Live Tourney Tipping

GTA Poker

Being a live cash game player and playing roughly 0-1 tournaments a year I am wondering what the going rate is for tipping.

Structure is 300+30+$10 dealer bonus that everyone takes.

Does only the winner tip? Standard %age? Does the $10 bonus change the tip %age?

Note that I overtip wrt societal standards almost everywhere in life when I get decent service so I am looking for some guidelines.

Hellmuth's Mole

GTA Poker;304768 wroteBeing a live cash game player and playing roughly 0-1 tournaments a year I am wondering what the going rate is for tipping.

Structure is 300+30+$10 dealer bonus that everyone takes.

Does only the winner tip? Standard %age? Does the $10 bonus change the tip %age?

Note that I overtip wrt societal standards almost everywhere in life when I get decent service so I am looking for some guidelines.

Good question.

I believe the Venetien KO tourny I was in was $100+$25 (bounty) + $25 (admin+dealer bonus).

I took home almost $800 with bounties and was reminded by the floor when signing out that all tips were appreciated. I thought the dealers were very good, the table service was pretty top notch and the tourny in general was very well run. I asked him what would be a gracious tip from a very satisfied customer? He understandably said he couldn't answer that. I left 3 my $25 bounty chips with him and he seemed very grateful.

I wondered most of the next day whether it was too little.

EDIT: Just did a google search and 2-5% seems standard. I'm a chump.

GTA Poker

Hellmuth's Mole;304771 wroteGood question.

I believe the Venetien KO tourny I was in was $100+$25 (bounty) + $25 (admin+dealer bonus).

I took home almost $800 with bounties and was reminded by the floor when signing out that all tips were appreciated. I thought the dealers were very good, the table service was pretty top notch and the tourny in general was very well run. I asked him what would be a gracious tip from a very satisfied customer? He understandably said he couldn't answer that. I left 3 my $25 bounty chips with him and he seemed very grateful.

I wondered most of the next day whether it was too little.

I believe standard is 3-5%, but I believe only the top few places tend to tip.

Wetts1012

Sorry, no tipping unless the service was Really good. If there is already a "dealer bonus"

Its not the players fault that the house rapes the dealers.

DennisG

While I have never had the opportunity to tip the dealers in a live tourney (does a min cash count for tipping?)..lol... Anywhere I go, if I am "forced" a gratuity...that is all they get (unless there is very good service). If gratuity is left up to me...I am quite liberal.

Richard~

I try to maximize my roi when I play live, tipping doesn't accomplish this ^^'

GTA Poker

Wetts1012;304813 wroteSorry, no tipping unless the service was Really good. If there is already a "dealer bonus"

Its not the players fault that the house rapes the dealers.

Define service really good. Does this mean that if there are a few bad dealers in day 1 when we are at 11 tables that you don't leave a tip if all dealers are very good when at 3 tables for day 2?

And what %age?

Wetts1012

GTA Poker;304857 wroteDefine service really good. Does this mean that if there are a few bad dealers in day 1 when we are at 11 tables that you don't leave a tip if all dealers are very good when at 3 tables for day 2?

And what %age?

I would direct tip the very good dealers rather than giving to the director to distribute.

Only tipping on wins, I would never tip a mincash when there is already dealer "admin" fee for basically the reason Richard said.

blackmagicz

The dealer bonus and rake is enough for the staff. Keep in mind there are tournies every week for staff meanwhile we as players win once in a while.

T8urmoney

holy nits itt batman

I usually tip 5% when I at least triple my investment

Richard~

T8urmoney;304966 wroteholy nits itt batman

I usually tip 5% when I at least triple my investment

you do know you've already paid them for their services right?

Wetts1012

T8urmoney;304966 wroteholy nits itt batman

I usually tip 5% when I at least triple my investment

At a restaurant when they charge you 10% gratuity on the bill do you still tip? Not hating, just wondering.

Hellmuth's Mole

What I love most about this thread is that it's becoming very relevant.

Milo

I despise restos that automatically add in a gratuity. Or, as I like to refer to it . . . pad their bill. I'll let you know how your service was after I've been served, thank you.

literation

Milo;304978 wroteI despise restos that automatically add in a gratuity. Or, as I like to refer to it . . . pad their bill. I'll let you know how your service was after I've been served, thank you.

It's true. I tip well and everything is usually fine but eventually bad service is gonna happen.

Wetts1012

Hellmuth's Mole;304771 wrote EDIT: Just did a google search and 2-5% seems standard. I'm a chump.

Im sure this is relative tho. Like if somebody wins 500k I doubt they tip 25k.

When I won in Wpg it was like 30k and I think I tipped $500 - because tipping 1500 just seems like giving away alot of dough.

Milo

I remember reading about this situation in McManus's book . . . seems like the more you win, the lower the % actually is. guess they count on the winner not thinking to clearly about how much X% would actually work out being on a big score.

So glad I will never have these worries.

Popkorn

I'll add my 2 cents into this convo.

As for restaurants adding the 10% service charge for their tips, my friends that have worked at restaurants that have done this say that their tip rate is actually higher than if they let their customers tip at their own discretion. I also don't tip above the 10% service charge if it's already on the bill.

As for tipping in live tournaments, anytime they have the dealer bonus or they withhold a % for the staff, I don't tip since they are already compensated. If the tournament is outside of Ontario and nothing was set aside for the dealers, then I will leave a tip depending on how much the prize is, how long the tournament was run for, etc.

And if you're wondering about why outside of Ontario? Well as you guys know Ontario casinos pool their tips with non-poker dealers. We've discussed this with a lot of the live regulars in Ontario and came up with a conclusion that tipping dealers in Ontario doesn't really make sense especially when the dealer you are tipping is in reality only getting pennies of what you are giving them. For me, I've developed friendships with a lot of dealers, so I do see them outside of the casino, and I would buy them drinks/food, etc as my form of tip.

Since dealers in Ontario don't keep their own tips, it has really hurt poker in so many ways here. By having the casinos pay them such a high hourly base salary, we have long wait lists for cash games, capped tournaments, and an abundance of dealers that choose to deal slowly, not learn the rules of the game, and are quick to get mad at every little situation/comment by the players. Right now I think most of the dealers are being paid $16/hour base and $8/hour in tips, if they get minimum wage and keep their own tips, I would think that everyone would be happier from players, to dealers, to casino management.

Milo

Doesn't your last paragraph contradict your first?

jontm

I think along the lines of Wetts and Popkorn on this one; many tournaments take 2-3% of prize-pool for tips, so everyone is pitching something. If I win or chop I will leave something extra.

There was only once I tipped $0 after winning 4 figures and that was after hitting a bad beat for a $1400ish share. They made me wait 3 days to get it and had the nerve to suggest that I leave a tip. Had they handed it to me the day of, sure I would have tipped well.