Poker-Tipping the Dealer?

Question

I've played a bit of online poker and plenty of home games, but never anything with a professional dealer. I know that they are in the service industry and rely on tips from the players. I also found online an article about tipping for tournaments. However I'm going to an indian casino in a bit and plan on playing some low stakes cash games. What are the general rules for tipping the dealer in these situations?

Answer 1

Indian casinos are more-or-less run by casino management firms, but maintain casino ownership.  Regardless, it should not make a difference how you tip the dealer.  For cash games I usually tip $1-2 per pot won.  You can just gently toss the chip in the direction of the dealer after he/she's picked the cards up and before they shuffle again.  You'll see other players do the same, just mimic them.

Answer 2

Give the dealer a $1 each time you win.

Answer 3

If you win a big pot, tip 1 or 2 blinds.  For example win a $80 pot at 1-2 NL, tip $4.

If you  win a small pot, you are not obligated to tip.  If you start tipping too much, you will have a hard time beating the rake :)

Answer 4

some people give one chip of the smallest denomination on the table, or the amount of the small blind, every time they win, no matter how big the pot.

some people give one chip for smaller hands, 2 chips for bigger ones, and sometimes no tip for just picking up the blinds.

and you can always reward dealer who are friendly, or who you like, or who seem particularly lucky to you, a little bit more. usually tips are only given when winning a hand. if you don't win you don't have to tip.

Answer 5

All of the advice above is good (except for that spammer who keeps hawking his e-book on every post.)  You should be aware, however, that at some casinos the dealer does not get to keep his/her tips.  At some casinos all tips are put into a common pool which is sharely equally among all dealers.  Just an FYI.

Answer 6

i usually give them 10% of the pot on a good pot....but not every single time.  if the pot is $20 or more, i tip them, but less than that I don't.  and sometimes i wait a couple of hands and just give them a generous tip to make up for the times i didn't give one.  just depends on my mood.

Answer 7

it is good to tip Nevada poker dealers because they are usually gambling degenerates and your goal should be to find out where dealers play. it is probably useless in Las Vegas because Las Vegas is too big, Laughlin might be too big now.  in little towns like Mesquite & Jackpot, etc the dealers might remember you. i played in a little town west of Salt Lake for 3 weekends and picked up about $125 to $200 per session. then one Sunday morning a dealer told me he was heading over to a small casino for a game with friends. they were 75%l dealers.  i won more money in 2 hours than i won in the 3 previous weekends.   Montana is all small town. buy the dealers drinks.

Answer 8

in a tournament you give atleast 10% of your winnings...

for a cash game give atleast $1 for every win...sometimes I give more depending on how large the pot was ...