I toke more heavily in my “regular” casinos. Since a few different staff members are involved each time I get a jackpot or a hopper fill, I get to know the staff and they know me. Also, you can bet the attendants gossip about which players are great tippers, and which ones are stiffs. To assume they don’t is very naïve.

The better the game (percentagewise), the better the tips should be. I was teaching at a casino where they had two full-pay dollar deuces machines. These machines are worth between $20 and $30 per hour to the knowledgeable player, depending upon how fast he plays. These machines were at a bar, and the bartenders hated them because the players would come in and play for hours, drinking only coffee or mineral water, and tip very modestly, if at all. There was a lot of complaining from the staff, who could see that the players were winning. The slot director, under pressure from management because the machines were losers from the house point of view, used the employee grumbling as the excuse to take away the games. The games would have survived longer if the players had used a little more savvy about what was really going on. The slot director wanted to have “loose games”, but he couldn’t justify it in the face of losing money and employee dissatisfaction.

I teach video poker classes at some casinos, and I definitely overtip when I play there. Since I am the teacher, the casino workers assume that I am a winner and can therefore afford to tip well. I overcompensate in order to avoid any possibility of some change person telling a customer, “Bob Dancer may be a good teacher, but he sure is a cheap bastard.”

Many of the nicer casinos have “High Roller Rooms”. In these rooms, you’ll find $5 machines (and up, up, up at some places). Frequently you’ll find an attendant taking care of the room. If you have any needs, it is that person’s job to take care of it. Whether it is to make change, call a cocktail waitress or floorperson, or even watch your machine while you take a short break, these people are truly there to serve you. Generally casinos put friendly competent people in these positions, because the high rollers are very important to the success of the casino. I usually give these people a small toke when I’m leaving. Their only job is to take care of me. I definitely want to encourage them to do a good job.

Money is not the only medium of exchange when it comes to toking. I frequently get comped to nice restaurants, but rarely eat desserts. I always order the dessert “to go --- for a midnight snack”. Change attendants will fight over who gets this tip. Whatever meals they receive for free in the Employee Dining Room do not compare to whatever dessert I am bringing. The fact that I didn’t pay for it directly doesn’t seem to affect the appetites or the appreciation.

Also, for high rollers, you will frequently get more opportunities for show tickets than you can possible use. These make wonderful tokes. Most change people frankly cannot afford to go to the shows at the major hotels, and they very much appreciate the opportunity. Don’t abuse this however. Casinos get suspicious when you ask for 30 tickets to see the same show, year in and year out.

At some casinos employees pool tips --- that is, everybody in a certain group shares all of the tips made to anyone in that group. At other casinos, employees keep what they get. (Ask. They’ll tell you the rules.) If you are tipping in a “pooling house”, you’ll find you’ll get more bang for your buck if you can find a way to make the tips keepable by the individual. For example, employees may keep sealed envelopes, as long as they do not open them up on the job. It is okay for an employee to keep a teddy bear as a gift --- even if there’s $20 slipped under the collar.

Bob Dancer is America's best-known video poker writer and teacher. He has a variety of "how to play better video poker" products, including the software "Video Poker for Winners," Winner's Guides, strategy cards, his autobiography Million Dollar Video Poker, and his two novels, including Sex, Lies, and Video Poker. Dancer's products may be ordered at www.bobdancer.com or by telephone at 1-800-244-2224 M-F 9-5 Pacific Time.