Question of the Day - 11 November 2024

Taking your points in order, in our experience, it's not that hard to get a drink ticket or four when you make a bet in a Vegas sports book. There are, of course, various policies and procedures. In some books, a minimum bet is required. The standard is around $100 for a sports bet and $20 for a race bet. We've heard that at Circa, it's $200 for a sports bet, while at the Horseshoe any bet gets you at least one ticket for the asking. (Your mileage might vary.) If you're a regular bettor at the book and you come to know the writers, it gets easier. In any case, just ask what it takes to get a drink ticket. Then you'll know. 

One thing we can say that's almost always successful is to duke off a couple bucks to the ticket writer. This tends to lube the drink-ticket wheels. And note that you can do this when placing and cashing a bet. 

But be sure you know 1) where the drinks will come from and 2) what drinks the tickets are good for. At some sports books, you hand them to the cocktail waitress. At others, they tickets are good at the nearest bar. Some casinos accept them at any bar. At the top-tier casinos, you can usually get whatever you want; at the bottom, a drink ticket from the sports book gets you a domestic beer or well drink. 

As for the sports book not being part of the casino rewards program, you might think that since the sports hold is easily twice that of most table games (on average 4.5%), sports bettors would be twice as desirable to the joint. However, as you state, it's difficult in most casinos to receive any comps for sports betting. 

The reason has to do more with the actual expected value to the casino than the "theo," or the value based on that 4.5%. 

For example, you visit the sports book on an NFL Sunday and make four $110 wagers. Typically, you then sit back in the book for the next three hours to cheer on your teams. Once the dust settles, on average, you win two and lose two, resulting in a net gain of a whopping $20 for the sports book. Meanwhile, when factoring in what you would have paid for, say, four drinks (one each per bet), it's arguable that you enjoyed a net win for the day. 

Compare that to what happens later, when you wander into the casino to play blackjack. You sit down at a 6-5 game and play $25 a hand, a typical amount for your level of action ($100 on football games). Being an average player, you play at roughly a 2% disadvantage. With two or three other players at your table, at the end of three hours, you've played approximately 300 hands and wagered a total of $7,500, with an expected win for the casino of $150. That’s a 7½ times greater loss than in the three hours you spent in the sports book.  

Basically, the difference comes down to volume. A sports bettor makes his wagers, then contentedly sits back and watches the games to see how they play out. Blackjack, as well as other table games, requires constant action. So while casinos need sports books to attract guests, they don’t want to reward players for sitting around and watching television.

That said, if your sports book bets are large enough (and we mean really large), we suspect you'll get the attention of casino comp departments. Losing those large sports bets would probably help your cause as well.