It occurred to us recently that although in our blackjack tips section we mention the benefits of tipping the dealer (tip nr 5), it may be the case that beginning players are not sure how to go about this gracefully and how much makes an acceptable tip. Here are some further tips on tipping.
First of all, tipping is a personal thing: If your dealer is unpleasant or you see other reasons to be displeased with the service then feel free not to tip at all, or to tip relatively little. Tip mediocre for mediocre service, and tip more for good service. Don’t be embarrassed to let your bets determine your tips, if you’re not a highroller you don’t have to tip like one. Say you’re a 5 rand player. In that case you needn’t feel obliged to tip your dealer a multiple of your bet simply to avoid embarrasment.
We already mentioned placing your tip as a side bet in our tips section, but blackjack author and editor Henry Tamburin proposes a more cost-effective way to go about this. Tamburin advises placing your tip bet on top of your own bet. This means that rather than the dealer taking your chip and paying himself if you win, you remain in control of the chips. Tamburin’s elegant technique means you can give the dealer what is won through the tip chip, and then let that chip ride on top of subsequent bets. This way you can get more mileage out of your tip, as may the dealer in the case of a winning streak.
If you still want to give a tip to the dealer outright you can always to do at any moment in the game, although the most common moment is when you are leaving a table. Just place it on the layout and say who it is for.
