Antepost: Earning a Comp - A Cheapskate's Guide

It’s amazing to think it is almost Las Vegas time again as the “Big One”, the “Holy Grail”, the World Series of Poker, is just a few months away.

Vegas is a place where dreams come true but, for the vast majority of us, those dreams often result in nightmares — 10 months dreaming of playing on the big stage, acquiring a wedge to partake in a handful of the life-changing tournaments the Series offers, and when all those bullets miss the target you are left licking your wounds and counting the cost.

As a result, hardened poker players tend to watch their pennies, staying in cut-price hotels such as the Gold Coast which is walking distance from the Rio, saving them an average of fifty bucks a night.

That’s all well and good but when you spunk a grand making a suicidal call in a cash game simply to satisfy your curiosity, or eliminate yourself in a tournament through boredom, the saving is hardly justified.

Clearly we all love something for nothing and the extreme measures some people will go to in the pursuit of a complimentary hotel room — preferable to their cut-cost accommodation — is mind-blowing.

Let’s make it very clear there is no such thing as a free lunch, and a “comped” anything in Vegas is simply the net result of a legitimate psychological marketing strategy. This marketing strategy has two main effects, firstly it exposes people to the gambling environment, and secondly it exposes them to gambling itself.

The frequency of bonuses — be it a free drink, meal, limo ride, a show, or the sought-after hotel room — vary but they can occur hourly, daily, weekly, or seasonally, and that uncertainty alone appeals to the psyche of gamblers. There is a risk, an uncertainty, and the feeling that you are getting something for nothing is the common denominator that unites all punters.

The net result is usually more money spent by the gambler than they intended to at the outset and therein the “comp” has paid for itself. Consequently, the value of the comp given away is directly correlated to the value of the action the customer gives the casino.

There is a standard equation used by casinos to determine the value of the comps given away which works like this:

Size of average bet (x) number of hours played (x) the house advantage (x) the comp equivalency. In other words for a blackjack player that bets $10 a box for two hours the casino will multiply 120 hands (60 an hour being the average) by $10 and then multiply the $1,200 by two percent (the house advantage for this game) coming up with $24.

This figure, $24, is what the house will win from you (on average) in two hours play. A sum it will multiply by 40 percent which is the “comp equivalency” or the amount they are prepared to return to you in comps meaning you will receive a net $9.60 for freebie comps.

Understandably, the likes of $100 gamblers will soon “earn” themselves a free room, food, drinks, and limo, meaning their entire stay is free; simple psychological economics that work.

It is a system that works well for punter and house alike but it is not infallible as the gambler can exploit the system with some wizardry. If you are seeking a freebie Vegas lifestyle it can be made a little cheaper by a few simple smoke-and-mirror tricks before the pit-bosses who are responsible for manually logging your gaming table play.

I’d recommend never being afraid to look like a loser before a pit-boss; slow down the speed of play by placing bets every 90 seconds rather than every minute or miss the odd hand, roll of the dice, or hand of blackjack; and to bet more when a pit-boss is watching and less when they are not.