“I’m going to have to punch you…or get punched…it could happen that way,” by Sam Farha as he’s facing a $18,000 raise in PLO from Brian Townsend. It appeared that Sam was going to raise to defend his $3000 live blind – he called instead.
It was just another working dead spread for me. Although this is the first time in a long time that Sam was impatient and barking at me. I usually have a very good experience with him (not $$ wise but just friendly in general) but this time, he was grouching with me.
He had a sweater and he spent most of his time talking to her and not focusing on the game or Brian. Brian was going to dinner at an exact time, it would end the dealing part of my down in Bobby’s Room, and Sam was trying to talk him in to playing longer. Sam asked Brian if he wanted to put out $100K and just run the hand out and see who won. They finally concluded that Sam would put up $110K to Brian’s $100K. As Sam went back to talking to his friend Brian decided he wanted to do it. Sam said they would do it on the last hand they played.
Brian and Sam talked a little back and forth about who was winner, who won yesterday, etc. I do not know and I do not care, it has nothing to do with me so I don’t care to report any of that. Finally they were down to the last hand – the $110K vs. $100K – it was going to be dealt out in Omaha. They set out their bets and I admit to being a bit on edge because I had no idea what I was actually supposed to do. They had been talking about running two flops, let’s take a look, etc., etc., etc. I didn’t want to make any mistakes and start my night by being yelled at or feeling self pride misery that I had done something wrong or had affected the outcome of the hand.
Sam sort of barked at me to deal the hand, I asked if he wanted the whole board, his yes was very impatient, like I was a total idiot, then he quickly added, “Don’t drop the deck or do anything.”
OK.
I put up the board. Sam told Brian to go first (Sam had the button) and roll one card, then Sam had to roll a card until he beat Brian’s one card (coupled with the board). Brian lost the first hand. They decided to play one more. As their bets were going out, Sam was talking it up, they were talking about when they would come back from dinner, what time would they play, I waited. Sam got really antsy with me, telling me to deal the cards. I did. I didn’t put the flop out in 3 seconds or less and he started with me, “What’s wrong with you, LInda? Why are you acting so nervous?”
His voice was on edge. I told him I didn’t want to make a mistake. He told me there was no way I could make a mistake, to just deal. I swear to God, if I had just dealt, he would have snapped at me, if I didn’t, he was going to snap at me. It’s a no win.
Brian won this one.
Sam wanted to know if Brian would play one hand of showdown for a half a million as Sam started counting himself down to see how much he had in front of him and Brian declined. There was some poker tangoing conversation going on between them as Sam got ready to leave.
Sam’s sweater asked, “Does the winner take care of the dealer?” She was ignored as they talked.
She tried again, “Does the winner of the match take care of the dealer? That’s how I understood it worked.”
They both ignored her. As she left with Sam she turned to me and said, “I tried.”
I laughed and said, “I know. Thanks.”
I got pushed.
*edit* To broaden your knowledge of what it’s like to deal high limit,please read the next post ‘Dodging a Bullet’and once you’ve read that one, read the next one, “Comments and Tipping.” There’s a lot more behind the picture than some of you want to examine or even admit. *end edit*
WTF?? No tip? Are you serious?? Not $1? I can’t believe when I hear stuff like that… I’ve played $2/$4 limit, won a $3 pot and tipped the dealer and these guys give nothing?
Anyways…I really appreciate you posting stuff like this. As a poker player it is fun to hear about the bigger games and big names that play at the Bellagio first hand. Thanks!!
Unreal that this guy can win nearly a million and not tip the dealer a cent. Just another millionaire cheapskate.
SO pathetic. Everyone wants to be a big bad poker player. Everyone wants to be the man. WTF is wrong with these self-involved pathetic people that they can’t throw you a bone. Look at me, I am a big-time online poker player. What a joke.
You didnt get a tip at all?
Jeepers thats a bit rough
BTW nice article
Unreal, but not unexpected. The higher the limit, the less the players tip, yet they EXPECT the best dealers.
