Tipping the staff at a casino is the right thing to do. It not only is gracious, but it signals to everyone who’s working hard at making your stay pleasant and comfortable, that you appreciate their efforts. This level of goodwill is fantastic for morale and makes for great camaraderie throughout your stay.
If you’re a beginner to playing at land-based casinos, what you may not realize is just how many staff members this rule applies to, and so it may be worth familiarizing yourself with tipping etiquette as you do not want to offend anyone.
Take, as an example that you’ve been playing for ages at a craps table making a dealer work hard with a time-consuming betting strategy – and you don’t tip him! This would be a huge faux pas on your part! This would be even more embarrassing, if you win big on a wage, and you do not tip some of your winnings.
In general, if your dealer finishes his shift, he should get tipped. In some casinos, it is considered very good luck to tip your dealer – even more reason to not NOT tip.
Here is a list of some other scenarios of when it would be appropriate to tip staff:
Remember, even if the drinks brought to you are free, do tip your waitress!
Tip someone if:
*You ask them to bring you change
*If a bellhop carries your luggage or does basic concierge work for you
*Aside from dealers and wait staff, remember you are also obliged to tip all hosts, hotel staff and valets.
*If you are playing video poker, you don’t have a dealer to tip, but you can tip the person who attends to your machine and the teller who cashes in your chips. This amount would be 1 dollar each time, unless you win big in which case 5 per cent of your total winnings is recommended for the attendant.
How much to tip:
In the US, the general rule for tipping dealers is to tip 15 to 20 per cent of your buy-in, in the UK the rule is to spend 10 to 15 per cent of your gambling budget. Video Poker machine attendants get 1 dollar each time, unless you win big, in which case 5 per cent of your total winnings is recommended for the machine attendants.
Wait staff should be paid in cash not chips.
But how to tip?
To get it out the way, you can hand the dealer his tip the moment you sit at a games table, or you can do it once his shift has ended.
Dealer tips can be given in the form of cash, chips from winnings or you can play a bet in his or her name.
The caveat, though when travelling to other countries is to always enquire on specific casino tipping protocol. In some countries like Australia and Mainland Europe, it’s seen as disrespectful to tip staff, as it could be inadvertently perceived that you are trying to bribe them.
