How to get casino comps

My #1 tip on this website is to sign up for a free Player's Card at every casino you visit, because then they'll send you offers for severely discounted or even free hotel stays.  Even if you don't gamble, you'll likely get some of these offers, just by having signed up for the card.  In fact, many casinos will give you something on the spot just for having signed up for the card, like a t-shirt, free slot play, or coupon book.  (Advantage Player has a nice list of sign-up freebies.)  This is the easiest discount or freebie you'll ever get.  Just go to the Player's Club and sign up for the card!

In fact, you can often sign up on the casino's website.  So you can easily collect lots of cards without having to physically visit the different casinos.  And you don't even have to sign up at every casino, because any casino's card works in any other casino owned by the same company.  For example, the MGM/Mirage card works at a whopping nine casinos (Mandalay Bay, Luxor, Excalibur, New York New York,  Monte Carlo, MGM Grand, Aria, Bellagio, and the Mirage), and the Harrah's card works at eight (Bally's, Caesar's Palace, Flamingo, Harrah's, Imperial Palace, O'Sheas, Paris, and Rio).  So signing up for the MGM/Mirage card and the Caesars Total Rewards card will cover 17 of the casinos in Vegas.

Of course, if you do gamble you can get even more from the casino.  They'll give you meals, show tickets, or free or discounted rooms as a reward for your gambling.  They'll generally give you back about 30% of your expected loss, in the form of comps -- if you ask for them.  In fact, between comps and offers to come back to the hotel, Atlantic City casinos give away almost two-thirds of their hotel rooms for free.  I don't know the figures for Vegas, but it's got to be significant.

Don't play just to get comps! That's like spending a dollar to save a quarter.  If your expected loss is $100 and the casino gives you $30 in "freebies", those freebies have still cost you $70. In fact, I'd like you to consider not gambling at all. That's because the odds are stacked against you and you'll probably lose.

But I know you'll probably gamble anyway because that's why everyone comes to Vegas, so if you must gamble then please at least choose the games with the best odds:

Don't play Slot machines Video poker (unless you're an expert) Roulette Modern/Novelty table games

Do play Craps (Pass Line and Odds Bets only) Blackjack (using our strategy card ore one from the gift shop) Baccarat (bet on Banker)

You get less comps by playing the better games because you lose less money, but that's to your advantage.  Again, you don't want to lose more than necessary just to get a "free" meal.  For example, for four hours of play:

	Slots, 25¢ x3	Craps, $5
Est. Loss	$89	$16
Est. Comps earned	$28	$5
Net loss per 4 hours	$62	$11

Slots get you more comps for sure, but only because you're losing more.  If you play craps instead you'll save $51/hr. on average.  In fact, your savings from playing craps could let you buy a couple of buffets and not even have to worry about comps.

Here's a more complete list of games for four hours of play.  Remember, you earn comps by how much you play, not how much you lose.  The casino looks at your expected loss, not your actual loss (or win).

This means if you do play, play the games in the green boxes to lose the least amount of money.  And make sure to use the proper strategy.

How to earn casino comps

To get credit for your play, you'll need a free Player's Card.  Go to the Player's Club desk or to the casino website and sign up for a free card.  You should get a card even if you don't intend to gamble much, because just by having one the casino will often mail you offers for severely discounted rooms, sometimes even free.

Okay, so you've got your card.  If you play slot machines (and I hope you don't) or video poker, just stick the card in the machine before you play.  The little printout on the card reader will tell you how many comp points you've earned, and the better casinos will have a brochure at the Player's Club desk to tell you how many points you need in order to get a buffet, a room discount, etc.

If you play table games, just set your card down next to your money when you're buying chips, and the dealer will handle it to the floorperson.  With table games you'll get credit in the computer system, but you can't see it.  (And no, it doesn't work to play some table games and then stick your card in a machine. You still won't see your credit from table games; your table game credit is always invisible.)  To figure your comp credit from table games, use my table above.  If you want to figure it yourself, then you'd use this formula:

For example, let's say you play roulette at $5 per round for two hours.  That would be $5 x 38 rounds/hr x 5.26% x 30% = $3.  For the rounds per hour, every casino uses their own in-house figure, but they're pretty similar from one casino to the next.  Most if not all casinos use one "speed" for each specific game, regardless of how many people are at the table or how fast the game is actually played.  Typical rounds per hour figures are blackjack & baccarat=70, roulette=38, craps=48.  (Here's a source for those figures, and here are the actual typical rounds per hour, depending on how many people are at the table.)  For the house edge part of the formula, see my special page about the house edge.

