Tipping Handpays
Casino Tipping by Location
- Tipping slot attendents was appropriate when they had to lug bags of nickles or dollar coins to refill machines. It was also a case where the nickle machines would lock up for handpays of $50. As for a handpay with IRS form, I am not sure I would always tip at $1200. If I was down 1200 at that time.
- Answer 1 of 31: Can somebody please tell me what this tipping is for, I mean so let's say if I do win 10k at a slot machine when it comes to cash in, there is a box in the taxes forms for tipping right or wrong? And the amount of tipping is a percentage?
To make this guide as useful as possible, we’ve broken the casino host tipping best practice advice into a number of categories. First, we will describe the different overarching rules based on geography, so you can see easily if your location expects you to be tipping casino hosts or not.
Tipping a poker dealer is different than when you do the same for table games. Usually, believe it or not, dealers make more at lower stakes than they do in higher limit games. The higher percentage of amateur players, the more they are willing to tip the dealer.
Then, we’ll divide it down into the various types of casino games and the tipping expectations for each type of game. As you can imagine, this section will only be relevant to users in the ‘Do Tip’ locations, but it’s certainly interesting to read through the rules either way.
UK Casino Tipping: Do
Gamblers in the UK should expect to spend between 10-15% of their gambling budget on tips for dealers, hosts and wait staff. This is a relatively recent change to the expectations on UK-based gamblers, as until 2005 it was illegal for any casino host tipping to take place.
An amendment published in the Gambling Act 2005 made casino tipping legal, as long as the cash is collected and distributed in a ‘tronc’ – a tipping pool for all employees.
Meanwhile, those playing in any UK live online casinos are not expected to tip the online dealers. In fact, some developers of live casino software namely Evolution Gaming – explicitly ban players from making tips.
However, if the opportunity to tip in a live online casino game is available and you have received exceptional service – or won a significant amount of money – a tip could be a nice way to show your appreciation.
United States: Tips Expected
As with much of the USA’s ridiculous service industry, casino hosts are severely underpaid and require tips from patrons in order to make a liveable wage. Gamblers should tip casino hosts 15 – 20% of their buy-in, and you should also budget to tip wait staff, hotel staff, valets, and those making change for players.
This rule is enforced across any American land-based casinos, regardless of the state in which you are playing. Of course, the legality of gambling in the country is also state based, so there could be more important laws to consider before tipping etiquette is considered.
Australia: Don’t Tip
As will all service industry professionals in Australia, casino hosts in the country’s grand gambling establishments are paid a high wage and do not expect or require tips from patrons to make a living wage. While it is not illegal to tip, it is not expected in any restaurants, bars or casinos.
In fact, tipping in a casino host in Australia is somewhat frowned upon, as it can be considered to be bribery. Some of Australia’s land-based casinos do not allow patrons to tip individual staff, requiring all gratuities to be shared in a pool or be handed directly to management, raising suspicion that large tips are actually payoffs.
Monaco Gratuity Etiquette: Do
Tipping Handpays
In Monaco, patrons are expected to tip 10% to dealers at table games such as blackjack, roulette and craps. However, this is only true at some establishments. Some locations have eschewed tipping in favor for an entry fee charged at the door.
Mainland Europe: Don’t Tip
For mainland Europe, tipping casino hosts is not expected. In countries like Spain, tipping would raise eyebrows and get you a lot of weird looks, it’s just that uncommon. In Western Europe, small tips are possible, especially on hitting a big win. However, culturally, leaving a tip larger than 5% would likely see casino hosts considering you a showoff. Casino tipping etiquette changes as you travel east, and the extra cash is more welcomed.
Tipping Etiquette for Games
Interestingly, there are different rules for casino tipping etiquette based on the different games you can play. Table games like blackjack, baccarat and roulette which require a live dealer to personally host your experience are clearly deserving of a gratuity. Many gamblers consider tipping their dealers to be good luck, and tossing a dealer some cash after a big win at a poker table is common.
However, playing video poker or slots, where there is often less personal interaction, may also require some tipping. For example, if you send a casino attendant to make change for you, you should tip them. If you win a large jackpot or a hand pay sum, an attendant or two will be required to come and personally hand you the cash prizes. They will also bring you any tax forms that your location requires.
General Tipping Advice
Not all actions deserve to be tipped, and you shouldn’t just go handing out cash for everyone and everything. You know who to tip based on the advice above, but here is a handy list of when a tip would be expected in Las Vegas, the most extreme example we can give. Anything more than this would be considered unnecessary.
