Comps

First, the basics.

To earn comps at blackjack, your play must be rated by a floorman or pit boss. To have your play rated, in most modern-day casinos, you hand over your players card and the floorman tracks your play: in general, average bet times hours played.

A lot of variables enter the equation when it comes to determining what comps your action qualifies you for. Mostly, it has to do with where you’re playing blackjack. Low rollers who bet in the $5-$10 range and play for a few hours won’t get much, if anything, at places like the Wynn, Caesars, and Bellagio. On the other hand, $10 a hand will qualify you for a nice meal or even a room at some of the grind joints downtown.  Even $50-$100 a hand might earn only a buffet at Cosmopolitan, while at the D on Fremont Street, you’d probably get full RFB (room, food, beverage) and a limo at your disposal.

Either way, unless you’re a major player who’s not in the players club or tracking system, you’re on a big winning streak, and a boss or host cuts into you and offers a comp to try to keep you around, you’re responsible for collecting whatever booty you have coming to you.

One of the hallmarks of Jean Scott’s advice is the little three-letter word “ask.” In all her Frugal books, she makes a distinct point that no one from the casino will single you out and ask you if you’d like a comped meal or room; you have to make the approach.

She also recommends ways of asking for comps that allow bosses and hosts to answer without denying you anything.  If you say, “Can I get a comp for two to the coffee shop?” without qualifying, the boss has to tell you no. But if you ask, “Have I played long enough to qualify for a comp for two to the coffee shop?” the boss can say something like, “Not quite yet, but give it another 45 minutes and you will.”

If you’re interested in all the background on players clubs and comps (and may the Lord have mercy on you if you’re a gambler and you’re not interested in your just rewards), of all Jean’s books, More Frugal Gambling has the most information about them, more than 150 pages on the subject. It’s available on this site for only $6.99, which is a discount of more than 50% off the retail price.

But the book to read if you’re a blackjack player and want to maximize your comp potential is Comp City by Max Rubin. During his career, Max was both a high-level casino executive and a professional-level advantage player, and he combined the two to pen the most extensive book on blackjack and comps ever written. Though it’s now 25 years old and some of thespecifics are out of date, the concepts for beating the casino at the comp game are timeless and well-worth knowing if you’re any kind of player. Comp City is out of print, but it’s available on Amazon as a used book and you can buy it as an e-book on Kindle for $9.99.