Whether this is the start of a trend remains to be seen, but two downtown Las Vegas casinos are making the switch from pooling dealer tips to allowing dealers to keep their own.
According to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, Binion’s has been using the non-pooled system for about three months. Four Queens will begin separating tips on October 28.
Both casinos are owned by TLC Enterprises.
Key Highlights
- Binion’s dealers have kept their own tips for three months, while Four Queens will implement the same system October 28.
- Dealers at Binion’s have made more money since moving from pooled tips.
- Pooled tips put less pressure on dealers and give them a more consistent income.
- “Keep your own” tips reward strong dealers with higher pay.
Binion’s Dealers Profiting From the Change
There is no official published list of which Las Vegas casinos have “Keep Your Own” (KYO) tips policies (at least not that this writer could find), but it appears that very few do.
Now, by the end of the month, Binion’s and Four Queens, two of downtown Las Vegas’ most prominent venues, will use the KYO system. The Strat and Ellis Island are among the few others that allow dealers to keep their tips.
Glenn Casale, Director of Casino Operations at both Binion’s and Four Queens, told the Review-Journal that the pit dealers at Binion’s are making more money now than they were with pooled tips.
And though about 10% of the dealers left because of the change, Casale said that even more have come on board. The dealer influx has helped Binion’s fill shifts.
“The dealers, who used to average $50-$60 a day were now averaging $150 on the swing shift,” Casale said. “So it attracted a lot of dealers from other casinos. We were 30 to 40 percent below where we needed to be on swing shift and now we have enough dealers over everything.”
Dealers Receive Extra Training
One fear dealers sometimes have about KYO tip policies is that if they end up at a dead table or an unpopular game, they won’t get as many tips.
No one dealer gets stuck on any one game. So if it’s a bad game or a dead game — like they don’t make a lot of money on Pai Gow for example, so you don’t stay on Pai Gow all day.
– Glenn Casale, Director of Casino Operations for Binion’s and Four Queens
Casale said that his casinos are taking measures to prevent that as much as possible.
Over the last few months, all dealers have been trained on all games so that they can rotate smoothly.
“No one dealer gets stuck on any one game,” Casale said. “So if it’s a bad game or a dead game — like they don’t make a lot of money on Pai Gow for example, so you don’t stay on Pai Gow all day.”
Benefits to Both Systems
Some dealers and other people who work in tipped jobs like pooled tips because their tip income is more consistent, allowing them to budget more easily.
“The benefit of the pool is even if you have awesome skills and you’re a five-star dealer — you’re fun and witty — you can still have fluctuations,” Kanie Kastroll, a dealer at the Wynn, told the Review-Journal. “Tip pooling makes it less volatile.”
Restaurant servers often like it because they can change tables and clock out more easily without worrying about losing their tips if they have to pass a table to a co-worker.
Despite the positives, many tipped workers prefer keeping their own tips because they don’t need to rely on others to make money. If they are good at their jobs, they are rewarded.
They don’t have to watch someone else slack off and contribute less to the pooled tips while their own tips get distributed to others.
KYO systems also help casinos, as they encourage dealers to do their very best. This means better customer experiences and faster games, which, of course, produces more revenue for the casino.
Sources
https://www.reviewjournal.com/business/casinos-gaming/2-downtown-las-vegas-casinos-change-dealer-tip-out-policy-3189810
https://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/nevada-laws-tipped-employees.html