Comps are usually based on how much you play, not how much you lose.  You'll still get comps even if you win.  The casino knows that $X of wagers is worth $Y of profit to them on average, so they just look at the amount you bet and pretty much ignore whether you won or lost.

One exception is that you can get more comps if you have a large loss.  What qualifies as "large" depends on the size of the casino.  The smaller the casino, the less you have to lose to get your consolation prize.  At the Hard Rock Casino, which is pretty small, a loss of more than $4000 can reportedly net you 10% of your loss in comps.

Another exception is that you can get big comps if you have a large win.  When you win big the casino will comp the hell out of you to keep you in the casino so they can win their money back from you.  You might be surprised that when you win big the pit boss won't be sour, s/he'll be happy for you, and eagerly congratulate you on your good fortune.  You can also expect to stay in a nice comped room or suite -- for as long as it takes for you to lose the money you won.

Sample Comp Offers the casinos sent me Stratosphere, April 2011 1 night free Mandalay Bay, March 2011 2 nights free Aria, June 2010 3 nights free $50 in freeplay Free access to spa for 2 people for 2 days, plus $50 credit towards spa services Hilton, May & June 2010 4 nights free $200 in bonus chips Luxor,  Jan. & March 2010 2 Complimentary Midweek Nights & a $30 discount per extra room night Complimentary Room Upgrade to a Tower Room $25 in Promotional Gaming Chips Players Club check-in at Main Lobby Complimentary admission to Nurture, the spa

How to claim your comps

To get your goodies you generally have to ask for them.  If you play machines, go back to the Player's Club and they can hook you up with buffets or whatever else you've earned.  For table game players, ask the floorperson.  (The person in the suit who supervises the dealers.)  If you're not sure how much you have to play to get what you want, ask.  They usually won't give you a very specific answer, but they can give you a good clue.

Use 'em or lose 'em

At the strip and downtown casinos, the points you earn are usually good only for your current "trip", and disappear from your card after a month or two.  You might still get offers in the mail for free or discounted rooms, but you can't redeem your old points for, say, a buffet on your next trip, because when you return to Vegas those points will be gone.  (I'm currently compiling a list of how long points last at various casinos.  If you know how long points last at any Vegas casino, please let me know!)

Milking comps

When you play table games your comps are based on your average bet size.  The pit crew looks at how much you're betting and punches that figure into their little computer.  The most important bet is the first one you make when you sit down, and the next few are the bets right after that.  If you bet higher than normal for the first few hands, the pit boss may record a higher average bet size for you in the system.

Another way to milk comps is to slow the play down.   Play at a full table, and take your time making decisions.   The slower you play, the less you'll lose -- but you'll probably get comped as though you were playing at normal speed.   Of course, don't slow down so much that you annoy the other players!

You can read more about taking advantage of comps in the books The Frugal Gambler and Comp City.

Skip the Venetian and Palazzo

In February 2011 the Venetian and Palazzo made the controversial decision to stop offering comps for any but the high rollers.  (LV Review-Journal)  So unless you're a high roller, skip those casinos, because you won't get comps there.  The Venetian had the worst slot odds of any casino in the Wizard of Odds slot survey, anyway.

Assumptions for the expected loss/comps table above: Proper strategy assumed. All results are rounded. Comp credit = 30% of theoretical loss. Slots house edge at 7%, 6%, and 5% respectively on 5¢, 25¢, and $1 machines. Slots played at 500 spins/hr. Video poker house edge at 3%, and 2% respectively on 25¢, and $1 machines. Video poker played at 400 hands/hr. Blackjack = 0.75% house edge and 70 hands/hr. Baccarat 1.2% house edge and 72 hands/hr. Craps 1.6% house edge and 48 rounds/hr. Roulette 5.26% house edge and 38 rounds/hr. Other table games 2% house edge and 50 rounds/hr.