You tip because we are putting up with your drunk stupid ass in public. If any of these
pricks came to my home wasted off their ass and cussing at me, I would punch them in the
mouth. Quit being cheap and grow the hell up. If you don’t tip, you’re a prick. PERIOD.

The sole purpose for having cameras and automatic shufflers is so that Casinos can control the environment. The dealers need to learn one thing and one thing only–how to cut the deck. The Casino pays them to master this. Next time you play poker pay attention on how the dealer cuts the deck.

These poker tables are being watched and if you do not give the dealer a tip then the automatic shuffler will shuffle the cards in a manner in which you will lose. So, remember it is better to tip $1 per hand then to lose all the money you came with.

Ever seen a cooking show on TV? It looks so easy. Ever tried to duplicate it?

You are right about one thing- almost anyone can count. However to be able to do it quickly and correctly 99% of the time is not something anyone can do. And by correctly i dont just mean coming up with the right number, you have to be able to “cut” the chips not just stack them.

Dealing cards requires extensive training and more importantly a personality that 90% of people dont have and can never learn. I was a waiter before i was a poker dealer and let me tell you it is not the same. Anyone can be a waiter, to be a poker dealer you have to be smart, professional, and dedicated.

You know i went to the doctor the other day because i had a rash on my lower leg. Immediately my doctor knew what it was and prescribed a cure. He made it look very easy to be a doctor but we all know it only looked easy because he went through lots of training and has a vast knowledge of medicine.

Computers don’t talk back,
Computers don’t hit on you,
Computers don’t get drunk,
Computers they aren’t assholes who think they know more than you do or idiots who think you get paid a lot to deal cards.

I made more in base salary as a waitress (6.75 in CA) than I did as a dealer (try $5 an hour). Secondly, being a dealer requires a good amount of training. My casino did a three week class, 4-5 hours a day, unpaid (but at least we didn’t have to pay for it). That means time off whatever job you already have to train for this and no income. After the first week of dealer training your hands are so cramped they are hard to move. But let’s move on … you make it through training and now you are trained deal one game (every other game requires more training).

But let’s say you make it and get a job, congratulations, you are in a casino. You’re on your feet for 1-2 hours at a time, and if you don’t think that’s hard, see how long you can stand in one position. Then you have all the obnoxious people (see above) and the smoke. Now I’m a smoker! I’ve been smoking a pack a day for almost 10 years, but within 2 months of dealing full time I had walking pneumonia.

Computers
yes - they are frustrating
yes - they require training
yes- you get to SIT DOWN when you please
yes - you get a SALARY
NO- you don’t have to worry about people who think they shouldn’t tip you.

A dealer can average $25+ an hour here for cash games. At the Borgata (the biggest/nicest/newest casino here), there are a few high-limit poker dealers that bring in more than $2,000 a week. Who knows what the big Vegas games dealers can make.

The tipping part probably comes from the fact that it’s an entertainment business. It’s a resort. People could have stayed home and played poker with their buddies at the kitchen table, or even online, but they didn’t.

It’s also a great motivator for dealers. Think about it - the smoother I keep the game moving, the more money I make. More hands per hour, more money… keeping the game moving, more money. The new player who doesn’t have any idea that it’s his turn, I get him going, more hands, more money.

Ok, now all of that aside…

You know what kind of dealers you’d get if they weren’t tipped? Assuming you paid them $10 an hour or something. You’d get the kind of folks moving up from their last job at McDonald’s. What’s the error rate at a given drive-thru Wendy’s… think about it.

A dealer might run a couple thousand calculations in his head every day. You ever try to make side pots with four all-in players in a NLHE game? It looks automatic when someone with skill is doing it, or if you’re used to computers doing it for you.

1) It’s not as easy as it looks to do this job correctly. It may appear that was when you have a good dealer, but it isn’t.

2) In Atlantic City, the Casino Control Commission’s license (which you must have to be able to deal) costs close to $400.

3) It will cost a lot of time and money to get certified in the various games. I have poker, blackjack and craps (and a couple of smaller games). All told, I’d invested about 20 weeks (at around 16 hours per week) in training alone, which cost around $2,500.

4) The field is competitive, contrary to what some people think. When you interview for a job, you “audition.” That is, you are taken to a table and tap the dealer out. Yes, you will be dealing to real players for their real money.

5) Ok, now even when you are hired, finding a full-time position (i.e., having medical and other benefits) can be difficult, so a lot of dealers start part time and stay there for a while. A lot of dealers are ‘let go’ during the winter months here.

6) There’s a lot, and I mean a LOT, of obnoxious people.

7) Cigarette smoke is abound, at least for now, except in the poker rooms out here. (All other businesses in NJ must be smoke-free by law.)

Okay. There are more reasons, but there’s a few.

Now compare all of that to, say, a waiter or waitress. That job doesn’t require any particularly demanding skills, and you don’t need any schooling or special license. Out here there’s always a place that will hire you, though the better jobs usually go to the more experienced wait staff. You can’t smoke in restaurants here now, so no need to worry about that.
When I waited tables I did get some bad customers, but in my experience it is 10 times worse in the casino.

Now, if after all that you don’t understand why you should have to tip, then simply don’t tip. I’ll still deal the same way to you as anyone else.* That’s why it’s a tip and not a required charge.

*And by the way, anyone who claims to be a dealer who cheats non-tippers is either a liar looking for attention, or a complete idiot who won’t be employed very long.