Last night I worked a charity event for a school fundraiser.  Won’t mention for which school, nor will I mention for which company to protect the innocent.  The charity opted to have the games dollar for dollar with plenty of raffle prizes.  I’d say there were approximately 18 dealers at hand, give or take a few.  We were asked to play it tight (meaning, we were specifically prompted not to give anything away – which is sometimes allowed at some events.  I’ll explain at some point).  Pretty standard thus far.

Here’s the kicker.  The client requested that none of the dealers get tipped.

Yes, you read correctly.  The client wanted to prevent the players from tipping the dealers and wanted to ensure that every penny of the players’ money would go to the charity and she wanted the floor managers to enforced this, meaning she wanted the floor manager to prevent players from tipping their staff.

This was overheard from another staff member who also mentioned that this request extended to the bar staff as well.

The floor manager expressed that it was impossible to manage the actions of the players and if they wanted to show their gratitude to the dealers, it wasn’t going to be possible to stop them from doing so.

The client wasn’t happy with the answer.

The exchange that occurred may make sense to those who want to focus solely on the money made at the event, but when you don’t take care of your staff, and discourage appreciation, you’re going to “cut your nose despite your face”, meaning your good intended actions for the outcome will lead you only to a poor overall result.
I mention this because there was another event recently, which chose to cut corners.  Their intentions, instead of hiring professional dealers for their poker charity event, chose to hire club dealers because they were cheaper.  The unfortunately thing is club dealers do not know tournament Texas Holdem.  Tournament Texas Holdem and cash game Texas Holdem isn’t just different playing wise, but also in their mechanics.  Also, at a tournament game, it isn’t table rules (meaning majority rules apply), it means tournament rules (which is a set standard – even if it’s against public opinion).  The last time they attempted to utilize club dealers, the tables that had them were handled poorly and there were several rule debates, which effected the overall game play.  It also affected the way their players saw the organizers of the event.  Many of them mentioned they’d be weary to return to the event because of the poor handling of what happened.

We understand that organizations want to make as much money as possible, but if you insist on skimping on the necessities, you run the risk of putting together a poor event – which shows a lack of organization and care.

So do yourself a favor, if you’re going to cut corners, make sure it’s not with your foundation staff.  They’re the main attraction to your event.  If you’re running an event, don’t lose sight of the obvious.