StormRaven said:
Well its just, i dont see how you can really beat the game long term with such incredibly huge tips + rake...
or maybe you dont mind about profiting and you just play for fun?
Okay so I had a few conversations with some of the regulars at the casino about this. Many of them said what you did and along the lines of what Stu has written. I decided to try something new as I want to remain open minded about this, people have a right to tip little, too much, not at all, etc; Friday night I decided I would only tip $1 per pot that was $50 and under (most pots I play in are an avg of $100). I also lowered my tips to $2 for pots of $50-$150 and then lowered my tips to $5 for pots of $150-$300. Friday night I did not win any pots over $300. I only had a small profit Friday night anyways, wasn't a good night. Most people feel my tipping Friday night was acceptable, several dealers did notice the difference and kept asking if I was alright or ahead for the night. Overall, there did not seem to be any effect on how I was treated by the staff and there was 1 iffy call that a supervisor had to make (1 dealer who normally doesn't deal poker was having a fit cuz I was playing around with my ipod while at the table but not when I was in hand. She continued although I showed her that I had an ipod and not an iphone and was only going through my music playlists.) The floor came over and still sided in my favor and stated I was allowed to have my ipod in my hand. Now I know she was being pissy because I had won a $150 pot and threw her a $2 tip. She doesn't normally deal poker but she has been in there lately due to a shortage in poker dealers. The floor still sided with me either way. I do worry that if an iffy call had to be made by the dealer involving money she would've been a witch to me and sided with someone else. But on the other hand, I stopped tipping her altogether because of her bad attitude and because the dealers share tips it hurt all of them.
I have to think about this some more. I think next week I will experiment around again some more with over-tipping vs under-tipping (depending on people's viewpoints) and see how it goes. I always lower my tips if I am losing and the fact is dealers are paid a lower hourly amount because they get tips. Nothing I can do can change that. I do like Stu's idea of no tipping, just have people do their jobs but that isn't the way things are set up and I don't see enough people will stop tipping altogether to try and make the house change their minds.
I think when you are established you can probably get away with lower tips but if you are a new player to a place I think tipping a little extra (as long as you are winning) will make the dealers and house side in your favor on iffy calls.
I only tip the valet $2 after they bring me my truck. I don't tip when they go and park it. I know most people at the casino I play at tip $5+. So I guess it's in how we view the job the person is doing and the value we put upon it.
