One of the big questions facing poker players, especially the ones who play tournaments, is HOW MUCH to tip the dealers after winning a major tournament?
This is a nagging question, and there is no easy answer to it. Even the dealers vary on their responses when I sometimes playfully question them about it.
For example:
The bad beat jackpot at BestBet in Jacksonville is more than $190,000. I ask one of the dealers if he would rather receive a down payment on a trip to Aruba or cash? The answer almost invariably is CASH, although one dealer, an attractive blond named Rita, said:
"Can I have both?"
There is a lot of money to be won in tournaments or bad beats, and it is understandable that the dealers would take interest in how much a winner tips them. While some players go overboard and tip anywhere from five to 10 percent, most of us tip in the two to three percent category.
I decided to write on the subject of tipping, after newspaper and television stories emerged about professional golfer Matt Kuchar being attacked on the Internet for only tipping his caddy $5,000 after winning $1.3 million in a tournament at Mayakoba Golf Course in Cancun.
The Hispanic caddy complained that he thought he deserved $50,000 for the week's work. In Mexico, 50 grand is a lot of beans!
After defending himself and stating that he thought $5,000 was a reasonable tip for a week's work, Kuchnar backtracked under all the pressure he was receiving. He said he was going to increase his tip to $50,000 and even make a donation to a charity fund to benefit caddies.
Excuse me? Is Socialism coming to the PGA?
Tipping has always been a voluntary act.
The size of the tip depends on the largess of the individual, whether he is a poker player or golfer. If this had happened at Youghiogheny Country Club near Boston, PA., where my younger brothers John, Dennis and I caddied for more than five years...
...I am convinced our caddy master Fuzzy would have sent the offending caddy over the hill for at least a month. Over the hill simply means the caddy was ordered to leave the golf course for that period of time -- no jobs!
When I was a caddy, we all knew who the generous golfers were. We also knew the names of the people who were stingy when it came to parting with a buck. But -- and this is a big but -- we accepted whatever jobs Fuzzy assigned us and gave good service to the golfer regardless of the tip size.
Socialist ideas have taken root in the Democrat Party and several candidates for President have gone on record as favoring them if they are elected in 2020. I have a different take on the subject.
While most of the golfers at our country club were generous (they would even buy us a Coke at the clubhouse at the end of nine holes), some of them were tight with their change. That is especially true of the women who would play on Ladies Day.
There were perks to make up for the lack of tips, of course.
Some of the upper class women who swung a club were foxes and we caddies would literally fight to be their caddy. One girl in particular who was 16 would golf with her wealthy grandmother at least twice a month. She was stunningly attractive in her shots...
...and I was always one of the first caddies to yell, "I want the job,'' when a smiling Fuzzy would stand at the door of the caddy shack with her bag.
If I had been in Matt Kuchar's shoes, I would have said $5,000 is enough and would have stiffed Ortiz for the balance
Author: Geno Lawrenzi Jr.
(Geno Lawrenzi Jr. is an international journalist, magazine author and ghostwriter and poker player who lives in Phoenx, AZ. He has published 2,000 articles in 50 magazines and 125 newspapers. If you want to share a gambling story or book idea with him, send an email to glawrenzi@gmail.com ).
