Comps for the low budget gambler

The lighter side... playing for entertainment, less concerned about "the math."
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Eduardo
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Comps for the low budget gambler

Post by Eduardo »

Someone mentioned in another thread that they receive some pretty nice offers, playing quarters on a low budget. That hasn't been my experience, but I'm probably playing with a much lower budget than they were. Details on coin-in would probably be helpful. My guess is they continue to get these offers due to their history of higher wagers and that hasn't worked its way out of the system yet.

In any case, I'm curious what people can contribute about earning comps on a low budget. Obviously fewer dollars in would mean fewer rewards. Why would a casino do anything different?

At best these days, I get a minimal amount of free play, or discounted room offers.

Some casinos now award points based on total spend at the property, not just your coin-in. That can help if you are a vacation gambler like me.

The one other thing I can contribute myself, which I haven't taken advantage of, would be casino credit card offers. Some of the big chains offer these as a way to earn comps for your spending anywhere. How they compare to a standard 1-2% cash back credit card, I'm not sure. But if people want to earn comps without a large amount of coin-in, this would be one easy way.

Any other tips or comments on the value of these credit card offers?

tech58
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Post by tech58 »

Eduardo, i believe the issue of comp's is important to all of us no matter what level floats your boat.
The casino i play at uses a computer program, to determine comp's offered, for all levels.
The best we can gather, so far, is that it penalizes short sessions. AKA hit-and-run.
This program does NOT look at coin-in per trip,per day or per month or year. At least not exclusively!
The sleuthing out of how it works is a "work in progress.
This quest for knowledge has generated little interest in past threads. I find this to be a great mystery.
Free play,and bonus free play, affect my ER directly. How it is determined can be a valuable tool to fight the battle.

Thanks for bringing up the subject, If people pound their host to try to understand what determines their comp's, maybe it will elicit clues to help us ALL. :up:

Come Back Kid
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Post by Come Back Kid »

The way a host explained it to me, was...If you go to the casino twice a week and spend $125 each time. You are considered a $125 player (even though you spent $1000 in the month) But if you only went once for the entire month, and spent $1000, you are considered a $1000 player...Therefore you are a higher rated player, hence more promo, comps etc. This is based over a 3 month period, so every time they consider your offers, its based on the last 3 months of your play.
I'm not sure if all casino's are the same, but that's what I was told.

Eduardo
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Post by Eduardo »

Come Back Kid wrote:
Tue Apr 28, 2020 4:59 pm
The way a host explained it to me, was...If you go to the casino twice a week and spend $125 each time. You are considered a $125 player (even though you spent $1000 in the month) But if you only went once for the entire month, and spent $1000, you are considered a $1000 player...Therefore you are a higher rated player, hence more promo, comps etc. This is based over a 3 month period, so every time they consider your offers, its based on the last 3 months of your play.
I'm not sure if all casino's are the same, but that's what I was told.
I've heard similar things posted before and it definitely makes me rethink my budget when gambling on vacation... for comps, it sounds like I'm much better off playing my entire budget on one day (or two) rather than spreading it out over 5 days. Or, if I'm going to play multiple places then consolidate my play to 1 day per location.

That would be a big change from what I do now, which is typically a small amount of play each day at whatever hotel I'm staying at (including a very small amount the day I leave), then usually a bit at a couple Station casinos spread out over the course of the trip.

I'm going to use this advice as my assumption from now on unless I hear differently about some particular casino's rewards.

I'm sure it varies by casino. Care to share which casino/group the above host's info was related to?

Come Back Kid
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Post by Come Back Kid »

Eduardo, this information is from an Executive Host, at an Indian casino in California.

Vman96
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Post by Vman96 »

Come Back Kid wrote:
Tue Apr 28, 2020 4:59 pm
The way a host explained it to me, was...If you go to the casino twice a week and spend $125 each time. You are considered a $125 player (even though you spent $1000 in the month) But if you only went once for the entire month, and spent $1000, you are considered a $1000 player...Therefore you are a higher rated player, hence more promo, comps etc. This is based over a 3 month period, so every time they consider your offers, its based on the last 3 months of your play.
I'm not sure if all casino's are the same, but that's what I was told.
Not all casinos are exactly like that, but some trend that way for sure. The $1000/mo player will get significantly more. But also the $125/biweekly player will redeem his smaller offers more frequently. But overall, i would expect the $1000 player to do better especially if he/ she wants to use the hotel.

Really the best idea to maximize comps is to figure out the minimum wagers required to get the things you really want. That's only great in theory though because when it comes to mailers, it's mostly trial and error.

For a year or two, I was able to get free weeknights at a local with only $1500 coin-in on full-pay VP and my gf playing a couple hundred bucks coin-in on slots on my card. I thought that was a great deal, and knew that had to be close to the minimum needed for the room. I also usually got $10 FP. It eventually got changed to the "casino rate" though as the economy kept improving.

Come Back Kid
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Post by Come Back Kid »

Also keep in mind, that is just the computer generated comps...We also earn extra comps as we play. I always grab a gas voucher, or gift shop voucher from a host...Get free concert tickets, an extra room night, an upgrade etc. etc. I don't ever remember being denied the extras, on top of what my booklet says.
My host says, "that's why they're there, because they know how much we play"...So never hurts to ask.

Gronbog
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Post by Gronbog »

Come Back Kid wrote:
Wed Apr 29, 2020 8:27 am
So never hurts to ask.
In my opinion, this is the number one most effective way to increase your comps, and it costs you nothing.

tech58
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Post by tech58 »

Gronbog wrote:
Wed Apr 29, 2020 8:48 am
Come Back Kid wrote:
Wed Apr 29, 2020 8:27 am
So never hurts to ask.
In my opinion, this is the number one most effective way to increase your comps, and it costs you nothing.
Totally agree on the asking part.I have no problem in that area for all the comp's you mentioned.

My concern is about the computer generated assigning of free play and bonus free play.
Questions about this, with at least 3 hosts yielded the same answer. They do not establish, nor can they influence,these amounts. Which can vary many hundreds of $ each month.
In our case it is, as mentioned before, a 3 month moving average. But an average of what?
It is definitely not simply monthly coin-in. There are 4 or 5 levels within each card category.
I have examples of people in a lower card level than my wife who have a higher level of free&bonus play.So apparently these overlap. How and why yet TBD.

I believe,based on some sketchy hard evidence, that there is a crucial element that could be called
"pattern of play" which definitely penalizes hit-and-run or moving frequently.

For example if HOW you play a set amount of coin-in per month can yield a $20-$100 range of free play, and even more varying bonus play,for the lowest card level. Then the significant affect on ER can
be important.

As has been mentioned casino's probably vary as to how they determine free play.
For ours they claim to be using a commonly used program.
If anyone can add any clues to how these work it can benefit all of us.

olds442jetaway
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Post by olds442jetaway »

How would you guys lije to run 2m a year through the casino and not even have an assigned host. Their answer is always.... just talk to whomever is on duty. I have had 0 success in that area. They all seem afraid of their own shadow. I don’t ask for much. Once in awhile a dinner voucher, but if you had one in the last year or so they just say forget. It is my opinion that playing strictly video poker is what causes them to be so stingy with comps. The automated system gives me midweek rooms sometimes but weekend rooms finished a year or so ago. The automated system also gives you access to second grade Shows and a little bit of FreePlay not very much maybe 50 bucks a week or so. I also think going to the casino four or five days a week does not help because they must buy now figure I’m going to come anyway no matter what

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