Wynn’s New Tip Policy Draws Ire

More than just the dealers are up in arms about Steve Wynn’s newest policy at the casinos. Even players agree that the new tipping policy is just plain wrong. The policy in place at the Wynn properties now states that casino dealers will have to share their tips with floor men.

According to dealers, there is a conflict of interest in the new policy. Since floor men have a role in looking for cheaters and for any sort of better treatment by the dealer, it isn’t a good idea to motivate them to look away from cheating by giving them tips that are primarily based on the players’ winnings.

For example, in the previous arrangement, a dealer couldn’t leave a craps bet on the table after it lost because of the certainty that the floor man would see it and blow the proverbial whistle. Now, the floor man might understand that if the player wins, then the dealer will get more of a tip, meaning more of a tip will end up in the floor man’s pocket. This state of affairs might bode well for casino cheaters, but most casino players are very concerned about fairness and would be concerned that if dealers cheat in the players’ favor at times, there might be times that they cheat against the players.

The Las Vegas labor commissioner, though, was unimpressed. He said that the tip-pooling policy at the Wynn Las Vegas and the Encore is legal. He didn’t even listen to the concerns of dealers. There is some speculation that the tax payments from casino powerhouses like the Wynn Las Vegas are simply too high for politicians to risk hurting. Their lobbies are powerful, but dealers still hope to make another argument against the policy upon appeal.

Some casino workers have countered the claim, saying that most security monitoring is done by security crews away from the casino floor who watch what the cameras capture. Since the security team is not part of the tip pool, there is no danger that the security crew would allow cheating like that to take place.
Players, for their part, have argued about other issues. Some have said that they tip because the casino dealer provides service, and they don’t want to tip someone who has provided no service to them. Moreover, players feel that it shows a disdain for dealers and a lack of consideration for floormen, whose salaries should be raised from the casino’s coffers, not from the pockets of the dealers.