Posts by: queen of comps

How can I get more casino rewards?

I’ve been fielding this question for a long time. Actually, I’ve been trying to give helpful answers since I wrote the first Frugal book in 1999 and started my blog soon after. However, I recently came across a post I wrote back in October 2012 and I realized these questions had been turning to pleas for a long time.

Do I have any better answers today than I had nine years ago? The best I can do is review for you that old advice, much of which is still useful, then throw in additional details that might be helpful in today’s more challenging casino environment.

I must emphasize that not every gambler can use every value-adding technique I discuss. Some are more doable for the high-roller; others are more helpful at lower denominations. Some can be used by players of all games; others are specific to video poker. Some are of interest to recreational gamblers, others to advantage players. And long-time gamblers may find this merely a refresher resource, while newbies will need to slowly digest small bites of this information as they gradually climb the steps to more successful gambling.

I won’t spend a lot of time giving the details of the basics that are commonly known. Casinos want to encourage customers who add to their bottom line, that is, the ones that lose more. So the more you play, the more rewards you receive and slot players, who (in general) lose more, earn more rewards than video poker players.

For many years, the two main casino reward categories for machine players were cash and comps. You joined the slot club, earned points, and redeemed them for cash or comps. Then came what I called the “golden years,” with monthly mailers stuffed full of casino rewards – dining and hotel offers and best of all, cash coupons. The cash-coupon era didn’t last too long before it was replaced with free-play coupons. This turned out to be even better for the players; the casinos engaged in “free-play wars,” progressively upping the amounts to get a bigger share of the customer market. It was indeed a glorious time for the casino gambler.

Sometime during this period, casinos started to organize their customers into groups, based on the amount of their play; that’s how the tier system, separate from the players club, came into being, with benefits increasing as the player climbed up to higher levels. Most of the tier benefits were privileges and comps that varied in perceived value and often were considered as just nice “extras” to add to the more valuable mailers full of free play.

Today much of that same thinking prevails. Typically, we speak of tier “benefits” and players club/mailer “offers.” Players often value the latter more, because they often include free play, of which they can determine, exactly, the monetary value. They look at it as “cash” that they can go into the casino and “spend.” They don’t think as much about “benefits” being a possible valuable category to look at, because there’s no set monetary value. And that thinking can cause players to miss big opportunities to increase their casino rewards.

Comps are probably the most available rewards for most players these days. The trend in the last few years is toward giving players less cash or cash-equivalent benefits. Many casinos are downgrading their players club programs, with more play needed to earn points that are worth less. And free play is disappearing, or diminishing to the point of insult. It’s not surprising that many players today, trying to increase their advantage, are taking a more serious look at comps.

Here are some examples.

A regular senior quarter VP player at Local Casino X receives a very small weekly free-play offer in his monthly mailer, but also receives a weekly buffet offer for him and a guest, an invitation to a no-fee senior tournament once a month, and a special bonus-point day each week that’s not available to the general public. In addition, he can see a host occasionally and probably qualifies to get a comped or discounted room for a relative coming into town. He adds up the value of these benefits and figures they’re worth more than if his free play amount was doubled.

Another player, who runs a lot of money through slot machines, likes to fly across the country once a year to Casino Y, a casino in the same company as the one where he plays locally. He’s in one of their higher tiers and has been getting mailers from that out-of-town property that include nice amounts of free play. The problem, like with so many casinos, they’re geared to players who visit more often. He’s frustrated, because he’s leaving so much free play on the table. However, he has comps from his current monthly mailer that he can combine with tier benefits. From the mailer, he can get a comped room for three nights, worth hundreds of dollars at today’s rapidly rising room rates, along with dining credits for some of his meals. Tier benefits provide a gourmet dinner and travel credits that pay for most of his airfare. For this casino customer, the value of the comps is similar – or even higher – than the free play he’s missing.

My personal experience recently has been limited to CZR properties, although I get reports from friends and correspondents who play in other casinos. I’m finding that there is now a blur between tier and players club rewards. In the past, Brad and I usually played pretty much the same on each of our CZR cards and were in the same tier by the end of the year. So our offers were generally similar. Now only I’m playing. We put few points on Brad’s card for the last 2 years, but because we stopped playing at CZR mid-year, he ended up on a higher tier level. This became a valuable way for me to keep track of rewards and ascertain whether marketing mailers or tier level dictated them.

My mailers were predictable. I received a nice free play amount soon after my first visit to Cherokee with fairly heavy coin-in, what I call a “welcome-back” offer. But subsequent monthly mailers were skimpy, with minimal free play, a couple of one-night hotel-room comps, and $5 or $10 in monthly food credit. This wasn’t a surprise, since I was playing “good” VP.

In the meantime, although we’d played on Brad’s card just a couple of very short sessions on our first visit, for several months he received better Cherokee mailers than I did, with larger amounts of free play and better room and food offers. Was that because he was in the higher Diamond Elite tier? Our question was soon answered when, after two years of almost no play, our mailbox was being flooded with valuable travel offers for Brad – free charter flights, free rooms, even sometimes free play, going to Laughlin, Atlantic City, Tunica, and Tahoe. And once I moved up to Diamond Extra, I began to receive the same ones. This seemed to definitely come from our higher tier levels, showing that tier status can generate “offers” as well as give “benefits.”

I ‘ve always valued comps highly. Over the 35 years we’ve been going to casinos, comps have saved us hundreds of thousands of dollars. Our grocery bill was always smaller. We spent less of our own money on gas and car washes, beauty-shop services, gifts and vacations for our families, travel and cruises, entertainment activities like movies and shows. The list is endless. The bottom line for us was that comps allowed us to save, rather than spend, a good part of our non-gambling income down through the years, and now we’re enjoying the rewards of a financially secure retirement. What you don’t spend has the same monetary value as money earned!

Many players have asked me if I think it’s a good idea to work to get to higher casino tiers. As usual, there’s no one-size-fits-all answer. It largely depends on your gambling bankroll and your interests. Comps can be good casino rewards to add to your other benefits. And comps do have monetary value. However, it’s a personal valuation. Not every player finds every comp valuable.

And a final strong warning. Not everyone can afford the more valuable comps they would love. You must be sure the potential gambling loss is not larger than the value of the comp. That means you should first concentrate on your game. With a smaller bankroll, you’ll be playing at a lower denomination and the comps will be small. If you can pump up your bankroll and go up in denomination, you’ll earn more valuable comps. It’s always dangerous to “play for comps.” Play smarter, grow your bankroll, and then the higher tier status and more valuable comps will come to you.

Stay tuned for more hints on how to get more casino rewards.