A friend of mine who is a professional video poker player told me something that surprised me -- he doesn't tip when he gets handpays. I'm surprised because I have always given a tip to the floor person at a casino who brought me the cash when I hit a jackpot. But my friend, the professional player, told me if he did that he would give away thousands of dollars a year for no good reason. He told me that he literally has thousands of handpays each year playing video poker at the $5/coin and higher level, and if he tipped just $10 per handpay he would be giving away ten thousand, twenty thousand dollars or more.
Usually handpays at casino games are given when the payoff is $1,200 or more and a W2G tax form is issued. On a handpay of $1,200 a $10 tip would be less than 1%. My friend says that even 1% as a tip would cut seriously into his "advantage" as a video poker player.
However, he says when he plays at $25 per coin and $100 per coin levels he will give a tip at the end of his session because usually there is a floor person standing behind him during the entire session writing down each W2G win -- because there are so many at that high denomination. Keep in mind that at the $100/coin level just a three-of-a-kind in Jacks or Better would pay $1,500 which is a W2G handpay.
Well, like I said, I'm surprised he doesn't routinely tip. I always thought that was expected among players -- especially those fortunate enough to hit a jackpot.
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