WSOP: Raw Deal Responses

Bodog Nation readers on tilt over recent story on tipping dealers

Sept. 07, 2006

By Jake Gosselin
Bodog Nation Contributing Writer

The recent Bodog Nation article, WSOP: A Raw Deal opened up a real can of contentious worms. Our mailbag is stuffed with opinions from all sides on the issue of whether or not to tip poker dealers.

The Bodog Nation question that appeared in the article was, “How important do you think it is to tip the dealer?” Given the feedback that we received, the Nation has decided to post several of the responses and attempt to clear the air on a few of the issues which seem to have many of you fuming.

Many of our readers felt that the answer to the question was simply yes, dealers should be tipped.

On the other side of the fence we had those who didn’t think dealers should be tipped at all:

Several comments emphasized the percentage of the prize pool that is set aside for dealers citing this as a mandatory enforced gratuity that frees the player from any further obligation to tip.

The dealers at the 2006 WSOP did receive 2.25% of the prize pool from tournamnents under $5,000, which is not an unusual amount. Combined with their base rate of pay of $5.25 per hour their total hourly earnings worked out to just over $20 per hour. So in a way, yes the dealers are getting tips, but that is not necessarily the standard. Many dealers were complaining because the hourly rate that this worked out to of $20-$30 per hour was far less than what they had expected. Traditionally there are also tips that come directly from the players on top of the 2.25%. It’s that extra money that many dealers were expecting that had them driving into Las Vegas from all over the country.

Many readers felt that while the dealers should make more money the responsibility shouldn’t be on the players to provide it. There were many comments like, "It shouldn't be a part of the game and adequate pay for dealers should be the responsibility of the house."

Many of these reader’s feelings about the responsibility of the casino to pay its dealer’s properly was echoed by Shane Akerson, a dealer who worked during the 2006 WSOP. Akerson stated that, “I am a player too so I see all the reasons why the players are mad and agree with them and most of it comes down to how much Harrah's wants to make.  I know that Harrahs paid $50 million to the name rights for the WSOP but do they have to get it back all in one year. They took out 6-9% out of each prize pool.  Some people think that money went to the dealers.  In the events $5,000 and over we received 1.5% of the purse and in events under $5,000 we got 2.25%.  So let’s say in the main event we get 1.5% and Harrahs gets 4.5% of the purse. That’s $87 million x 4.5%.”

Other readers felt that tipping has its place but is definitely not mandatory. Comments like: "It should not be an expected practice. They should get tipped if the customer/patron feels it is worthy/necessary." were extremely common.

Other readers made suggestions that might strike a balance for all parties involved, like placing a sign at the cash counter as a reminder about tipping instead of having the cashier actually solicit the player for tips.

Some readers expressed their pleasure with reading that Brunson had been given a raw deal that put him on tilt eventually resulting in him being knocked out of the Main Event. Some dealers even wrote in suggesting that they know how to work a table in such a way as to intentionally punish rude or non-tipping players by letting certain errors in counting chips result in a negative result for an intended player. While others just expected more from Brunson.

PHOTO: A dealer sits waiting for the players at the Final Table of the 2006 WSOP Main Event (Bodog Nation Photo)