They should remember this…You get what you pay for.
Brian didn’t tip you?
What should be a proper tip? Maybe $20 per hand
Wow outting your customers on a public forum for not leaving a tip. Classy
argg i liked sammy as a good poker player… but damn he didnt tip u… thats unreal… wat a cheapazzz…
keep up the good work… i like ur blog…
and keep shufflin up and deall
poker player its about 4000 times classier then not leaving a tip, there is no excuse.
I love when people who work for tips complain about not getting tipped. Sure, sometimes it’s an oversight or a cheap-ass bonehead who just doesn’t tip, but often it’s simply that the service wasn’t worthy.
This is a high-stakes, private game. At a minimum the players should expect discretion from the dealer and that whatever goes on in the room remains private. Since she couldn’t do this part of her job, I doubt the rest was all that stellar.
You WILL be fired for this.
Do you not get paid by the Casino?
Isn’t dealing your job? Why should you get extra from it? Is the casino not raking these pots? Live rake is already higher than online rake, why should players be expected to tip MORE, considering less hands are being played per hour?
I don’t get extra rewards for doing my job, why should it be different just because you work in a casino? Just be glad they haven’t implemented auto-dealers yet.
I bet you get fired the next time you come into work.
I don’t know what’s worse, them not tipping you or you telling the world two of your most important customers are pricks.
What a silly comment Cardrunners.
You know very well this match is being talked about on all major message boards and BT’s(your?) blog goes into detail about the outcome. LOL @ the "fired" comment. If you want a private game with dealers and security, go hire the staff and room. Otherwise, expect to tip or you will come off a little nitty.
Why do the nosebleed players think they are above taking care of the staff?
Many people would pay $$$ to be at that table watching them play Heads-Up. Why not use the opportunity to improve your poker skills instead of bitching about not getting tipped.
They get minimum wage + tips. They live off their tips.
That said, there is some merit to cardunners.com’s comments. It’s a private game of which she should not be posting the details.
But for Christ’s sake, what’s $20-$100 when you have 6-figures on the table? I am by no means baller, but when I drag a $500+ pot live I throw dealer $20.
It’s called empathy, and apparently all parties involved have no concept of it.
"Do you not get paid by the casino?"
Are you serious? Do you have ANY idea what the base rate for a dealer is (hint: it’s often less than minimum wage). Some of you obviously have no idea what it’s like working in a tipped profession.
comment by cardrunners left the worst taste ever in my mouth. what a fking up-your-own-ass douche move by representative of a site i respected so much. tip your server, tip your dealer. good for you for outing this, poster. BASIC HUMAN DECENCY!!!!
The above cardrunners.com was not by brian or anyone from cardrunners.com
sammy farha is a greasy little runt
gg job
"But for Christ’s sake, what’s $20-$100 when you have 6-figures on the table?"
Well shit, why doesn’t Bill Gates just go around giving $100 to every person he sees, it doesn’t mean anything to him.
I am not saying not tipping is right, but you cannot think about it that way.
She will not be fired for this….this is her personal blog, and she’s done it for years. She doesn’t sign a confidentiality agreement when she deals a game. These were just two typical high stakes douchebags who think they should get everything free and they don’t give a shit about anyone but themselves. I’m not saying the dealer deserved hundreds or thousands just because of the stakes, but she deserves something, thats for sure! She took her time to deal a private game at ultra high stakes, with a prick like Sammy in the game.
we all have heard stories of tipping and what happens when a player doesn’t realise what he has actually thrown to the dealer.
This was a Private game so they should have tipped her extra since she wasn’t dealing a normal table.
you big money card runner guys got it wrong. You want the best but don’t
feel like you should have to pay or tip for service. Let them give you a new dealer and see how you like it.
I guess you also think that it is easy to deal these games and she should pay you for the privilege?
