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Las Vegas is a town where many people depend on tips for their livelihood.

Casino jobs are still the mainstay of the Las Vegas workforce, and many of them pay minimum wage, or just a bit more.

For some employees it's the best they can do, for others, it doesn't matter, because the bulk of their income is derived from the gambler's generosity, via tips.

Tips are somewhat misunderstood by many people and because of that depending on tip income can be a risky business.

It may interest you to know that in actuality a tip was supposed to be given prior to, and not after, service.

The word "tip" stands for "to insure promptness."

Of course that would apply only to services where speed is of the essence, such as in the delivery of food.

In most instances, for example in the gambling business, tips are given in appreciation of a job well done.

A dealer, or operator of other casino games can make life more interesting, by adding his or her own personal flair or touch to the action. They can also make the gambler, particularly the novice, feel more comfortable when he or she isn't quite certain of the rules of the game.

Casino mogul, Steve Wynn, a major player in Las Vegas, is the kind of guy one either loves or hates.

Wynn is seen above demonstrating how one can clean their teeth without toothpicks as part of his cost cutting campaign.

I'll keep my opinion of him to myself, but I will say that he's not exactly an employee friendly type of guy, IMHO.

When he bought the venerable "Desert Inn," in 2001, with plans to build his current casino, "Wynn Las Vegas," on the site, he promptly shut down the popular, and recently renovated property, putting a thousand or so employees out of work.

He cheerily announced that all displaced employees were welcome to "reapply" for their jobs when the property was being staffed.

Construction on the new casino didn't commence until quite a while later and it opened during April, 2005, with much fanfare, but little enthusiasm.

Now Wynn has startled the Las Vegas gambling public by suggesting that his dealers should share their tips with their bosses.

As a former labor union vice-president this rankles me no end.

If Wynn feels that his managers are underpaid, he should pay them more, and not, in effect, decrease the salaries of others. I also take issue with the amounts quoted as compensation to the dealers; it seems to be considerably higher than reality.

What effect this will have on gamblers remains to be seen, but one might feel it reasonable to assume that there will be a few less than amicable dealers out there to make casino patrons feel at comfortable.