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Thread: Let's revisit tipping.

  1. #1
    In Bob Dancer's latest column he makes mention that he gets something like four million dollars a year in W2G's and if he tipped 1% per hand pay it would total $40,000 and that could make the difference between a winning or a losing year.

    First, if that's true, he has a very small profit margin. But that's a different discussion.

    The real discussion is about tipping 1-percent.

    I've often read that on a $20,000 royal an appropriate tip would be $100 or one-half of one percent. I admit I tip 1% except when it's a hand pay of $1250 and then its $10 which is 0.8%.

    The last time my wife joined me for dinner and some VP at a casino, she got a $2,000 royal playing 50-cent bonus and she tipped $20 which was 1%.

    When you think about it, video poker players tipping 1% puts them under many table game players. I've seen $10 passline players at craps tip the dealers $1 by putting $1 on top of their $10 bet. Craps players also might make a $1 hardways bet for the dealers which can return $10 when it hits.

    So has tipping changed at all in the last year because of the economy or any other reason?

  2. #2
    People are probably tipping less because of the economy and that is too bad because these service workers do make a living by there tips. However I can see tipping at table games a lot more than at video poker or slots. I do tip the bartenders for drinks and if I do hit a royal I tip a handpay maybe 10 or 20 bucks, but really think most tipping would be made at the table games.

  3. #3
    I don't know, table dealers interact with the players on a continuous basis, while slot folks only usually show up for handpays and the not-so-frequent problems. You already know I teach people NEVER to give away handpay money in tips because it makes no sense. I don't tip at the bank, Walgreens, the grocery store, or at McDonalds. Why give handpay people my money? But I probably would tip table dealers IF I were winning.

    I wouldn't be surprised if Dancer made his numbers up. Like with arci and his stories, I've caught Bob more times than I can remember telling fibs in his articles just to make them seem interesting. If he is tipping 1% on all those handpays, it comes out to a lot higher % of his supposed winnings. No way he'd subject himself to that. He makes such a big deal on squeezing every ounce of "advantage" out of his plays.
    Last edited by Rob.Singer; 06-10-2012 at 10:10 AM.

  4. #4
    Originally Posted by Rob.Singer View Post
    But I probably would tip table dealers IF I were winning.
    In fact, table dealers don't expect a tip unless you do win. In my case at craps, I will put a bet for the dealers only after I have made a pass while shooting. Rarely do I tip for the dealers when I am not shooting. The exception is when the shooter is on such a tremendous roll that I am raking in chips and the dealers are busy pressing my bets.

    I have a bit of an unusual pattern for pressing -- it's not the automatic "pressing" that most craps players use. I actually press the numbers with a greater likelihood of hitting and this will disrupt the pattern of most dealers. Therefore, I'll tip to show my appreciation for getting my "pressing pattern" correct.

    By the way, I think my pattern for pressing at craps if not unique is certainly very different from what you read in books and what most players do. In fact, I've never seen another player do what I do. And when there is a hot shooter, I will usually get a better percentage win with my pressing pattern than other players will get. In simple terms, I'm pressing the inside numbers out regardless of which number hits while most craps players press the number that hits.

    My unusual pressing will cause dealers to say something like "4 hit, pressing six and eight" to remind themselves that they are doing something different and it doesn't confuse what they do paying off the next player. What I also do different is sometimes press two numbers at a time, so a dealer might have to say "8 hit, pressing five and six."

  5. #5
    I believe Bob's point was that high stakes gambling leads to hand pays on hands that occur much more often. If it was only the RFs then I remember Bob saying he tipped 1%. But, if you getting hand pays on every quad then it changes the frequency considerably.

  6. #6
    Originally Posted by arcimede$ View Post
    I believe Bob's point was that high stakes gambling leads to hand pays on hands that occur much more often. If it was only the RFs then I remember Bob saying he tipped 1%. But, if you getting hand pays on every quad then it changes the frequency considerably.
    I've watched the players at the $100/coin machines... they have an attendant stand behind them with a yellow legal pad writing down the hands that qualify for a W2G and the attendant unlocks the machine with a key after each win. In these cases any three of a kind of better is a W2G hand and there is no actual hand pay.