I wonder if you tip your waitress or bartender?
cheap asses
jmho
wwonka
this wasnt a private game. dealers werent hired for this. they used the staff the casino provided,therefore tipping the dealer is a must. as far as linda losing her job, thats a jopke. brian has detailed all this in his blog and all of this is all over every poker board on the net. nothing secretive here.
if your mad because you didn’t get tip, then get a job thats pays you well so you don’t have to rely on tips… I play poker for a living, and i added up that i tip 6-8k a yr at the poker tables playing 4 time. thats a good months work.
Put a shift of "green" dealers in and see how they appreciate a solid dealing staff.
you deserve to be fired for whining about not gettin a tip at a high stakes casino game.
hope your boss reads this, one things for certain – your definitely not gonna be doing anymore special dealing in the future 😉
What people fail to understand is that, yes, tipping IS expected; to the extent that dealers are taxed on what is expected that they would be tipped (not on what they actually received, there is a particular dollar amount per hour that they are taxed on; at least, that was how it was done when I was dealing poker in Nv.).
This IS a service industry after all. You tip your waiter don’t you? (And if you don’t think they don’t talk about you, you’re sadly mistaken.. my brother and sister used to wait tables, I know.)
Now, as stated, this is a service industry. Yeah, toke based on service. If the service is incredibly bad, sure, you’re justified for not leaving a tip. The management wants those big players in their room, and they won’t come back if they didn’t get good service while there. So, if you think Linda is less than one of the best, she wouldn’t have been given the game.
I’m astounded that people are commenting like this.
Fired?
Classless?
Comparing somebody not tipping in a situation where they should to Bill Gates randomly giving strangers $100?
Are you all retarded?
Maybe a couple of you are just trying to be funny (and failing miserably, if so) but this just shows a level of douchebaggedness that I thought impossible. Keep min-raising your aces and going to war with 2nd pair and leave Linda alone.
next time u post a blog, try having facts correct.
http://www.cardrunners.com check brians blog, this is what actually happend.
Derek,
my facts are correct. The first hand of ‘run em’ I pushed $100K to Sam, the 2nd hand of ‘run em’ I pushed $110K to Brian.
Sam wanted to play the final hand for $500K. I did not add in my post that he counted himself down and didn’t have that much, and was willing to ‘run em’ for what he had in front of him. His first statements were to do it for $500K.
Perhaps those are the two facts that are bothering you. If not, oh well.
And don’t forget to read the next posts ‘Dodging a Bullet’ and ‘Comments and Tipping’. Keep reading and have a nice day.
Lame… seriously if the base pay isn’t enough get a better job.
What is everyone getting so worked up about? Who cares? This is so fucking stupid. Ever consider that MAYBE they forgot, perhaps because they were too tired after playing poker for several hours for HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS of dollars? It was most likely an honest mistake. Everyone grow the fuck up.
Maybe they did forget to tip, but when someone (not the dealer) says it OUTLOUD to leave something for the dealer twice and gets ignored?
No excuses. Linda provided a service outside of her normal job description and should have been tipped accordingly.
Hope to drop by and say hi in a few weeks!!
It’s not lame that people are getting worked up over the lack of tipping from high rollers. High limit poker players rarely "forget" to tip…it’s just a known fact that they do NOT tip (there are exceptions of course but for the most part it seems that most of the time a dealer will not be tipped while working a down in a high limit game). It IS a big deal for many dealers b/c these are the most demanding players (and oftentimes the most DEMEANING players to have to deal to/with) who want only the best service but will still bitch and complain even if the down was perfectly dealt with no mistakes. The dealer will usually get crap like "Good dealer" sarcastic remarks and insults just b/c they dealt a losing hand to some a-hole. Screw high limit players and you kids who only play online poker need to get out of the house a bit more and learn proper poker etiquette from anyone else other than Sammy Farha.
They forgot? This was a private game? They don’t owe you anything? Get a better job?
I can’t believe the idiots who post these comments. Here goes:
1) You live in Vegas? You should know that everyone works for tips.
2) You’re a well-known player and don’t tip? People are going to talk about your cheap ass, whether the dealer has a blog or not.
3) You want to flip coins for 500K and can’t afford a tip? See above point.
