I have always followed my own structure to when and how much I tip. I think many people do too, but many more who have yet to hit a jackpot handpay may not be aware of this custom. So I still get asked a lot about tips, in part because bet size can often determine how often we see a jackpot, and some of us bet bigger than others.
One area is around how tips are shared. I have talked about how tips can be shared or pooled. A viewer was curious:
You stated they split the tips with how many are on shift. Does that include the employees who clean, security personnel and such?
Rita B.
The answer to that isn’t universal. Like many workplaces where tipping holds a prominent role, the tipping policy can vary. Some restaurants have a tip out policy that provides a share of server tips to other employees like bussers and kitchen staff. But it can depend on what laws allow in a local geography, as well as the particular restaurant’s policies.
So similarly, a casino’s tipping policy can vary as well. For instance, when it comes to dealers, many casinos pool their tips with everyone else on shift, which allows dealers who may be on a game that’s slow that day to still benefit if other games are busier.
But then there are casinos that do not have their dealers pool tips – a few in Las Vegas recently made these changes quite loudly, believing it’s an opportunity to woo dealers who want more control over the tips they generate.
When it comes to tipping slot attendants, some pool their tips and some don’t. Some casinos share tips across others like security and others don’t. And so the single thing I can suggest, and I often do, is simply ask – do you pool/share your tips? If the answer is yes, you can hand the money to the one person and you know it will get spread around. If the answer is no, you can consider how you might want to allocate the money you planned to tip.
The most important thing to remember, as I get all sorts of comments from people about this, is that tipping is a personal decision. To those of you who do not feel you need to tip because they’re doing their job (this is the most frequent counterargument I get on the topic), that’s your option. On the flip side, there’s the people who win big and literally sprinkle $100 bills generously around to various casino staff.
I’m always happy to share my personal advice, but I encourage you to do what you think is best. But for those who ask about my tipping, I hope this proves helpful the next time you get a jackpot (because I know you’ve got one coming!).
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Hi Brian!
I have only had like 3-4 handpays.. I do not tip the person who brings the cash. I do however state that the tip has already been designated. I then go, when I am leaving that machine go into the restrooms and give to the housekeeper cleaning the bathroom!! When I was growing up, my Mama was a waitress and depending on her “tips” determined what we had for dinner that night! Sometimes we had eggs n bacon that we already had at home.. and occasionally we had STEAK!
Thanks Bella! As we say, tipping is personal, so we encourage people to do what makes sense for them!
Hi, Brian. I like to tip the person cleaning around me and the one who is bringing me drinks. I noticed if I push the button for assistance no one shows up. However when you hit a handpay they are there immediately!
When you press the service button, it shows up differently to attendants than a jackpot, Kim, and people press them by accident or for non-emergencies, so the response time is often slower, especially if there are enough of them on at a given time. They tend to treat jackpots as a higher priority, but even there we hear of lags at times when the attendants are overly busy.
When I order food I like to leave a tip for the person that cooks the food.
Tip for the person who cleans the restrooms and the Coffee servers.
Good areas of reminder Virginia for some of the other staff on the casino floor that sometimes get overlooked. We’ve definitely seen some casinos where the restroom employees were among the harder working folk!