I was at the pub the other day, and it was my friends turn to buy a round. As he left the table, he asked what beer we wanted, and I replied with "Dealers choice", meaning that since he was buying the beer, he could choose whatever he liked. He didn't understand what I meant.
Is this an appropriate use of that phrase, and are there other/better phrases that I could use in that kind of situation?
I feel a simpler substitution would be "Your call"
From UsingEnglish,
If something is your call, it is up to you to make a decision on the matter.
Usage:
Friend: What will you take? Heineken or BudLight?
You: It's your call!
You pay the piper, you call the tune
He who pays the piper calls the tune.
Something that you say which means that the person who provides the money for something can decide how it should be done. Cambridge Idioms Dictionary
The person who provides the money for something has the right to determine how it's spent. ODO
You might just say "It's your money", thereby implying that it's his choice to make.
Dealer's choice in poker refers to the ability of the person who distributes the cards to specify variations on the rules of the game. For instance, the dealer may say "Deuces wild" and for that hand, 2's, ordinarily the lowest cards in the deck, become extremely valuable, because the holder of a 2 can designate it to be any other card.
Thus your friend was the dealer (distributing beer, not cards), and you were allowing him to make the rules about which beer to buy. So what you said was appropriate, but someone who has never played or heard about a card game with dealer's choice would be completely mystified.
You could also say:
It's your round, you get to choose.
When one "gets to" + {verb} one has the opportunity or chance to {verb}
(idiomatic) What makes you happy; what stimulates you.
However you wish, whatever you choose, as in We can have meat or fish tonight, as you please, or Go or don't go - do as you please.
This idiom was introduced about 1500 and inverted what was then the usual order, which was "as it pleases you."
It's better said with a smile, or else it might sound like "yeah, whatever!".
Or "you're the boss"
I usually use whatever you say / whatever you think (is) best which is used:
for telling someone that you are ready to accept their decision, especially when you do not really agree with them but you do not want to argue
[Macmillan Online Dictionary]
"He who pays the piper calls the tune"
The opposite is:
"Beggars can't be choosers".
This answer is less appropriate in a friendly (pub) situation, but there is a well-known joke/spoof definition of the "golden rule" which says that, Whoever has the gold makes the rules.