4) You play hours of heads-up and leave with 6 figures? Leave a fucking tip!
Hmm, i see many great points from all parties. I do not know the norm for these types of games, but i do have to believe out of respect for a dealer who IS providing a service, to be tipped. Now would Linda be disgruntled if they left a meager tip then no tip at all?
I have to believe that maybe BrianT. did not think in his mind the level of service was deserving of a tip, nobody really knows what goes through the minds of these "nosebleed stakes" players… but really imo, when you walk out with millions whats 0.0001 of your win as a thank you for your time.
*Dealers complaining about not being tipped is like the badbeats of a poker player, it’s common and to be expected, we all go through them but do we really have to post them every time it occurs? I still luv ya Linda and enjoy reading your blogs, not trying to be harsh, just throwing in my $.02
I love the holier than though attitudes of some of the comments. I checked out a few of the posters blogs. Seems that a lot of these players are legends in their own minds. That in and of themselves makes them beatable.
I played live cash for the first time at a $1/$2 table at the MGM on my recent trip to Vegas. On my first big pot I won about $80. I tipped the dealer $5. I routinely toked even on my small wins. Ive done my gig as a waitress and know what its like in the service industry. I accept this as a normal cost of doing business. You dont like it.. Play online.
Linda I believe you were at the WPBT tourney at the Orleans Saturday and Im sorry I didnt get the chance to meet you.
Lori "IG" aka Irongirl
i used to deal at the commerce and made decent money while i was going to school, but i realized one thing, dealing IS A MENIAL LABOR JOB. I really only deserved min. wage, maybe 10 bucks an hour. a guy who worked at burger king could get 2 weeks of dealer school and be a dealer. Even if youre a good dealer, what do you really deserve for doing a menial labor job, maybe 10, 12 an hour? not 25-30 most the dealers are making just in tips. people should get paid what they are worth, and really, you could just hire a bunch of illegals to be dealers after theyve gone through dealer school and theyd probably be pretty close to the current quality of dealers out there. I’m not a chaep ass myself, I still tip when I play, but realize what dealers are really worth, and thats minimum wage most of the time. High paying jobs are high paying jobs because youre being paid to do something other people can’t do. Dealing is something that almost anyone could do with just a couple weeks of training, and it really shouldnt command the high amount of money they have been getting.
Anyone can be a dealer??? Anyone can tolerate the endless name-calling and constant bitching of mindless idiots?? I guess you weren’t a very good dealer. And if you have ever dealt at the Commerce, then you are well aware of the level of low-life scum that dealers are forced to cater to on a daily basis. I think that $20-$30/hr. is not out-of-line. Dealers are there as babysitters, psychologists, marriage counselors, dartboards, and bad-beat story recipients. Add up the hourly wage of all those titles. Then figure it out again.
A tip should never be EXPECTED. Regardless of the position or service provided. A casino is paying you to do a job. A rake is being taken to pay for your job. Why should a player be expected to pay a rake and tip every winning hand or pot? Do they get money back or a tip from the dealer for every pot they lose? A dealer shouldn’t expect to make the same hourly income as a business professional who actually had to go to school and get a degree. A tip is a gratuity or bonus. To expect it for doing what you are paid to do is wrong, and to complain about it in a blog is just as bad.
As for the fast food worker vs dealer comparisons. I wouldn’t wish a fast food job on anyone. No one is paying for a two week course on flipping burgers for a reason.
Online blogs aren’t private/personal property. Anything you can’t write in a newspaper shouldn’t be written here.
I’m guessing that the people that are saying that tips should not be expected, have never themselves worked in a job where tips make up the majority of your income.
There’s a huge difference between a good poker dealer and a normal poker dealer. With a good dealer, the action is always flowing, the deal is fully aware of the chemistry of the table and is able to prevent problems before they occur. When a good dealer is at your table, you shouldnt event notice them. Everything just works. Compare this to an average to sub-par dealer and you’ll notice a world of difference.
