The Art of Tipping

Tipping the dealer is an integral part of your gambling experience whenever you visit an land based casino or poker room, and should be counted into your budget when you decide how much money to spend.  You’ll find that not only will you have to tip the dealer, but also the cocktail waitress, the bellhops and the cab drivers. But before you get all huffy having to tip everyone who works in Vegas, remember that for many of these people, your tips are part of their livelihood and they rely heavy on them to to be able to afford to live.   It’s a misconception that you need to only tip for good service.  In fact, the concept of tipping was introduced in order to act as an incentive to prevent bad service.  But that’s not to say that you need to tip if the service is bad and obviously there are extreme cases all the time.

Different casino workers get tipped differently.  For example, the average tip for a cocktail waitress is around $1 a drink in Vegas, and you can pay in cash or casino chips. Cocktail waitresses work hard for their money and let’s just say that they aren’t the nation’s most rewarded employees, salary wise, so don’t ‘forget’ to tip or pretend that you don’t have small change.

When it comes to dealers, tipping rules change.  Most casinos get their dealers to pool their tips, which means that if you like a particular dealer (or hate one in the same vein), you won’t be doing him or her a favor by tipping more (or less). Remember too, that for many casino dealers, tips make up the majority of their salary and are not, as you may have believed, the gravy of their wages. It’s up to you how much to tip your dealer, but a general rule of thumb is not less than $5 an hour – no matter whether you are winning or losing at the table.  As an aside, and while it has nothing to do with money, don’t take your frustrations out on the dealer if you’re not doing well. It’s not only about financial rewards!

If you don’t like the idea of tipping altogether, you may want to consider online casino gambling, where you don’t have to pull out your wallet every time you are served!