How to Tip (Toke) Craps Dealers

There are two ways to tip craps dealers:

• A Hand-In. Toss your chip(s) towards the dealer and say, "For the dealers."
• Bet for the dealers. You can toke the dealers by placing a wager for them. If the bet wins, then they get the toke plus the money it won.

When to tip

You can tip during your session (especially if you're on a hot streak), or at the end of your session. Most dealers probably prefer that you tip as-you-go, because you might bust out and not have any money left at the end of your session to tip with, but this is not to your advantage, of course. Many times dealers net more money in tips ("tokes") than does the player who starts out winning (and tipping) and then ends up losing big.

The smartest approach for a player is to bet for the dealers during once or twice early in the session, and do the rest of your tipping as a hand-in when your session's over. The dealers will notice your early bets for them and make sure you get good service, and by delaying future tipping to the end of the session, you can avoid a situation where you tipped heavily during a hot streak and then hit a bad streak, with the dealers winding up with more money than you.

Which bets to make for the dealers

Dealers appreciate any wager made on their behalf, but they greatly prefer bets that have a low house take, such as the Pass, Come, Don't Pass, and Don't Come. If you take or lay odds in their behalf you will be appreciated by the dealers even more. It is rare that a player will actually lay odds for the dealers on the Don't side as the player would have to lay more money on the wager that he would on the Pass Line.

Dealers cringe when players make bad bets for them, because such bets waste a good chunk of the tip. Wagers made on the hardways or on "Yo" (Eleven) mean that a significant portion of the tip goes to the casino, not to the dealers. Such wagers discourage the dealers as much as the players.

If you really want to show some class and get the dealers on your side immediately then throw out a wager on the hard 6 and/or 8 and yell "TWO WAY PARLAY". You will be surprised at how quickly the dealers snap to this because you have just told them that you and they are going to parlay this wager if it hits. Though a long-shot wager this would make for a very handsome toke for the dealers if it happens to hit. This tells the dealers that you are a real player.