Every gambling player wants to win a handpay jackpot. This is the kind of a win the slot machine can’t give you. Actually, this tradition dates back to when slot machines gave you coins, not just printed out the paper with the sum of your win on it. And now it’s just rather the tradition for modern slot casinos to handpay a jackpot. But there is something more about it, anyway.
So, a lot of gamblers ask us whether it’s a good idea to give a tip to a person giving you a handpay jackpot. And our answer is not as short as you may have thought. The problem of tipping casino workers is so big and important for players that we’ve decided to write a full article explaining this phenomenon and why it actually exists.
So, here’s what we’ll tell you in this article:
- What’s the tradition of the handpay jackpot all about?
- Why do some people tip casino workers when they get a handpay jackpot?
- How much money should you give as a tip to a slot manager?
- What if you don’t want to tip anyone?
- What’s the maximum handpay jackpot in a casino?
Let’s get it started!
Handpay jackpot tradition – why is it still there?
So, a handpay jackpot is usually a jackpot that is not paid by a slot machine because it just doesn’t have the physical possibility to pay that much. On average, in Las Vegas casinos, this is anything more than $1,200. While in some other casinos all around the world, it may be the $1,000 mark. Once you win anything more than that, the slot machine will tell you to get your win as a handpay jackpot.
After that, a casino worker (usually, it’s a slot-machine manager) comes to you and gives you money, coins, or printed paper with the sum of your win on it.
You may ask why can’t the machine print that paper even if you win half a million dollars? It doesn’t matter much how many digits your win has, any modern machine can print that. But here are some reasons why the handpay jackpot phenomenon is still there:
- some casinos still work with old-fashioned machines and do this because those machines just don’t pay out that much;
- most casinos explain this as a good tradition that sends you back to those classic slot machines that paid coins;
- sometimes, casinos make a real show when they give a player the handpay jackpot and this is part of their marketing campaign;
- in some cases, casinos just want to control big jackpots and make sure you won them fairly.
So, control over players and big wins seems to be the most reasonable explanation. Casinos hate to pay you more than a couple of bucks to keep you hooked. If you win a big jackpot, you are likely to go to the bar and stop playing, so this is not what they want from you.
Also, casinos want to make sure a person didn’t trick the machine out of money. While the slot manager prepares a certificate or money for you, the security squad checks the system and analyzes your win. This is something you don’t know about how casinos work. But they analyze every jackpot and try to make sure people don’t win much money too often.
Why will you want to tip a person who gives you the jackpot?
The tipping tradition in casinos is also pretty old. You should remember those times when there were no slots and people only played at the tables. One of the key “components” of a good gambling game is a professional banker. And after some guy at the table wins a lot of money, they will want to thank the banker because of two main reasons: they are thankful for a good and professional game; and they want to share their luck with someone to keep it longer.
So, for someone, it’s just a way to thank another person for the win. In modern casinos, you will thank a manager who has nothing to do with your win though. Also, for some other people, this is a kind of superstition. They believe that if they share their luck by giving money to a stranger, they will be able to use that luck for more time.
So, after tipping a casino manager, these people will get back to slots and play more. Unfortunately, there is no evidence that this works, so this is only up to you to decide whether you want to tip the casino worker or not.
Also, you should know that there is no rule or something saying that the player who won money or got the handpay jackpot should tip someone. This is more of a tradition, but you may want to know that not many players respect this tradition. So, if you want to keep all the money, you have all the right to do that.
How much should I tip to a person giving the handpay jackpot?
Again, there is no rule or something else that would tell you how much money you should share from your jackpot. And we believe it highly depends on the amount of money you win.
We’ve checked some online sources and were surprised that some websites recommend giving at least a 2-5% tip. So, they suppose you should give up to 5% of your jackpot to a person who gives you the money or the printed paper you will exchange for money soon. Well, this is an insane claim because if you win $100,000, according to this theory, you should give away about $5K as a tip which is ridiculous.
So, we can’t talk about the percentage of your tip because the wins may be different. One person may win $1,200 as a handpay jackpot while some other lucky guy will take a quarter million dollars.
Also, some websites say that you should give about $20 to $50 for your jackpot. This sounds reasonable if we take a $1,000 jackpot. But it’s a little greedy if you win $100K and only tip $20. So, again, we can’t say that we know a certain sum of money that would make a good tip.
In this case, everything depends on you. We believe a $20 tip would be OK for a small jackpot and a $100 tip would be just fine for a bigger jackpot. Of course, if you win an enormous sum of money, you may give more – this depends on your mood.
But you should know that giving away a lot of money doesn’t make any sense. The person who gives you the win is only a slot-machine manager and they have nothing to do with your win. It’s your luck, your risk, and eventually your money. So, keep as much as you can in your pocket or give it to someone you really want to share your luck with.
What if you don’t want to tip anyone?
This is perfectly fine. You don’t have to tip a person in the casino or anywhere else. It’s your choice. So do it in that case only if you really want to give some money to a stranger because of your own mood and emotions.
If you feel like keeping all the money in your pocket, you can do that. No one will be offended or angry with you. We should say that more than half of players who get a handpay jackpot don’t tip anyone. They just get their wins and use them to relax and celebrate their luck. And this is perfectly OK if you decide to act like this.
What’s more, you shouldn’t give any money to a slot manager if you don’t want to. Even if you believe that sharing your win will bring you even more luck, you should give this money with an open heart and without any regret.
What’s the maximum handpay jackpot?
The maximum handpay jackpot in a casino depends on the types of slot machines and software this casino uses. In some cases, it’s going to be $100,000, in some other cases – over a million dollars. But as a big win in a lottery, a huge jackpot in slots is extremely rare. You may expect to win a $1,200 jackpot in a Las Vegas casino if you play a lot. But expecting to win a million-dollar jackpot is not a good idea.
We still know some people who managed to get a really big jackpot in slot machines. Though we don’t know if they really tipped those managers who gave them that money or certificates.
Final words
Now you perfectly know that tipping anyone in a casino should come from your heart. If you feel like giving a beautiful casino manager a couple of tenners, why not do that even if you didn’t win a big jackpot. But if you don’t feel like sharing your win with some stranger, it’s perfectly fine, you shouldn’t do that just because there is a strange tradition that the majority of people don’t know about.
