Sometimes you just want to hug them..........

If you have spent any time reading about poker on any of the online forums you have no doubt read the countless threads about toking the dealer. Been there and done that. The bottom line is simply that no one would deal poker for $5-6 an hour if there was not the possiblilty of receiving tokes. For most dealers, the base salary won't even pay the rent let alone the utilities and groceries. Like them or hate them, tokes are a way of life in the casino industry in most jurisdictions. (I know that tokes are not allowed in some places, but I doubt that the hourly wage in those jurisdictions is as low as it is here in LV) I don't want to get too deep in into this issue so I'll leave it at that......tokes are a fact of life.
What I do want to say is that there are some incredibly generous players to offset those who choose not to part with a $1 chip occasionally. To those players I say THANKS! THANKS! THANKS! The story goes that as I pushed into table 8 this evening the departing dealer mumbled something to me about huge pots, jackpot hands and getting stiffed. I always take this mini briefing with a grain of salt. Sometimes players withhold tips from dealers who they hold a personal dislike for or for dealers who simply don't do a good job. I TRY to enter each game with a clean slate and just see what happens. As it turns out there were several players in that game who chose to not toke the previous dealer and I inherited the trend. A few hands into my down the 7s tossed me $3 and said that he had forgotten to toke an prior pot. I told him that I had yet to push him a pot and that he should give the toke to the dealer who I pushed. He told me to keep the $3 and proceeded to go to the table behind me and toke the previous dealer too. Sometimes people don't truly intend to not toke and in a lot of cases these days the internet players are not familiar with the concept. I will say that I don't understand how you can sit at a table for several hours and not notice that players are occasionally throwing the dealer a buck or two. Some people are just more observant than others I suppose.
Anywhoo, when the 7s returned to my game he stated to anyone/no one that someone should remind him when he forgets. I would NEVER do that, but if other players choose to remind him who am I to argue. Several players then chimed in that they had noticed his oversight and had thought about saying something, but didn't.
Where the 5s was during this conversation is open to debate. 5s never knew where the action was or what he could do when he finally realized the action was on him. I pushed him 7 pots and he never once choose to throw me a bone. I guess the same players who ALMOST reminded the 7s ALMOST reminded the 5s too....... ********I know that this might come across wrong and seem like I am a greedy bastard....that is not my intention********
Near the end of my down the 5s and the 1s went to war. (The 5s was a stranger to me and the 1s was a regular) When the smoke cleared, the 1s had all of the 5s chips. The 1s proceeded to give me an inordinate amount as a toke. I can only speculate that the 1s had taken note of the toking practices of the 5s and chose to rectify the situation in one fell swoop. If the 1s was trying to send a silent message to the 5s I think it went over the 5s head. He was in the process of rebuying and getting back to the "oh, it is my turn to act?"
Although I always immediately say thanks for any toke, I feel better having written a huge THANK YOU to those who take care of me. Hopefully I take care of you too.
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As I was dealing on table 6 a young man looked at me and said "this place is FUll of characters but you are the normalest person here." I said thank you, I think.......it's all relative. Normal in a poker room is still a far cry from normal in the real world. I hope that I am NEVER normal. Normal is boring.............