Poker News

Matt,

Thank you for acknowledging any error on your part regarding tipping at the recent Bay 101 tourney. I commend you for presenting transparency as the way to go and I agree 100%. Tipping policy should be standard at every event; 3% has become the norm and a figure that appears to work for everyone. Any exceptions to the standard clearly should be communicated in print and verbally. This is one more item of many that needs standardization in tournaments.

Jesse Jones
Chairman Emeritus
World Poker Association

There is still a lot of muddled thinking here. Cash-game dealers can rely on a steady stream of tips from the winners of pots. Each individual gratuity is of course optional, and some players will be more generous than others, but the dealers can still be sure of a supplement to their basic rate. There is also an eco-system at work where players are subjected to some peer-pressure to tip.

Dealers in tournaments have forgone this additional revenue stream, therefore they are *entitled* to some additional money as compensation. The first piece of muddled thinking is that because each individual tip is optional that this additional money should be optional as well. Nonsense! The dealers should simply be paid a higher rate reflecting the fact that they won't be receiving the normal stream of tips. Call it a "tournament dealing supplement" or something. There should be no uncertainty about the higher rate and it should be funded, of course, by withholding a suitable percentage of the prize fund. But it's not a tip. It's got nothing to do with tips. It is compensation for not receiving any tips. Let's drop the idea that it's a gratuity and we can get away from legal restrictions and moral pressure.

Even more muddled is the idea that the big winners should shoulder the burden of tipping for everyone if there has been no pool withheld. There are many problems with this(!) The amounts have risen from a couple of bucks to large sums that the winners may not want to part with. There is little or no peer-pressure as the winners may not be remaining in the casino. The actions of two or three individuals will now significantly determine the payment of hundreds of casino staff. None of this makes any sense. Get the players out the loop - casino staff compensation should not be their responsibility.

If there is still some reason why a percentage cannot be used to fund this "tournament dealing supplement" (not a tip!) then at least resort to the device of an "optional" addon to starting chips which goes to the dealers. That way the tipping burden is shared over all entrants not just those lucky to make a big score.

I personally like the use of the "optional" add-on to starting chips. I've played in a few tournaments with these and while it may be optional, everyone takes advantage of this option so you know the dealers are taken care of.

I also agree that this is not really a tip. It is a supplement to make up for lost tips that would have been made dealing a cash game instead of the tournament.

My brother-in-law is a poker dealer and I hear him talk about this topic fairly often. His tips are much more important than his base wage and when he deals a tounament he loses money.

If world wide, the dealers of tournaments wages were increased to say, time and half or double time, during the period they dealt tournaments and increase the tournament fee held by the casino to pay the overhead, this would be fair across the board for any dealer no matter how many hours they deal the tournament. Any gratuity above and beyond this would be completely up to the players.

Just a little food for thought from someone outside the industry.

Dear Matt,
I think this was VERY well said. I made the mistake of defending Jerry Yang last summer but it just created a mess. People in the blog world were saying that Jerry "stiffed" the dealers when in fact he was just miss-informed on the tipping breakdown. I strongly believe that it is the host casinos responsibility to properly compensate their staff when a predetermined ammount/percentage has already been withheld. Im glad and happy as a dealer that you have spoke out on this issue and I hope it will start a change in a positive direction for all staff and players alike.