Tipping Casino Dealers

If you are not convinced yet: summarized we believe at very best on old-style wheels (deep, not scalloped pockets) a very skilled dealer might have influenced the course of the game deliberately – however, NOT one statistically tested recorded document of a successful attempt exists. On today’s modern style wheels we believe deliberate aiming and consistently succeeding to influence the outcomes are out of the question.

We would have preferred to test a dealer on this particular subject, but as mentioned earlier, an ex-dealer we personally knew, already denied the possibility, nor did he know of a dealer who was able to do this. After insisting we only found one candidate dealer for our challenge but this one backed off very quickly when we introduced him to our statistician. Probably the contender found it easier to convince the layman of his skills (which brings in the tip chips), but even if you only know the basics of stats and probability you know that a hit rate of 1 in 5 for a 6 sector pocket simply doesn’t prove anything in the short run: such a pattern could appear easily by chance as well.

As we have chosen the route of common sense: suppose such an extraordinary skilled dealer would exist. Wouldn’t you find it strange in this world of numerous tv game shows, documentaries and literature to be found on any human skill, there is to our knowledge NOT ONE officially recorded and successful attempt of a dealer hitting a certain section in a significantly higher rate than expected over a long amount of trials? A (retired) dealer who would have this skill would surely have turned up by now in the presence of a statistician to prove himself, if only for historical sake.

Does this evidence exists: no, and internationally there must have been over 1.000.000 dealers by now (amateurs or professionally, retired or still active).

Even for the casinos, it is good business if the public thinks a dealer can influence the game. As a player you will be more likely to tip and as such a casino doesn’t have to pay decent basic wages. This is the ethical side to the question: casinos are undoubtedly a multi-million-dollar revenue business, so we could expect even the employees on the base of the food chain to get a fair share of the profit in wages. But, in reality many dealers are depending on tips to secure their modest wages (if you compare it to what the management is making). So you can be certain if a player believes the dealer might hit a certain section the dealer will be the last to state otherwise: even if the dealer only receives a fraction of the chips in the tips box, it’s the butter on his bread.

Besides casinos wouldn’t have to pay decent wages to dealers which are more consistent with the large profits of the casino, there is also a mathematical reason why players are expected to tip the dealer on a straight hit. In the chapter on the house-edge, we’ve analyzed that a player is not rewarded fairly for the risk he or she is taking. If you have a chance of 1 out of 37 or 38, you should receive a net reward of 36 or 37 chips, but on both occasions, your net gain is only 35 chips. On top of this, on a straight hit, most casinos have installed a ‘good conduct’ or ‘player etiquette’ policy you should give one chip to the dealer on a straight hit.

If the player agrees with this, the mathematical house edge is even increased:

French Roulette : (34/1) – (36/1) * 1/37 = -0,054054054 * 100 = – 5.40 %

American Roulette : (34/1) – (37/1) * 1/38 = -0,078947368 * 100 = – 7.89 %

Notice the first part of the bracket would be your actual gain on a hit: you receive a 35 chips payout of 35 chips for a straight hit, but if you are expected to give one chip to the dealer for each straight hit the house edge increases dramatically from 2.70 % to 5.40 % in French roulette; on American roulette the house edge has now become a staggering 7.89 % instead of 5.26 %. Both are devastating for the bankroll of the player in the long run. You might have wondered where all your chips went in the last year: well, the expected dealer tips are a major contributor.

Not only does the tipping policy provide the casino a good excuse for why they shouldn’t pay decent basic wages to the dealers, but the expected tipping also increases the house edge even further. For the casino this is a win-win situation: it reduces the cost of the tax on basic staff wages, and in the long run, the chances for the player are even worse.

This is the real story from the inside, which is why our dealer finally quit his job and decided to co-operate in this project.

This situation can only continue as long as players are not informed of what is really going on: the first protest of players would be to simply switch to automated mechanical roulette so the player isn’t longer expected to help the casino pay for the dealer (which the player already does simply by gambling on negative expectancy games), or simply refusing to tip unless the casino executives show you a document in writing.

In the last case you might start a scene to find out if the dealer is really getting the chips he or she is obliged to drop in the tip box or only a very small fraction. Inform other players about the knowledge you have just gained. After all, if you tip a person you do this for providing good service and you expect this particular person to receive the tip in full: this is not the case in the large majority of all the (European) casinos.

In Europe, recently dealers went on strike in a certain venue because their wages had dropped to below minimum wage while the casino itself was producing a wealthy profit. It the kind of industry you are dealing with.