respecting player's tip distribution wishes
poker players (and industry workers, directors, managers, etc):
1) player wins and leaves a large tip, letting management know that it is for the specific people who dealt to him today. management asks how much to each and he says to divide it evenly.
2) ultimately, the lion's share of the tip ends up going to one person, as per room's internal tip distribution policy.
what is your opinion? standard business practice? room can do whatever it wants and doesn't have to disclose to player? room can do whatever it wants but should have told the player they would be following their own policy and not distributing it evenly? room should have divided it evenly as per player's wishes, regardless of internal policy? does it make a difference to you if it is a tournament or a high stakes cash game?
4 Replies
Tournament tips should always be distributed based on how many downs each dealer dealt. Standard practice is to simply thank the player giving the tip and put it into the pool. I get tips all the time dealing tournaments and don't tell them it's going in the box and I get 1% of it.
If it's a cash game it should be distributed per the player's wishes, or evenly among everyone working at that time. Many rooms probably don't even have a system for this. I can't imagine any system that would have most of it going to one dealer. The only scenario I can think of where that might be the case is if the player gave it directly to that dealer and asked them to spread it around. It would pretty much be up to that dealer to not be a scumbag.
If you really want to tip a specific tournament dealer, tip them away from the table, and maybe wait a day.
If you really want to tip a specific tournament dealer, tip them away from the table, and maybe wait a day.
I have only been tipped away from a table for my tournament actions once. The player was knowledgeable enough to do it the next day as I was brushing and he even went out of his way to make comments about me being a good dealer and not getting enough credit, but it was clear he was tipping me for what went on in one of my tournament downs the day before.
Basically he was at the final two tables of a fairly big tournament (150 or so players). He was among the chip leaders and got involved in a hand with another huge stack. I don't remember the exact action but the other player made an ambiguous play (possibly angling), the player who tipped me misread his action and started to show his hand. I stopped him (literally using my hand to stop him from turning over his cards). I clarified the other players actions and it was determined he had not acted yet. The tipping player ended up winning a huge pot which gave him a huge chip lead with 12 or so players left which he used to easily win the tournament. If he had turned over his cards, he would have won a much smaller pot and who knows where he ends up.
The next day he gave me a very substantial tip when I was brushing. We have talked many times since then and he fully admits that having the monster stack allowed him to run over the final 12 players. If he wouldn't have won that monster pot, he thinks he wouldn't have come close to winning.
I took the tip and pocketed it. At first I was questioning myself thinking it should go into the tournament tip pool since it was for my actions while dealing a tournament. I got over that notion quickly.
Later, talking to other dealers/floormen they said that unless I am literally sitting at a tournament table, it is fine to talked a tip and pocket it.
the room owes it to the player to explain that his wishes aren't going to be granted. then the player can tip each dealer individually if he so chooses.
