Contributing expert Blair Rodman tackles this question.
Tipping at a poker tournament has become a very sensitive subject.
The first thing to do is find out if the tournament managers have already withheld money from the prize pool for the dealers and staff. Almost all the big events now withhold money for tips -- generally 3%. This can be a significant amount. In the 2005 World Series Of Poker final event, for example, the total withheld from the prize pool for tips amounted to $1.2 million!
Before mandatory tipping, it was customary to tip poker dealers 2%-3% of your winnings in the bigger tournaments and a higher percentage in the smaller events. Since the policy of tips as a percentage of the prize pool was implemented, I'm not sure there's any standard for individual tipping. However, in my view, the mandatory tip should take care of the entire gratuity obligation. One would think, to return to the WSOP example, that the $1.2 million in automatic gratuities would have been sufficient, but after the final, some dealers raised a public outcry over how the big winners "stiffed" them by not toking more. Anything extra you leave the dealers should be based on how you feel about the treatment you’ve received.
In the smaller tournaments, where the prize pools are less, the tip amounts are less, whether money is withheld or not (and I'm not sure there's a single policy that encompasses all the minis). Again, you should ask if money is being withheld. If not, you might want to tip out at up to 10%, since no matter what, the dealers earn less at the smaller events than at the bigger ones.
The bottom line is that if you’re a recreational player, had a good time at the tournament, and want to be popular with the dealers and staff, leave a generous tip.
If you play for a living, it's a different story. Most pros tip if money isn't withheld. If it is, many won't leave more and they shouldn't, in my opinion, be expected to; excessive tipping is a major drain on a pro's bankroll. However, some dealers seem to have adopted the attitude that because the 3% in automatic gratuities is shared with the rest of the staff, it doesn't count toward a reward for individual services, so they're being personally stiffed if players don't tip on top of the tip. The truth is that the 3% is yet another money grab in a long tradition of the customers subsidizing casino-employees' salaries, and many players resent it. It used to be that you'd get the satisfaction of tipping for a job well done. Not only do you no longer get that, but you're generally looked upon with derision if you don't leave even more of your money behind.
Blair Rodman is co-author of Kill Phil-The Fast Track to Success in No-Lmit Hold 'Em Poker Tournaments, which introduces strategies that have been designed so that even a rank novice can compete with the world’s best players.
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