Why Was the Crap Dealer Asking for a Tip for "the Machine?"

Last weekend, I was at a casino with my husband. When he plays craps, I like to stand behind the table and watch the action, even though I don't understand a lot of what's going on (and yes, he's tried to explain it to me, but I've never been good with numbers). Anyway, one of the dealers was a whirlwind! All arms and mouth. He handled the chips like better than anyone I've ever seen and he kept up a running commentary the whole time, to the amusement of the serious players -- and I think the annoyance of the rest. One thing he kept saying was, "How about a bet for the machine?" And "C'mon, put one down for the machine." My husband said he was trying to get people to tip the crew. Can you explain it better? Why was he talking about a "machine?"

Dealers work for low base pay, often minimum wage. Yet dealing in a casino has always been a coveted job for the money. How can that be? Because dealers also receive tips, or “tokes” as they’re called in casino speak. The tokes from a good casino job can easily produce a six-figure annual income, most in cash. Promoting tipping, naturally, is in the best interests of the dealers. It’s called “toke hustling.”

The hustling is mostly what’s termed “soft.” For example, after a couple of player wins at a blackjack table, a dealer might comment about a “run of good luck,” implying that he or she is partially responsible for the outcome and should be rewarded. No one worries much when the hustling is soft, but it becomes a concern when the efforts escalate to “hard."

The toke-hustler’s paradise is the dice table, where a hard hustler blatantly asks for “a bet for the boys” in the classic terminology, possibly on every come-out roll. Many players don’t want to look cheap, so they shrug and go along with it. This works especially well for a good-looking female dealer who’s playing up to a male customer. (And yes, the woman dealer is also one of the "boys" on a crap crew.) In addition, some players don’t understand all the payouts and lingo, so a dealer can take money directly out of the payout for a winning bet without the player knowing he’s been shorted. Worse, on a dice table, the players’ chips are on the rail and aggressive dealers can actually grab them and make bets for themselves. This is blatant “strong-arm hustling.” It’s not common, but it does happen.

Tips are split among dealers in two ways: by envelope or table-for-table, also known as “going for your own.” The envelope method is an even split among all the dealers at all table games on a shift. Everyone’s tips are pooled, then they’re divided evenly and disbursed in cash in envelopes. This method was implemented in part to inhibit hard hustling, since the fruits of a dealer’s direct efforts must be split with every other dealer. Since the envelope is used almost exclusively today, hard hustling is much less common than it used to be when table-for-table was the norm. Dealers keeping whatever they make at their own tables creates a direct incentive to hustle, which is why table-for-table jobs have all but disappeared over the years.

As for the "machine," we've never heard that before, but it's an interesting, amusing, and gender non-specific way of referring to the crew, which is certainly mechanized in its motion and coordination. Obviously, this dealer, "all arms and mouth," was putting on a show, part of which was an appeal for tips that we'd say falls somewhere between soft and hard. Gummy? Jellied? Mucilaginous? Whatever adjective you want to give it, it was definitely a hustle.

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David Goldfarb Nov-02-2020

Tip Tip

At all of the casinos in Atlantic City, $1.00 place bets for the dealers pay 2:1, even on six and eight where the true payout would be 6:5.. It’s the best way to tip them.

Dave Nov-02-2020

Machine

The way the questioner described that dealer sounds like the dealer was moving like a well oiled machine. So he was probably talking about himself - even though the tips are divided.

Sandra Ritter Nov-02-2020

I Learned Something New

I assumed those tips went into paychecks and were reported on their W-2's. Are any of those tips reported on their W-2's? Line 7 is Social Security Tips and Line 8, which is rarely used nowadays, is Allocated Tips.

David Sabo Nov-02-2020

Toke Hustlers

The biggest reasons why I play Aruze "Shoot to win" bubble craps is eloquently exposed in this article. Although the "girl " stuck in the machine" is a little annoying with all the "Push the Button" chatter, she never gives me advice, shorts me on payouts,or asks for tokes. Bubble craps pays all "misplaced" bets to the closest penny. On a live table if you don't place the right amount of money on say an odds bet they will round down to the next lower dollar. I've witnessed many times on a busy Saturday night where a drunk player who wasn't toking occasionally not get paid on a winning bet. This eventually busts the non toker and makes way for a new player who might toke.

rokgpsman Nov-02-2020

"machine" = "team"

The word "machine" simply means "team" when used this way at the craps table. Anyone remember the old movie with Burt Reynolds called "Sharky's Machine"? He played a police detective named Sharky with a team of people helping him solve a crime, the team was called his "machine". A group of people working together for a common cause is sometimes referred to as a "machine".

Roy Furukawa Nov-02-2020

Another Reason...

I think another reason tips are shared is because the casinos wouldn't be able to get dealers for slower, oddball games like Three or Four Card Poker, Pai Gow Poker, etc. because they get a lot less tips than a crap table. Back in the day before the sharing of tips, the crap table had to be the ultimate place to be for a dealer.

Kevin Lewis Nov-02-2020

Another reason why tips weren't shared

You didn't get a craps dealer job by virtue of experience or by how crappy you were; you got it by being "juiced" in. If you didn't know somebody on the inside, it might be years before you got a job at anywhere but a "dust joint." There was another way in, though, which was to simply pay the guy running HR or some other relatively high-ranking suit for the job. This was also done to get other high-tip-income jobs, such as valet parking. The prices paid were usually greatly in excess of one's expected total tip income for a year. Thus the toke hustling.

Of course, nowadays, craps dealers and other casino employees are hired strictly on merit and no bribery of any kind takes place during the hiring process.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Nov-02-2020

Just say "No"

If a craps dealer tries to get you to tip them or make a bet for them and you don't want to, just say "No dice".  Or say "I'll pass".

Jxs Nov-02-2020

Dealers grabbing chips from the rail?

“Worse, on a dice table, the players’ chips are on the rail and aggressive dealers can actually grab them and make bets for themselves.” Wow, I’ve never seen this and can’t imagine this happening. That would be called theft in my book and grounds for termination.

Question of the Day - 02 November 2020

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