How Much Do Poker Dealers Make In Tips
- Poker Dealers Wanted
- How Much Do Poker Dealers Make In Tips Today
- How Much Do Poker Dealers Make In Tips For Beginners
May 10, 2017 For these dealers they make $8.25 an hour (Nevada minimum wage for employees without any benefits) and what ever tips they receive. They end up getting taxed on that plus an assumed roller per hour in tips while dealing these games even if they get stiffed (not receive a tip).
- They Do a Poor Job. If the pace of your game is insufferably slow, if the dealer is making frequent.
- Including tips, how much per year do Las Vegas poker dealers make? Would prefer to have answers from current dealers, past dealers, or people within the industry. Would also appreciate any extra details you can provide with your answer (hours per day, shift times, which casino, games dealt, betting limits, etc).
Relatively new to this site- love it. Anyway- I have been casino gambling for 30 years and never had the guts to ask someone- including tips, what would an average dealer at a 'regular' casino like Harrahs make? How much is in 'salary', and how much is from tips? Also- will craps dealers and, say, paigow dealers be paid the same? Are dealers in the high limit rooms paid more?
Dealers get paid minimum wage or close to it as a base, the rest is tips. In most locals casinos tips will be $12-22 per hour from what I have seen. At a fancy strip property they will range from $100-250/day in tips depending on time of day or year.
Sometimes dealers of some games like craps will get paid a little more in base. By a little more I mean $1/hr more, which at tipped minimum means about $5.50 instead of $4.50.
Most places seem to pool tips on a 24 hour basis. Meaning all tips are divided by all hours worked and dealers get the hourly rate. Poker dealers are virtually always 'go for your own' and keep all of their own tips. Some houses let all dealers on all games 'go for their own' which means any tips that dealer gets they keep, except craps which will be split crew for crew since working a craps game is a team job and going for their own per person would be difficut at best and cause major problems no matter what.
The last time I saw the print version was last summer (2009), where the reported tokes/shift were as low as $32 in a couple of downtown grind joints, and $450+ at Caesars. The basic numbers seemed to be mostly in these ranges: Downtown, $40-65, Local's joints, $45-90, Low-end Strip, $70-190, High-end Strip, $110-500.
These numbers are added to a base wage that is almost always minimum federal, with perhaps $1/hr more for some positions. Many dealers have told me that all of the base wage goes to pay the taxes on the tokes.
There are 'break-in' local joints like Joker's wild, the Western, El Cortez, the Longhorn, etc at about $30 a day.
Then there are 'comfortable' local places like Green Valley, Texas Station, Boulder Station, Sam's Town, Fiesta Henderson, Cannery properties, Golden Nugget, Main Street Station, Sunset Station, etc. Tips = $50 to $110 a day there.
Strip casinos are $90 to $200 a day tips.
There are a lot of nickel grinders out there!! 90% of our tips copme from 10% of the players.
I DO get good health benefits, along with six 'floater' days and two weeks vacation, for three weeks paid time off.
After a few heart attacks, I would NOT be able to get either health insurance or life insurance on my own.
I will keep this job until I am REALLY independently wealthy, if that happens, because I would have to 'self-insure.'
Some local casinos in the LV area are about $25 to $75 a day in tips on top of minimum wage, or $3.12 to $9.37 an hour.
There are 'break-in' local joints like Joker's wild, the Western, El Cortez, the Longhorn, etc at about $30 a day.
Then there are 'comfortable' local places like Green Valley, Texas Station, Boulder Station, Sam's Town, Fiesta Henderson, Cannery properties, Golden Nugget, Main Street Station, Sunset Station, etc. Tips = $50 to $110 a day there.
Strip casinos are $90 to $200 a day tips.
There are a lot of nickel grinders out there!! 90% of our tips copme from 10% of the players.
I DO get good health benefits, along with six 'floater' days and two weeks vacation, for three weeks paid time off.
After a few heart attacks, I would NOT be able to get either health insurance or life insurance on my own.
I will keep this job until I am REALLY independently wealthy, if that happens, because I would have to 'self-insure.'
You mean until 2014 when obamacare goes into full effect. There will be no more individual rating in health insurance after that. Age will be the only factor that can impact insurance rates. Life insurance is another story
You mean until 2014 when obamacare goes into full effect. There will be no more individual rating in health insurance after that. Age will be the only factor that can impact insurance rates. Life insurance is another story
And at that point no one will be able to afford what the government calls 'acceptable' care and we will all be laid off since employers will not be able to keep employees on with all the mandates anyways :-)
Other dealers rarely Keep Their Own, pooling is usually mandatory and some casinos force tip sharing with first line supervisors. The Wynn takes dealers tips and shares them with Floormen. Not an admired move for Wynn to have taken but a dealer at the Wynn usually makes good money anyway. Tips vary.
Dealer oriented newsletters do exist but often have various conflicts of interest on revealing toke rates. Often such information is not entirely reliable if its released.
A Venetian dealer will make far, far more than a break in joint such as the El Cortez. A place with a one dollar craps table such as Jokers Wild in the outer regions of Hendertucky will not make much money so how could its dealers ever do very well there?
All dealers seem to be hurting right now, some far more than others.
