While most players understand that tips make up a good portion of a poker dealer’s income, many are confused by exactly when (and how much) it is appropriate to tip dealers.

There are three general categories poker tipping falls under: cash games, tournaments, and what I like to refer to as gratuity raked tournaments.

Before getting into the general conventions of tipping, I would first like to point something out. In cash games, and most tournaments, tipping is never mandatory. It is always to the player’s discretion, although some dealers will try to make players feel otherwise. If a dealer ever pressures you to tip, I’d suggest you don’t. <READMORE> While we dealers do rely on tips for a substantial portion of our wage, I strongly believe tipping should reflect the quality of service received - if there’s no service, I don’t see why there should be a tip. I don’t expect tips from players, but I certainly appreciate them, and I try to do everything I can to cut down on dealing errors, keep the gaming moving at a quick and reasonable pace, and to call my game so players always know what’s happening. If you observe the toke-box at your local card room for awhile you’ll begin to see which dealers tend to receive more tips, and it’s fairly obvious why. So remember that while there are conventions, and it is usually standard to tip, tipping is never mandatory, especially to poor or rude dealers. On the flip side, if you sit down to an exceptional dealer there’s nothing that says you can’t tip more than average in appreciation of his or her effort.

Cash Games

In lower to medium limit cash games you’ll generally see players tip $1 when they win a pot (for limit games like $1/$3 you might see 50 cents a pot). This does not apply to pots with very few bets in them, or when a player wins the blinds. It doesn’t make much sense for a player at $2/$4 to tip the dealer a dollar when they only won $3 of blinds, or a $10 pot, $4 of which was their own money. Where it becomes reasonable to tip is discretionary, but I’d say that when one dollar is equal to 3-6% of the profit earned, a $1 tip becomes fairly standard. When a larger pot is won, especially one that takes a long time to play out, you’ll often see players tip in the $2-$5 range, sometimes more.

Some players, however, like to wait until the end of their session to tip, and generally tip a larger sum all at once instead of $1 for each pot they’ve won. If you’re thinking about doing this you should keep an eye on whether or not the tips are pooled at the establishment you’re playing at. If tips are pooled, and go into a collective toke box, when you tip is irrelevant (a toke is casino slang for a tip by the way). If you see dealers taking their toke box or tray with them however, it’s customary to tip the dealer before he leaves. If you have a dealer for 2 hours, and you end your session 15 minutes after he’s been tapped off, it doesn’t make much sense to be tipping the new dealer $10 for the 7 hands he’s dealt you, and the old dealer nothing for the 300 he’s dealt.

Also, remember that the more hands per hour a dealer gets in, the more they earn in tips. In a way keeping up with the action and acting quickly where possible is akin to tipping more, and is definitely appreciated by dealers. Always remember that it’s your prerogative to take time making your decisions if needed, but that being overly slow, not paying attention to the action, or deliberately wasting time (i.e. spending one minute pretending you might call when it’s an obvious fold) is not appreciated. I’m not saying to rush your decisions, because if you legitimately need time to think a hand out, you should take it. There’s nothing worse than feeling rushed and making a bad decision because of it.

When I was in Vegas last summer I played a little $1/$2 at the MGM. I was doing pretty well, and was sitting with around $500 in front of me from my initial $100 buy-in. I was dealt pocket jacks in the cutoff, and was faced with a $6 UTG bet which was raised to $25 by a middle position player. Both players had around $200 in front of them and I couldn’t decide if my jacks were good or not. After about 20 seconds of thinking the dealer asked me, not overly politely, to hurry my decision up. I told him I needed a few seconds to think about it, and he told me, fairly rudely, to make my decision quickly because I was costing him money. I didn’t have the confidence at the table I do now, and as the rest of the table began siding with the dealer against me, I made a stupid, flustered decision and mucked my cards in a situation I think I otherwise would have called. When the flop came down JA7, and it turned out my set would have held up against two pair, I angrily got up and told the dealer he had cost himself at least $5 or $6 in what I would have tipped him, and left.

So while you should try to do your part to keep the game moving, remember that you are not obligated to act like you’re on a 10 second timer, and a dealer should never influence your decision in a hand. If you can tell a dealer’s getting a little frustrated with the amount of time you’re taking to act (and you are taking a fairly long time), but he’s being decent about it, you can let him know that you appreciate his patience and that you will remember it when you tip. Again, however, it’s your decision.

Tournaments

Some players, first timers especially, have absolutely no idea how much they should tip (or even if they should), when they win a tournament. While it is fairly standard (and again appreciated) to tip when you place higher up in a tournament (especially first, second, or third), the amount people tip is generally more discretionary than it is in a cash game. I would say, to ballpark it, that the standard figure is between 2-5% depending on the size of the tournament. The larger the payout is, the lower the percentage tipped is. Once again, however, if you felt the dealers did a great job, feel free to go higher, and if they were miserable or apathetic and unhelpful, to go lower.

Find out before the tournament starts, however, whether a portion of your buy-in (not the administration fee) is already going towards the dealers. This is what I refer to as a gratuity rake, and is similar to eating at a buffet where a 15% gratuity charge is automatically tacked on to your bill.

Gratuity-Raked Tournaments

After the 2005 WSOP there was a fair bit written about Joseph Hachem and what he tipped tournament staff after his $7.5 million win; a number of rumors put the figure at $100. Sure that sounds cheap, especially in comparison to the near-philanthropic sounding $50,000 Greg Raymer left after his 2004 WSOP win. But when people point the finger at Hachem they tend to forget that starting in 2004 Harrah’s began withholding 2% of the prize pool for dealer and staff compensation.

Sure Raymer was subject to this gratuity rake as well, but he won $5 million. That’s roughly $100,000 that was taken from his winnings, whereas Hachem, winning $7.5 million, had $150,000 taken from him. In the end both sent the same amount of money to tournament staff. Raymer’s looks a little better on paper, yes, but can you really fault Hachem for feeling like a $150,000 tip was sufficient? I can’t.

In these types of tournaments the tip has already been taken out of your winnings to ensure the casino staff receives consistent, and what is felt to be fair, compensation for their time. In these situations I would say it’s a complete toss up whether or not to tip – it’s all about how you feel. Personally, if I finished lower in the money in one of these tournaments I wouldn’t tip much, or at all. If I won or took second or third, being a dealer myself and having worked in the service industry for a long time, I’d likely tip. But don’t ever feel like you have to in these situations, or that it’s necessarily standard.

Oh, and by the way, if you’ve ever heard that it’s good luck to tip the dealer....that rumor is 100% correct, although we don’t know who keeps spreading it.
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