    I've often wondered how these $100/coin players tip? I would think that at the end of their session they must tip something for the attendant standing there for an hour or two or more? And then some other "tip" if a royal is hit?

    I wondered what an appropriate tip would be on a $400,000 royal? 1% would be $4,000. Half of one percent would be $2,000. I've discussed this with some friends who said they couldn't under any circumstances tip more than $500.

  7. #7
    Yes, there is an attendant who sits behind you as you play the $100 machine, and it's as much for compiling a single W2G (a signature is still required on the log right then and there for every $1200+ win) as it is for making the player feel even more pressure to tip as thesingle W2G is handed to you at the end of your session. As someone who isn't at all intimidated by these people and who understands they should be happy enough that I came in to give them my business at such a highly visible level, I never had any problem with not tipping them and neither did their management show it in my presence. High limit rooms do have more professional employees, and they are paid for that.

  8. #8
    Originally Posted by Rob.Singer View Post
    High limit rooms do have more professional employees, and they are paid for that.
    Are the attendants in high limit rooms paid more?

  9. #9
    I know when I played those machines the more senior people who also appear to be more professional in their approach towards the players, do take care of you. Similariy, the senior exec hosts introduce themselves to you, and they work from in there. The only non-change seems to be the coctail waitresses.

  10. #10
    Well, if I were a top level host, I'd be in the high limit room too instead of the penny slots. But at Caesars the same "slot hosts" in the high limit room also work the lower limit slot machines. they probably spend more time in the high limit room because there are more handpays in the high limit room.

    by the way, about a year ago when the 25-cent wheel of fortune hit at Caesars by the Pussycat Dolls casino area, all of the slot floor people (slot hosts) went running to that WOF area along with most of the security people. I guess that's one of their procedures to keep order when a mega jackpot gets hit.

    Gee, when I hit a jackpot, the only extra people who stop by my machine are either my son or wife who want their share.

  11. #11
    They flock to the area because they want to congratulate the winner and make them feel comfortable handing away their tip money. I do remember the time I hit four aces with a kicker on $25 in the HL room at Caesars. Suddenly cocktail waitress were apperaing at every angle right behind well-wishing floor attendants. I couldn't drink because I had won my goal and was about to get on my motorcycle of all things, and drive home overnight (it was River Run weekend in Laughlin and my wife flew in to meet me at Caesars--long story). I can remember the absolute stunned looks on all their faces as I got up to go to my room with $50,000 of their former cash--and no tips! Such a beautiful memory.

  12. #12
    that actually does sound awesome. They feel so effing entitled.

  13. #13
    Originally Posted by Rob.Singer View Post
    They flock to the area because they want to congratulate the winner and make them feel comfortable handing away their tip money. I do remember the time I hit four aces with a kicker on $25 in the HL room at Caesars. Suddenly cocktail waitress were apperaing at every angle right behind well-wishing floor attendants. I couldn't drink because I had won my goal and was about to get on my motorcycle of all things, and drive home overnight (it was River Run weekend in Laughlin and my wife flew in to meet me at Caesars--long story). I can remember the absolute stunned looks on all their faces as I got up to go to my room with $50,000 of their former cash--and no tips! Such a beautiful memory.
    No, when a mega jackpot is hit, they are there to keep the gawkers away, they set up a ring around the game and player. Twice I have been at Caesars when mega jackpots were hit (both were WOF, once quarters, once dollars).

    There is a lot of "game protection" and "player protection" that casino personnel are trained in, that you don't know about and rarely see.

    My favorite story is when I was at a craps table and a drunk player actually yelled then pushed a dealer over a bet, and within seconds three plain clothes security jumped up from three nearby blackjack tables to jump on the offending drunk. That's when I found out Caesars had undercover security playing at table games throughout the casino.

    If I were 30 years younger, thirty pounds heavier, and had 30-times the muscle I have now, I would LOVE that job... playing with the house's money and waiting for something to happen which rarely does.

  14. #14
    I don't think that happens Alan because I'm an aware person and I've never sensed it. Cocktail waitresses and skinny Asian floor personnel helping form a protective ring around the winner? It's more like they're advertising a hit jackpot so others will see that it is indeed possible. The #1 reason they show up is for their cut.

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