay the dealer:

  • the table ponies up $15 once per hour for dealer pay (if five-handed, each pays $3), tips are totally optional
  • smallest chip in play is raked from every pot, two chips at flop, three chips at river. tips are optional
  • no dealer rake, but tipping is required (same as above). additional tipping is optional
  • totally optional tipping with no dealer rake (depending on a very tight-fisted crowd, I may exclude this one).

Any guesses on which is most popular with the players, and which is preferred by the dealers?

I'm guessing the dealers like the rake. Then they are motivated to keep it rolling with more hands per hour. I might also guess that very good dealers do not like the $15 as this may limit them if they are really efficient.
 
Generally prefer to stick with the $1 tip amount (kinda like when you go to a strip club, the sucker throwing a fiver at the dancer ain't getting anything more than I'm getting for my buck)

Based on my personal experience, I'd argue heavily against that line of logic....

Of course, it may have more to do with personality than tip size. :)
 
That and they usually notice you better when you can see over the stage. ;)

Usually $1 per hand depending on pot size. If the pot is bigger then I tip more.
 
In 1/2 game I usually tips 2$ when the pot is over 20$ (10%) And 5$ for more than 100$ pot (<5%) Not so often ...
 
More than just about everyone else I play against.
 
In a 1-2 game I would tip $1 per hand I win... no matter the size of the pot. In a bigger game I tip $1 per hand unless the dealer has to deal with multiple pots/someone being an ass table captain/or if they go out of their way to ship me stacks intact instead of tumbled over, then I add a bit acordingly. I never change tips based on the size of the pot bc pot size really doesn't have anything to do with how much work the dealer does.
 
Usually $1 / pot unless it's a "big" one, say $500+, then maybe $2
If I steal the blinds I'll tip every other time
 
I usually tip $1 when I win a pot, but not when it's only the blinds. $2-3 when winning a large pot.

When I'm carddead or on a losing streak I tip $1 every hand (at one point the dealer at The Venetian started feeling sorry for me and wouldn't accept any more tips from me until I won a hand).

Played $4-$8 HORSE at the Venetian a couple years back, and at the dealer change the new dealer commented: "Oh great. HORSE." I didn't tip him no matter how big the pot was.

Last year played $10-$20 limit Holdem at the Bellagio for about 8 hours. When it got late, and most players decided to go to sleep, we ended up playing headsup. Rake was reduced to max $1 @ $40 pots. Dealer change, and this guy started taking the normal $4 @ 10% per pot. Took us a couple of hands before we actually caught it, we were chatting amongst ourselves too much. Floor was called, and decided the table would be rakefree for the next 2 hours, and then back to $1 @ $40. Needless to say that dealer didn't get tipped.
 
A buck if I win and up to 5 when I leave if they were good.
 
In the Dominican republic. Hotel casino last night. No poker, but I wanted some awesome chips they had, so I sit down at the BJ table. I'm an admitted newbie, the table knew it. I'd been receiving assistance from a fellow Wisconsinite seated next to me. I'm only playing long enough to get the chips I wanted to "harvest". After five minutes, my help leaves, I get a hand that runs about 6 cards to reach 21, the dealer flips two face cards, and starts to clear everyone's chips, including mine. I stop him, protest. I'm a pretty good read of body language, and my read is he looks like he's caught trying to pull a fast one (NOT just making an honest mistake). He pays me quickly, as the floor is walking over (without reviewing my cards to see what I had, because he knew the whole time). Could this have been an honest mistake, absolutely, but my read was otherwise. I got the chip I wanted to collect as a souvenir, and promptly left the table without tipping. BJ isn't my game. (Despite being up both times I played).
 
Played $1/$2 at the Horseshoe in Hammond last weekend (+$354 :cool:) and I tipped $1 every hand I won except for one big hand that I tipped $2. When I got up to leave I had $4 in white chips that I tossed to the dealer just to get rid of them. Of course I forgot about the $8 in white chips I had in my pocket for tipping waitresses so I wouldn't have to take them from my table stack.
 

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