How Much To Tip A Poker Dealer

Poker dealers take a lot of abuse and it’s sad when you come to think about it. They get cursed at. spit on, punched, flipped off and in extreme cases, murdered by those who lost a poker hand.

Why is this? Do these same players treat the mailman the same way when he delivers a bill? Or a policeman when he gives them a ticket? I really doubt it so why treat a dealer any different.

After all, a poker dealer comes to work for one reason, to make tips. He achieves that by providing a service to each and every player so that they can enjoy their favorite past time of playing poker.

So how much should you tip these hard working and highly abused individuals?

If you are one of the abusers, you should tip at least double to triple what a normal person tips. Dealers I have interviewed have said they can forgive and handle some abuse if the abuser rewards them for the abuse when they win a hand.

Now when it comes to a normal tip, most players tip $1 per hand. Sometimes a little more on big pots, but the average tip a dealer gets is $1. At this rate it is very hard to make a living as a dealer.

I remember when I first started as a dealer 25 years ago, players tipped me $1 per hand. Now after 25 years they still get $1 per hand. A dollar hardly buys anything nowadays.

Contrast this with a waiter or waitress. They typically get 15% tip of whatever the bill is. If dinner for a family of four cost $32 twenty-five years ago, that same dinner now costs about $64. So a tip is now twice the size it was 25 years ago.

So why is it a guy who tips $1 twenty-five years ago is still tipping $1? he will tip a waiter or waitress more but not a poker dealer?

So I recommend a minimum of $2 tip for normal pots. If $2 tip is too much then perhaps you should evaluate whether you can afford to pay the costs of poker. If you cannot, then you should step up in levels.

For example, perhaps you play $1-$2 hold em. A $2 tip is a lot, but if you were playing $1-$2 poker 10 years ago, you can now go to $2-$4 and it will be the same effect as playing $1-$2 ten years ago. Then a $2 tip will not hurt your bankroll as much.

Now just because you are now going to tip $2 does not necessarily mean you have to tip more. You can be selective about your tips. It is far too common to see a player tip $1 to every dealer that passes through.

I think it is very rare that every dealer is a pro. I find only 2 or 3 out of five really run and control the game and follow the rules. Remember, a tip is for good service performed, not just because you win a hand. I have tipped “good” dealers even if I have never won a hand from them.

So why not give bad dealers $0 tip and the $1 you save, you can then give the good dealer a $2 tip. In this manner good dealers are rewarded for taking pride in their work and bad dealers will make little money and leave for a new career. Your cost ends up the same (well at least until only good dealers are left).

I have lost thousands of dollars to dealer mistakes which is why I urge players to tip good dealers more. They deal more hands, keep cheats from cheating, and don’t make dealing mistakes that costs you a pot. You know how much you lost with a bad dealer mistake, but it is hard to calculate how much money you have saved because a dealer did his job as he is supposed to (because dealers do more than just deal, they make sure you get food and drinks and that others follow the rules thus keeping you from being cheated out of your money).

For additional tips on tipping, here are two more posts in this three post series on tipping:

Poker Tipping 101
How Much To Tip For A Jackpot