Vegas is general is a service industry town. And you’ll probably get the best service top to bottom in Vegas…why? Because the money is there and one thing I’ve noticed about the rich, and I mean the real rich, people that have made it themselves not inherited their wealth, is that they understand the value of "TIME". And they will pay well above normal prices for things that save them TIME, which is the one resource that even the wealthy can not buy more of.
When I have a good dealer I get to see an extra 40-60% of hands dealt during their down in the box, to me that’s worth rewarding.
If you really have a hard time with tipping when you play poker, stick to tournaments which you pay your fees upfront and 3-10% is withheld for the house and dealers. Then there is no guesswork, everyone pays the dealers.
The fact is, it’s a service, you can follow social norms and tip, or be a social pig and be treated like one, and if you choose the second option, heaven forbid you ever find yourself in the future where you’re in a position that relies on tips.
Dearest Linda,
I can’t even begin to express my deepest regrets for your sad story at the tables that night. I came across your site when I googled for "poker dealers wanted." I’m new in Vegas from Northern Cali, and found that every unemployed dealer in America is dealing the WSOP here in town, so getting a poker job in the next few months will be nearly impossible without having some juice.
But back to your article. In Cali, I have heard that the higher the limits, the smaller the tips are. In my experience tho, it has been to my best interest to deal the bigger games compared to the 100-200 buy in games. The biggest games I have actually dealt are a 10,000 buy in NL HE. The tokes were nice when they came, but I also was dealing to regulars in that card room who I’ve dealt to for a couple years. They know me by name, and respect my game flow and attention. They know that I’m always thankfull, and absolutely fair when it comes to the house rules.
Now don’t get me wrong, because I mean no disrespect to you here Linda, But you are WRONG. Being a dealer in such a game as your article describes, you should have used better judgment. You have publicly called out 2 players by name in a public cry for sympathy over a bad 30 minute down. Where I was trained and employed, I had to sign a confidentiallity form, where I wasn’t allowed to discuss what happened at the tables or with whom it happened to. Employees were not to discuss tips or lack of. It is bad form to complain about not getting toked for any reason what so ever. Even worse, you used the names of those involved. Public humiliation does not improve your chances of getting a toke, it will actually cost you money in the long run. It might even cost you your job.( well it should) Now please forgive my uninvited criticism, but you should be punished. I suggest dealing a 4 handed HL $1-$5 7 Stud for 4 hours without break on your day off should teach you some manners lol.
As for the players who don’t tip the dealers for whatever reasons they have:
Please keep your oppinions about not tipping to yourself. It is your choice and right. I will never complain about you. You have always been in my games, and your presence allows me the opportunity to do a great job and actually have a game to deal. I have made thousands of dollars over the years because of the players that never tip dealers just because there was actually a game to deal. You are hereby publicly thanked for playing at my tables. I do hope your oppinions on tipping change in the future. Dealers are providing a professional service and take a considderable amount of crap and abuse. Without a toke from the players, this job would not be worth the trouble and abuse we take.
Chris Falco:
"If you really have a hard time with tipping when you play poker, stick to tournaments which you pay your fees upfront and 3-10% is withheld for the house and dealers. Then there is no guesswork, everyone pays the dealers."
The problem is, even with this setup, dealers will hustle for tips, as they did in the last two tourneys I played at with this setup (at the Fitz and at the MGM Grand). However, the setup makes perfect sense, because it gives the dealer a reasonable tip.
And that’s the problem with the tipping culture. It only takes one drunken idiot or show-off celebrity tipping thousands of dollars per hour to completely and utterly throw off what a reasonable tip should be. As a result, people who might make reasonable tips (and by reasonable, I mean "if every customer tipped at that rate, the dealer would make a professional wage for doing a professional job") often don’t, because they’re completely sick and tired of being hustled or insulted.
