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TOKE MANIPULATION
Dealers who would like to know about the behind-the-scenes manipulation affecting their tokes should read the following letters. Feel free to contact either of these two gentlemen, or send your comments to us. We will print them.
NFGE
From: jon@pokersearch.com (jon wetzel)
To: barbano@frontpage.reno.nv.us (andrew barbano)
Mr. Barbano:
I am so glad to learn that someone else in the dealing world has read the
labor code. The only action I have ever seen somebody make is to write or
call the gaming commission. It has been about as effective as calling
someone's wife and complaining about all the money her husband is stealing
for her.
I have done some research also and it looks very dismal out there for the
tipped employee. My background is as a poker dealer where typically tips are not pooled but
you usually have to give something up to the floor people and other support
staff.
My research indicates that no casino has been sued over the tip pooling and
that the precedent for the way they do tips are based mostly on some cases
with restaurants. Do you know of any cases where dealers have sued,
especially with a poker room someplace? Could you tell me where to search on
the web, keywords please, I know where findlaw is.
I talked with a department of labor lawyer informally about 6 months ago.
His feeling was that the law says pretty straightforward what you said in
your article, that a person has a right to all their tips and that an
employer has no claim whatsoever including defining and forcing
participation in a tip pool. He then went on to say that the DOL has been
really frustrated in their efforts by the way that the courts have ruled. He
told me, they attempted to make a policy of limiting the amount that someone
has to give to other staff but that was overruled.
I hope that your article has motivated someone somewhere to do something.
For me I have left the casino floor and have no plans to return.
It has totally amazed me how flagrantly the casino management will get their
fingers into the toke box. In poker, it is some for the floor man, some for
the chiprunners, some for the hosts and sometimes even some for the shills.
The ironic thing is that usually chip runner, floorpeople and hosts are also
tipped by the players, often making more then the dealers and they still
take a piece. It is not even a pool. It has amazed me even more how passive
the dealing staffs in these places payout the money. If you want to get up on your soapbox again I would be more then happy to
give you some space at my site, pokersarch.com in the articles section.
Jon Wetzel
Jon@pokersearch.com
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