On the surface, you’d assume that TITO tickets, being the same as cash, would be welcome by the waitresses, same as cash. However, this being the casino, it turns out not to be such a black-and-white situation.
The simple answer is yes, you can give a TITO ticket to a cocktail waitress as a tip.
But, and that’s a big but, the practice is seriously frowned on by management, which means it puts the waitress in a little ticklish pickle.
First, the waitress has to go directly to the cage, a coin window, or a ticket-cashing kiosk and cash TITO in. That takes some time out of her working day, which is bad for her and the joint.
Why does she have to cash it in immediately? Why can’t she cash it out at her leisure? Or give it to someone else to cash out for her?
For the same reasons that she can’t lay off any of her tips -- cash, casino chips, TITO tickets, or anything -- to friends or family. The cocktail waitress has to: a) account for all her tips at the end of her shift, for tax-reporting purposes; and b) split her tips with the bartenders.
At the end of her shift, she has to go to what’s called the employee bank and cash out under the cameras. It’s the same place she cashes in from: She (usually) starts the shift with the casino’s money (the impress bank) and repays it at the end of the shift. The locked bag with her start money must be opened under camera, in case it's short, and must be sealed under camera, in case it comes up short for the next waitress to get that bag. In fact, in the larger joints, she must call surveillance (just like the dealers) and advise that she’s breaking down the bank and her tips.
The internal auditors ask to review surveillance tapes of the employee bank to do an audit at least twice a month.
This is similar to the rule that cocktail waitresses who serve the pit aren’t allowed to leave the area with a casino chip of more than $25. If a player tokes a cocktail waitress with a black $100 chip, she has to color it down before leaving the pit. It’s no secret that the pit has an exact running count on black and above casino checks. If one is missing, it better be written down on the list. And according to our source, there's no place on the list to write down "waitress."
Another reason that the joints frown on cocktail runners holding TITO tickets is what they call "farming" or "paper mining." This is the practice of checking all the machines while she’s working, looking for uncashed tickets. That’s a big no-no for everyone (especially the unemployed, homeless, and drug addicted, who long made a practice of "silver mining" before TITO came along), but especially so for employees of the casino. Many casinos also have rules in place against employees gambling on property, which is why other members of staff (e.g. room maids, valet parkers) also prefer not to receive (and sometimes are forbidden to cash) TITO tickets as tips.
So, when you hand a cocktail waitress a TITO ticket for $2 or $5 or $10 or whatever, it’s still money. But all these bells go off in her head. To keep her happiest, it’s best to carry around some spare George Washingtons.
