You can tell how a person plays cards by the way they tip (or don’t tip) the dealers.
Players in the casino for the first time generally do not tip the dealers at all.
Drunks and donkeys tend to tip too much.
Grinders and rounders tend to tip the right amount.
So, the question is how much to tip and why.
The first thing I do when I am in a poker room for the first time is find out their rules and procedures. I ask floor management a bunch of questions. I want to know what goes and what does not.
I find out if the dealers pool their tips or keep the tokes they earn themselves.
Most card rooms force the dealers to pool tips.
I am bit more stingy in the pooled version. This is because some dealers are better than others.
And some are just plain awful.
A competent dealer can deal at least 30 hands an hour with no misdeals, is friendly, and has complete control over the action at the table.
My guideline for tipping competent dealers is simple: the tip amount is equal to the small blind.
If the dealer is better than competent and keeps their own tips, then I will tip an amount equal to the big blind. This is the exception.
In a $1-$2 game at 30 hands an hour, the dealer is making $30 an hour in tips, or over 3X their base salary. That is fair.
Plus, if you are playing for money and not the thrill of victory, you are already losing $5 a pot to the rake and bad beat jackpot. It is hard enough to beat the rake let alone bleed off chips to excessive tipping.
Keep the tips limited to the small blind amount - big blind max.
If you are a regular player at a poker room, and want to do more, then do what I do: Give the dealer a Christmas card with a cash gift at the end of the year (assuming the year was profitable).