Myself, I always approached gambling tips to be like any other tips. I pay 15-20% of the restaurant fee or the cab ride, so I have no problem tacking on 15-20% of my "expenses" when I’m at the poker room as well. Every pot I win, I pay the house $5 in rake. So every pot I win, I tip the dealer $1. When I play table games, I calculate in advance how much it "costs me" per hour to play those games (house edge * total wagers) and make sure I tip 15-20% of that. And yes, there are many places I simply refuse to play at any more because I get hustled by ingrate dealers who think everyone should be making $100/hr in bets for them. I only hope I live long enough to see one of them get fired before my eyes.
Fire now.
anyone who’s worked in the service industry knows not to EXPECT a tip, but to be grateful when one does recieve one. I spend too much money tipping shitty dealers in casinos and in light of this blog i’ve decided to stop tipping the bad ones, period.
I’ve never been a dealer, but I’ve worked for tips at many different jobs. People that say "you shouldn’t expect a tip" are idiots. Of course you should expect a tip. When I didn’t get a tip I was pissed, and you can be damn sure that I’d go out of my way to avoid serving that person ever again. If somebody was a serial non-tipper they would get bad service. That’s how it works. If these high rollers want to get the best dealers they need to treat them as such. Not leaving a tip is absurd, insulting, and reflects very poorly on their character.
I’m a broke college student — any time I am served by anyone I tip them. Something like 1/3 of the money I spend at the bar goes to tipping the bar tender… I always tip 20%+ when I eat out… What the hell is wrong with you people saying that it’s wrong to expect a tip. Shit, these people are paid crap already, and it is not easy work. It may not require a master’s degree, but service jobs are some of the most unpleasant jobs in the world.
Tip your dealers. Tip your servers. Tip your delivery people. Tip your cab driver. Tip your bar tender. Tip anyone else that does something that you could have done yourself, but they did it for you and made your life far more convenient. Remember this, serial non-tippers ARE REMEMBERED.
Thoughts. Number one, is it ordinary to tip a waiter? Yes? Is it ordinary to tip a Dealer? Perhaps. But like it or not, you’re forgetting one thing.
IT’S NOT REQUIRED.
When I last checked, people we’re forcibly held in cafes because they didn’t tip their wait staff. Is it a bit tacky? Yes. But going on a public domain and calling Farha and Townsend stingy is also tacky. Especially when you say at the beginning of the message that You ordinarily get along with Farha. If you’ve dealt for him before, then answer me this. Did he tip you in the past? If he didn’t, then why are you making a big fuss about it now? Why didn’t you make a fuss about it before? And if he DID tip you before, isn’t it possible that he honestly forgot? You say he was in the middle of a conversation with somebody. When I have a conversation, sometimes I don’t hear what the person behind me is saying. The person sweating him at the rail didn’t ask him to tip you when he was done with the conversation, she just looked at you and apologized.
From the way you’ve made it sound, Farha was moody. Maybe something was on his mind. It also seemed that he lost to Townsend, and if that was the case, the Townsend maybe should have tipped. But again, not required.
I’ve seen dealers work, and I appreciate that you do have to deal with boorish and nasty players. And I’ll also agree that you’re probably deserving of an occasional tip. But the bottom line is, there are people that simply DO NOT tip. It’s just their nature. But 99 percent of the time, those stiffed waiters and waitresses don’t go online and post the names of the person that didn’t tip them. What if it had been two unknown players instead of famous ones? Would the story have been posted?
I see the argument from both sides. I can see your perspective, but i can also see their perspective. Not leaving a tip is kind of mean, but it’s not illegal. Taking the name of at least ONE popular poker Pro (Farha. I’ve not really heard of Townsend) and dragging it through the mud is kind of mean, but not illegal. (It IS a bit slanderous though)
The bottom line is, we’ve got YOUR version of the story. Maybe it’s true, maybe it’s not. We can’t really call up Sammy Farha and Brian Townsend and ask them for their side of the story, can we? Maybe there’s a deatil you forgot to mention. Who knows?
I wish you the best in the future, and hope that if we ever cross paths, I remember to tip you. I’d rather not be called out on your blog. Doesn’t seem that Sammy and Brian have much of a choice, do they?