When to tip:
- When asking for a host to make change for you
- When you win a large sum
- If you need an attendant for any reason
- If a Pit Boss comps you a free meal, drink or room
- When a dealer finishes a shift at your table
- If a waitress brings you a drink (even if it is free)
- If a bellhop carries your bags
How to Tip Casino Hosts
Okay, maybe now you know how much money you should be expected to tip each time you gamble all over the world, but how do you hand over the money without it being awkward? There are various options for when to tip and how to indicate who the tip is for.
You can hand a dealer their total tip when you sit at a table, which has the benefit of getting it out of the way first thing. If you are in the UK, and aim to gamble £100, you can simply hand the £5 – £10 to the dealer immediately.
One problem with this method is that you can’t factor in whether or not that dealer will be working your table for the entire time you are there. To counter this, you may hand them a tip right as their shift changes.
If you’re more the type to consider tipping casino hosts throughout your experience, then you can tell the dealer how much cash to keep when exchanging cash for chips. You can also hand them back chips as a tip if they pay you winnings.
Some dealers prefer to receive their tips in the form of wagers. To tip a dealer with a bet in their name, simply place a second chip on top of your own wager, slightly offset, and tell the dealer it is for them. They will receive the winnings from the bet, but not the bet money itself.
If you’re still not sure, the best thing to do is ask the dealer directly. No professional dealer will ever make fun of a player for wanting to hand them money. Ask them what they prefer and how they prefer to receive it. Now that you know the correct expected values, you will know they are telling the truth.
Here it's usually just two slot attendants. One to pay you and the other to verify.
The third person is usually the one in the cage that issues the cash to the attendants.
I get both sides of the slot tipping issue, because I worked in slots for a short period of time making $8 an hour (early 90's), tips helped and I was happy with anything.
I really didn't make a lot from tips, probably $120 a week. There were some tip hustler employees who made at least triple that much. The casino I worked at didn't tolerate tip hustling and management couldn't take tips themselves, they couldn't refuse them either. Management had to give it to the floor and change person who paid the jackpot.
Most of the employees had subtle, and not so subtle ways to extract tip's. They knew when and who to target. Things that would make most of us cringe.
If someone asked me the best machine to play I told them the truth, it's all luck and I don't know. If I knew I would have my friends come play them and split the money. Unfortunately most people don't want to hear that. Some people think employees know what machines are hot.
I don't really like when employees start patting my machine saying,'come on, come on, hit something good, get a royal.' Especially when it's overdramatized and totally fake. I have heard just about everything. People have the balls to say 'good thing I was standing here, because I'm lucky'
I always ask the suit if they can take tips, if they say yes I'll add 25% to 50% more to what I was originally going to tip. I hand it to the suit and tell them to split it.
Honestly I don't think management deserves a tip, however it's just something I feel benefits AP.
Nowadays there's not to many change people around and I'm not sure what a slot floor person makes per hour.
Does anyone know what they make?
I don't have a set certain percentage I tip, it all depends on the situation and what I'm playing. I think $10 per thousand is adequate. Generally I'm capping it at $100, if I hit for 10k - 40k they get $100. There's situations where I would give more. 
If the play is really juicy i'm going to over tip.
If someone like a family member hits a 4k RF while on vacation I'll suggest $20 to $40.
If you're a recreational gambler do whatever you like, tip if you want, stiff if you like. Even If it's $5 they should be happy they got anything.
I get both sides of the slot tipping issue, because I worked in slots for a short period of time making $8 an hour (early 90's), tips helped and I was happy with anything.
I really didn't make a lot from tips, probably $120 a week. There were some tip hustler employees who made at least triple that much. The casino I worked at didn't tolerate tip hustling and management couldn't take tips themselves, they couldn't refuse them either. Management had to give it to the floor and change person who paid the jackpot.
Most of the employees had subtle, and not so subtle ways to extract tip's. They knew when and who to target. Things that would make most of us cringe.
If someone asked me the best machine to play I told them the truth, it's all luck and I don't know. If I knew I would have my friends come play them and split the money. Unfortunately most people don't want to hear that. Some people think employees know what machines are hot.
I don't really like when employees start patting my machine saying,'come on, come on, hit something good, get a royal.' Especially when it's overdramatized and totally fake. I have heard just about everything. People have the balls to say 'good thing I was standing here, because I'm lucky'
I always ask the suit if they can take tips, if they say yes I'll add 25% to 50% more to what I was originally going to tip. I hand it to the suit and tell them to split it.
