How Much To Tip Blackjack Dealer
- Blackjack Tips Chart
- How Much To Tip Craps Dealers
- How Much To Tip Blackjack Dealer
- How Much To Tip A Blackjack Dealer
- Gambling Tips Blackjack. A Better Way to Tip A Blackjack Dealer. By Henry Tamburin. Many blackjack players feel uneasy about tipping a dealer because they don’t know when to tip, how much to tip, and or even how to go about giving a tip (a tip in the casino industry is also known as a “toke”).
- Dealers share tips so the dealer you give your tip to may only get 1% of it. Tipping cynical dealers who resent tip sharing won’t buy you much cover. In my opinion dealers loyal to the casino are more likely to be women than men and Asians over any other race.
- The goal of blackjack is simple - to get as close as possible to 21 without going over, and to have a higher hand than the dealer. If the dealer goes over 21, they bust and lose the game.
How Much Should You Tip Your Blackjack Dealer? It doesn’t matter how low the stakes are, if you’re gambling in a casino, you should tip your dealer about $5/hour minimum. You can do this in any number of ways, but $5 is the floor, not the ceiling. In fact, if you’re playing for.
One of my favorite movie scenes is the scene where Mr. Pink talks about how he’s not going to tip the waitress. It’s in the movie Reservoir Dogs. The moral of that part of the story is that even thugs and criminals usually have enough class to tip a waitress.
A blackjack dealer isn’t a waitress, but Las Vegas is a place where most employees—including the blackjack dealer—make their living from the tips they get from gamblers. And this is true of both the dealers in the low rent places who are dealing $5/hand blackjack and the dealers in the high dollar casinos dealing the $100/hand blackjack games.
In fact, almost everyone in Vegas makes their living off tips, not just the blackjack dealers. Be a class act. Tip your blackjack dealer. This post explains how to tip a blackjack dealer, but I also have some tips about how to tip other casino personnel, too. And if you want to learn more about casino etiquette check our guide.
Blackjack Tips Chart
Why Would You Tip Anyone for Anything?
Tipping is (theoretically) optional, but I recommend everyone to tip no matter what. Even if you get bad service, tip. If it’s really bad service, complain to the management, but tip. After all, two wrongs don’t make a right.
Think about the economics behind tipping for a minute, too. Federal minimum wage is already a criminally low $7.25 per hour, but employees who make tips often only make $2.13 per hour plus tips. In other words, if a minimum wage employee worked 40 hours and didn’t get tips, he’d only make $85.20 for an entire week’s worth of full-time work.
Immanuel Kant, the great philosopher, once explained that when you’re deciding what you should do, consider whether it would be the right thing to do if everyone did it. I’m paraphrasing terribly, here, I know. But if everyone skipped tipping these employees, they’d all be poverty-stricken.
What’s the point of a tip? Michael Bluejay, a writer I admire, explains that you’re not tipping to ensure good service. You’re tipping to avoid bad service.
And if you’re planning on patronizing a place for any length of time, preventing bad service is something that should be on your mind. Imagine playing slots and not getting any free drinks from the cocktail waitress because you didn’t tip her. What a drag that would be.
How Much Should You Tip Your Blackjack Dealer?
It doesn’t matter how low the stakes are, if you’re gambling in a casino, you should tip your dealer about $5/hour minimum. You can do this in any number of ways, but $5 is the floor, not the ceiling. In fact, if you’re playing for higher stakes, you can (and should) tip more.
And tipping isn’t something you should do only if you’re winning. I’ve seen gamblers who do that, but that’s a low-class approach to tipping. At the same time, just because you’re getting lucky and winning a lot, it doesn’t mean that you need to give the dealer outrageous tips.
Why You Should Tip Dealers Even if They’re Doing a Bad Job
Most casinos require their employees to pool their tips during their shift. If you’re not tipping a dealer because he’s rude, you’re punishing all the casino employees working that shift. Instead of declining to tip, complain to casino management about the dealer’s rudeness.
How to Tip a Blackjack Dealer in Real Life
When you’re tipping a blackjack dealer, or any other casino game dealer, it’s customary to tip using casino chips rather than cash. You can tip a blackjack dealer in one of two ways.
One easy way to tip the dealer is just to push a chip toward the dealer and say, “This is for you.” But it’s more fun to place a bet for the dealer. That way they’re rooting for you to win, too.
You can explain to the dealer that you want to place a bet for them, and they’ll tell you where to put the chip. I’ll tell you now, but if you forget, just ask. You place the bet for the dealer next to your bet. If you win, the dealer wins, too.
You can also tip dealers at other table games, too, especially at the craps and roulette tables. Tell the employees what you want to do, and they’ll explain the correct etiquette for you.
What About Other Casino Employees? How Much and How Do I Tip Them?
I’m a big believer in generously tipping the cocktail waitresses, and I have two reasons for this:
- The first is that I like to keep the drinks coming while I’m playing. If you’re not tipping well, the cocktail waitresses will ignore you.
- The second is that the cocktail waitresses work really hard and deal with a lot of nonsense. And they usually have to deal with boorish customers. So, I recommend tipping cocktail waitresses generally.
This means I always give them at least $5 the first time they bring me a drink, and I give them $2 for every subsequent drink. Every couple of hours, I try to give another $5 tip. This has the added benefit of improving the service I’m getting.
Waiters, waitresses, and bartenders should get the standard 15% to 25% tip at most restaurants and bars. I’ve never tipped anyone 15% in my life, always opting to go for 20% or more. I suggest you do the same, especially if you’re going to be a regular at any of these places. Besides, good karma won’t hurt.
20% is also a good rule of thumb for a cab driver, but I always offer a minimum tip of $5, no matter how short the trip is.
I make an exception for buffets. Since all the waitstaff does there is refill your drinks, you don’t need to leave even 15%. I tend to leave $2 for each person in my party. In other words, if five of us are dining, I would tip $10, regardless of the price of the meal.
If you’re tipping a valet for parking your car, you should tip $5. I’ve been known to tip $20 if I’m in a good mood. I’ve seen people suggest that a dollar or two is sufficient, but I’d never tip less than $5 to someone whom I’ve entrusted my car to.
$2 per is the standard rule for most everything, too. If you have a bellman help you with your luggage, you should tip him $2 per bag. If you’re staying in a hotel, you should leave $2 in tip money for housekeeping. That applies to the guy at the airport handling your luggage, too.
If someone is busking, performing on the street for tips, you should probably be willing to tip them $5, too. You can get away with tipping less, like $2, but it depends on how long you watch them perform.
Getting an Upgrade When You Check Into Your Hotel Room
I’ve seen multiple reports that said you could get a room upgrade by tipping the front desk person $20 when you check in. Don’t just hand the front desk person a $20 and say, hey, can I get a room upgrade for that $20.
Be a little cool about it. When you hand the front desk person your credit card, fold the $20 and include it. Ask if they have any availability in a nicer room at all. You’ll be surprised at how often this works.
Conclusion
Learning how to tip a blackjack dealer is one of the first things you should do in Vegas. For one thing, it means you’re playing the right game. It also means you’ve got a little bit of class.
In fact, you should know how to tip just about anyone in the service industry in Las Vegas. If you can remember to tip 20% for some things and $2 (or $5) for others, you should be fine.
How Much To Tip Craps Dealers
A little common sense goes a long way here. What kind of tipping do you do while you’re in Las Vegas playing blackjack?
How Much To Tip Blackjack Dealer
Let me know in the comments.