Craps Strategies - Why Tipping The Dealer Is A Must When Precision Shooting

One of the most important courtesies or strategies GTC teaches advantage players is to tip dealers, and why tipping will make playing in a casino a much more pleasant experience. Tipping puts the dealers on your side. They will be much more likely to tell people to hold their bets, to keep their hands up and not to crowd the shooter for example.

One easy way for a $5 or $10 bettor to tip is to put a $1 chip on top of the pass line bet when you are the shooter. In this way, the dealers are in the game. When your pass line bet wins, you are paid the extra $1 with your pass line payout. You give this $1 to the box person saying, "dealer money." Your $1 chip remains on your pass line bet, so it doesn’t cost you anymore, but it reaps huge benefits in public relations with the dealers. You control that $1 chip, and the dealer cannot take it down when he/she pays you.

If I am playing with dealers who don’t know me, and aren’t aware of our tipping system, then I will say fairly loudly, "Dealers are piggy-backed.," and point to the $1 chip. For those who are green and higher bettors, they might place a higher bet on top of the pass line bet, as well as placing odds, and if they are in a long roll, might place point bets also. These are good bets that the dealers know they have a chance of winning.

When we first started precision shooting and tipping, we asked the dealers which they preferred, placing a bet for them, or putting the money in the toke box. Without fail, the response was always to place a bet for them.

I cringe when I hear other players call out prop bets for the dealers. These are one time bets, with very high house edges, and are a waste of money. If they really want the dealers to win a bet, why not make one of the good bets? However, I suppose any bet by a shooter for the dealers might be better than no bet at all.

When dealers know you are tipping they tend to go out of their way to be very friendly. They pay close attention to our bets, they are less likely to hassle us about anything, and the stick person is more likely to step back when we shoot.

If there are no other GTC players at the table with us, we are frequently the only players tipping the dealers. One example occurred when it was my husband Sandtrap’s turn to shoot. The stick man loudly proclaimed to everyone at the table, "Now, we have a good shooter here folks, so keep your hands back and place your bets before he gets the dice. Watch him roll the dice!"

And this has happened on more than one occasion. Once, I didn’t place my odds bet because I was busy getting my drink from the waitress and I wasn’t aware the dice had been thrown. The point was made and I said, "Oh no, I didn’t have my odds down." The stickman told the box person what had happened, and that I had previously always placed odds. The box person told me to put my odds down, and then told the dealer to pay me. Perhaps that was an unusual circumstance, but is another example of how tipping can be advantageous to the player.

Another time, a "don’t" player made hundreds of dollars on my roll by playing and pressing the horn. I have a habit of throwing several sevens and elevens on a come out roll, and then follow up with a long roll. Although the "don’t" bettor thanked me, he didn’t tip the dealers. When I met him on the way to the restroom he thanked me again and I said, "You’re welcome, but it’s customary to tip when you make money." (I’m always trying to teach people to tip.) His reply was, "But I lost a lot of money before that roll."

"That’s because you were playing the ‘don’t’ while I was making points," I responded. He never changed his betting routine even though he could see I was on a long roll.

The dealers’ salaries are based on the fact that they will get tips, and therefore they are dependant on tips for income. It is not their fault or responsibility if players don’t make the best bets and lose money.

Besides the dealers, at least two other employees are dependant on tips. One is the housekeeper. I will never forget Frank Scoblete saying, "Remember who cleans the toilet." I even mentioned that comment to our children, who stated they had never thought in those terms. They now tip when they travel.

The other person who should be tipped is the waitress who brings your drinks. According to one person, TIPS stand for "To Insure Proper Service." In a very busy casino, will the waitress pay more attention to the player who tips, or the player who doesn’t? =

On the other hand, in the morning there may be only one waitress for the entire floor. I like my coffee in the morning, so I make certain the waitress knows I’m tipping, and she frequently returns to ask if I want another coffee. Some of the regular waitresses know us and make a point of asking if we need anything. One time the waitress put down my drink, but I didn’t see her and was busy placing a bet. When I looked up and saw her walking away, I ran after her to give her a tip. She told me most people would not have done that, and thanked me profusely.

We give her a dollar a drink as a tip. If I order two coffees or sodas at one time, I give her a two dollar tip. My drinks are taking up space on her tray that might have been given to someone else, and the waitress would lose that tip.

I think we should always remember that the drinks are complementary, or "free." If you have a coupon or a gift certificate to a restaurant, you are still expected to tip based on the total cost of the meal, whether you paid for it or not. Casino waitresses also have to tip their bartenders.

Waitresses, dealers, and housekeepers have salaries based on the fact that they will also get tips, and they pay taxes on that assumption. Unless the service is terrible, you wouldn’t dream of not tipping in a restaurant. We owe it to the employees in a casino and hotel to also tip them.