Honestly I don't think management deserves a tip, however it's just something I feel benefits AP.
Nowadays there's not to many change people around and I'm not sure what a slot floor person makes per hour.
Does anyone know what they make?
I don't have a set certain percentage I tip, it all depends on the situation and what I'm playing. I think $10 per thousand is adequate. Generally I'm capping it at $100, if I hit for 10k - 40k they get $100. There's situations where I would give more.
If the play is really juicy i'm going to over tip.
If someone like a family member hits a 4k RF while on vacation I'll suggest $20 to $40.
My last 2k hand pay I tipped $40. I thought it was adequate. My local hand pays on 1k royals so that always leaves me in a sticky situation. The last one I tipped $20 but it was in 2 $10s so it felt like more.
I was listening to a podcast recently, it may have been dancer but I can't remember. I can't remember exactly what he said but it was something like the tip should be under .5% or you are going to kill your ev. I would rather not tip at all than tip $10 on 4k.
In most jurisdictions it is a requirement to have three people involved in a jackpot. There are some exceptions for restricted locations and very small ones that may not have enough employees working,
The two government casinos here both have just a slot attendant do a hand pay and these casinos are definitely not small. The Indian casino just outside the city however has a manager present for all hand pays.
I was listening to a podcast recently, it may have been dancer but I can't remember. I can't remember exactly what he said but it was something like the tip should be under .5% or you are going to kill your ev. I would rather not tip at all than tip $10 on 4k.
That couldn't be more wrong, at least for anyone who's playing something with a decent edge. If he's talking about himself, grinding out stupid sh** like $1 10-play 9/6 DDB UX with a 0.15% advantage on 2x days (or whatever the hell it is)....then yeah, it's gonna hurt you.....but you should t even be playing stupid awful games like that to begin with.
Imagine, if you tipped 10% (yes, ten percent) on all handpays on $1 9/6 JOB. Only handpay is a RF. Royal is worth 2% (TWO PERCENT) of your return. Tipping away 10% of 2% is a grand-smacking total of 0.2%!!!! If 0.2% means THAT MUCH to your game, well, you're not playing a good game.
Granted, I'm not saying you should tip 10% as I think that's too much IMO, but it goes to show how little impact a 10% JP tip actually 'hurts' you.
Saying your tip should be less than 0.5% or else you're gonna kill your EV is beyond laughable.
Of course, not everyone plays $1 9/6 JOB. But if you're worried about 'killing your EV', you should try running the VP calculator with adjusted payouts for tips for the game you decide to play. ie: if you tip $10 on a $1,250 HP on $5 9/6 DDB, then change the 5 thru K's 4oak from paying 50 to 49.6....and adjust the other payouts according to how much you'd tip. Then see for yourself how much (or, in the most likely scenario, how little) tripping hurts you.
I don't think I'd pay anything if it was an Indian casino though because I don't think that Indian tribes deserve the entitlement to have gambling in the first place.
Tipping How Much To Tip
You aren't tipping the casino, you are tipping the person that works there. If you have a problem with the casino, don't frequent it.I don't think I'd pay anything if it was an Indian casino though because I don't think that Indian tribes deserve the entitlement to have gambling in the first place.
How dare those godless heathens try to climb out of poverty after we stole the country fair and square.
My last 2k hand pay I tipped $40. I thought it was adequate. My local hand pays on 1k royals so that always leaves me in a sticky situation. The last one I tipped $20 but it was in 2 $10s so it felt like more.
I was listening to a podcast recently, it may have been dancer but I can't remember. I can't remember exactly what he said but it was something like the tip should be under .5% or you are going to kill your ev. I would rather not tip at all than tip $10 on 4k.
Again, it really depends on what your playing, if you are only getting handpays on Royals it isn't going to cut into your EV much. If you are playing with a .2 edge you probably have to be frugal. Imagine playing .50 full time and tipping $40 a pop, that's over 2k per year, so imagine what your kids could do with that extra money when they got 16 had you put $30 of it in the bank.
I disagree with zero over $10. Sure it's kinda cheap, but They get stiffed regularly so $10 they should be ok with that.
How dare those godless heathens try to climb out of poverty after we stole the country fair and square.
Perhaps they should have learned to bargain a just little better with Manhattan ☺.Ya, ya, I know that's probably all fiction.