The Wynn takes dealers tips and shares them with Floormen. Not an admired move for Wynn to have taken but a dealer at the Wynn usually makes good money anyway. Tips vary.
Do you know if that's a necessity to retain the floor supervisors at the Wynn? I could see that staff continuity would be important at a high-end place like that.
The folks at Canterbury Park here in MN have complained to me more than once that they make more as dealers than they do as floor supervisors. So they have a hard time deciding whether to take the 'promotion' to a salary-only management position with a lower average total cash payment. I think sharing tips with those people on a non-parity basis (maybe 80% dealers, 20% floor supervisors) helps keep the floor supervisors happy. It's not exactly the same thing, but I think this is also the reason that restaurant servers kick back tips to the host. If they didn't, nobody would want to be the host - there's more money to be made as a server.
I can deal bj, switch, double attack, sp21, 3 and 4 card poker, war, caribbean stud, let it ride, pai gow, roulette, tiles and craps.....I spend most of my time in high limit craps and tiles.....if i could only deal bj then i would make about $1 less.
You mean until 2014 when obamacare goes into full effect. There will be no more individual rating in health insurance after that. Age will be the only factor that can impact insurance rates. Life insurance is another story
assuming obamacare survives, or that these dates don't keep getting pushed into the future
Why would you want to become a poker dealer?
There are a few reasons that poker players, in general, decide to become poker dealers. One of those reasons, the most obvious reason, is that dealing poker is very profitable – much more profitable than most people realise.
Think of it like this, it’s pretty much good practice to toss the dealer a buck every time you win a hand right? Not everyone does it, but most of us do, some toss more especially the travellers and other people that don’t play the game on a regular basis.
How much do poker dealers earn?
For right now, let’s go with that, an average of $1 per hand in tips. We won’t even take into consideration tourists and other big tipping games. Now we’ll consider another fact about dealing poker, the fact that poker dealers are expected to deal an average of 30 hands per hour minimum.
So, assuming an average of $1 tip per hand, 30 hands per hour means poker dealers are making about $30 an hour in tips plus very small paychecks they are taking from the casino.
In Oregon, for instance, at Chinook Winds Casino poker dealers are paid $8.80-$9.48 plus tips. Comparatively, Table Mountain Casino in California pays new dealers $8 plus tips. Dealers in Oregon must pass an audition at the casino as well as undergo an extensive background investigation, pass a drug test and receive a licence from the Gambling Commission.
There are lots of openings for tournament dealers; however, cash game dealer positions are actually pretty hard to come by.
How do I become a certified poker dealer?
The most common way to become a certified poker dealer is to take a class on dealing poker. The length of poker dealing classes varies from as little as two weeks to as many eight weeks. The price of the classes varies almost as much as the length required in them.
The ease of finding a class and being able to afford that class largely depends on where you’re located. For instance, in Oregon at Chinook Winds Casino, classes are offered free during the slower months in effort to gear up for busier summer events.
Poker Dealers Wanted
Classes at Chinook Winds Casino are usually a couple of weeks long with as much follow up as is required for a new dealer to pass an audition. Caesars in Las Vegas also offers free poker dealer classes when they’re gearing up for the World Series of Poker season. These classes are three weeks long, are followed up by auditions, background checks and licensing by the Nevada Gaming Commission.
The average price to learn any new casino game seems to range from these free classes, that aren’t offered regularly, on up to about $1500 with a guaranteed job placement after you’ve graduated at the larger more expensive schools. It’s been said that the best dealer schools teach new dealers how to deal multiple games including Chinese Poker.
If you are curious what sort of things you might learn at a professional Holdem Poker dealer school check out videos on YouTube for learning to deal casino poker.
Dealing these major tournament events offers these new dealers a venue in which they can hone their skills, become ready to pass stricter auditions working in places such as Atlantic City, Las Vegas or aboard poker cruise ships.
Obtaining your State Dealers Licence
Once you’ve gotten the necessary training, and a position at a casino, you’ll need to become licenced by the state where you’re to be employed. This process generally involves proving your citizenship via the same documents employee’s use to prove their right to work legally within the United States and passing a criminal background investigation.
The background investigation usually requires that the applicant submit to fingerprinting and submit a photograph of themselves with their application. Applications then need to be renewed every 3-5 years.
How Much Do Poker Dealers Make In Tips Today
Breaking into the Industry
If you’re looking to become a licenced dealer, at an actual casino, you’ll need experience dealing professionally. It’s the same catch 22 the world has dealt with when looking for employment for decades, you have to have experience to get it.
The best way to break into the field without actual live game dealing experience is during large tournament events. When casinos hold monthly, quarterly or annual large events they tend to be very short-staffed so this is a great time for a trained, yet under experienced dealer, to pick up some extra dealing time and grab some experience to put on the their C.V.
The biggest tip you can take advantage of is to learn every game you can whenever you get the chance. Whether it’s poker, or another casino game, the more games you can list on your job applications the more appealing you will be to the casinos you send your C.V. to.
How Much Do Poker Dealers Make In Tips For Beginners
Remember, as you hear about free classes like the one’s held occasionally at casinos like Caesars, that 100’s of dealers before you have paid a lot of money for these classes to get their position within the casino. You may have to pay for other classes in the future so, snap up these free opportunities whenever and wherever possible!