How Much To Tip At a Live Tournament?

[sgriff]

In the event of cashing at a live tournament, what do people here do in the way of tipping the floor staff?  Do you pay a fixed percentage, and if so do you cap this at a set amount,  Do you always tip when you cash, or do you tip only when you win, only when you are in the top 3, only when you reach the final table etc?  Or do you not tip, even if you ended up first? 

I know a lot of people follow different practices, with some not even knowing of the practice of tipping when you win, so it will be interesting to hear what people in this community do.

 

 

[jonny2192]

Soon as I win, I will tell you :(

Intrested to see replies i was wondering what was considered normal in these situations.

[Magicadil]

Here in Canada a small % percentage of the prizepool is distributed among the dealers. Top 3 players will usually tip dealer around 5% of winnings, but its entirely optional

[Sect7G]

Knowing how much of the rake/fees goes to the floor staff (if any) should be part of a players formula.  But in general treat it like you do a restaurant.  If the service and quality of dealing is good then tip at the high end.  If it's terrible don't tip anything as tipping when it's not deserved just makes bad service acceptable.

In Ireland I once went deep in a tourney and tipped 15% and in Spain I once went deep and tipped nothing after a final table due to corrupt dealers and incompetant supervisors who didn't even know the rules.

[startelver]

In Vegas I tipped around 5-7% of the winnings. I only played smaller tourneys so if I won $800  I tipped $50. They seemed to be happy in the casino room so I guess thats normal but up to you really. 

 

 

 

[pirahn]

Who do you count as floor staff ?

[startelver]

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@pirahn wrote:

Who do you count as floor staff ?

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Not the dealer directly  , when you finish playing or bust out you leave the tip in a tip jar and the floor staff will share the tip after the tournament ended. 

 

 

[pirahn]

I will tip waitress for drinks or maybe at end if winning anything. I dont tip floor.I have already paid a 10% fee for playing tourny.It would be like a service charge included in bill,then asked to tip on top. 

[Magicadil]

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@pirahn wrote:

I will tip waitress for drinks or maybe at end if winning anything. I dont tip floor.I have already paid a 10% fee for playing tourny.It would be like a service charge included in bill,then asked to tip on top. 

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Tipping waitress is especially important during rush hours (Late Friday-Sunday). Lots of drunks who stiff tips, so those who are generous receive excellent service.

[OldBurf]

While tipping is a nice thing to do, it seems like it just kills your profit in the long run or am i thinking the wrong way?

A rough example, if you win £1000 in a tournament and you tip 5% of the winnings that would be £50. If you played for 10 hours with an hourly of lets say £10 an hour then you are actually halfing that days profits. This is just the day you win, think of all the other times you played for only 3 hours and won nothing. You end up playing this same tourney 100s of times diminishing your ROI on tips. It all evens out in the long run and turns out to be quite expensive, especially since the tournament fee's in live are already pretty high relative to the buyin. At the end of the day they get paid for their job and I have seen in the past that in some casinos the dealers can't even accept that money. Its fair enough to tip a friendly/fun dealer or whatever but just dont go over the top.