I recommend you start out with reading Matthew Dicks’ Facebook post from July 2, 2021. Matt is one of my storytelling gurus and has posted daily posts “forever.” This time he writes about how he and his wife’s different eating habits mesh well with those of a few friends. Matt (and the female friend) like to order their own food without regard to whatever anybody else is having. They prefer to eat it without sharing with others. Matt’s wife Elysha (and the male friend) like to order somewhat communally. “If you get the veal, I’ll get the chicken and we’ll share!” When Matt and Elysha go out with these friends, everyone gets to eat the way each prefers, and all have a fine time. (Dicks lays out a third way to eat too. You’ll have to read his post to find out what it is!)
The post caused me to look at the way Bonnie and I order. It has nothing to do with any of the ways Matt laid out. It is probably a way that he has never considered. But I’m willing to bet the farm that a number of the people who read my blog order in a similar way at least some of the time.
You see, a high percentage of the meals we eat are paid for by casinos as a comp, which is short for complimentary. We get it by being players at the casino. Some of the comps are open-ended, meaning you can have whatever you want, but often they come with a specific dollar amount — say $30, $60, $100, $150, or any other amount. Each casino has its own rules for how comps are redeemed, but they are typically for one sitting and are “you pay if you go over. If your bill comes to less than the comp, you forfeit whatever is unspent.” At some places sales taxes are waived. At others, sales taxes are not waived.
So, let’s say I have a $75 comp at a place where entrees range from $20 to $100, plus they have the usual assortment of appetizers, soups, salads, desserts — along with a wine list.
Almost always, after looking at the menu for a few minutes, Bonnie asks me what I am going to order. My answer is frequently, “I don’t know yet. You tell me what you’re going to order, and I’ll find something to use up the comp!”
I’m not a gourmet. I have my preferences, but on any given night I could have chicken, fish, beef, or even vegetarian. Or sometimes just a salad. It’s more about the company and the nourishment than the actual food.
If Bonnie decides she’s going to have a $20 salad, I’ll find something in the $50 range. If she wants a $40 salmon dinner, I’ll find something in the $30 range. Whenever she asks if there is room on the comp for her to have xxxx, the answer is always yes. And then I adjust what I’m having. Sometimes I’ll have a fairly strong preference towards a particular entrée and will suggest to Bonnie that if she has either yyyy or zzzz, we’ll use up the comp completely. I don’t do this very often, but when I do, she usually goes along with the suggestion.
My basic assumption, very possibly not supported by empirical evidence, seems to be that for the same size tip, a $50 entrée is “better” than a $30 entrée. That assumption helps me make up my mind when otherwise I might have no idea of what to have for dinner!
It’s not at all rare to have a waiter come up at the end of such a meal and exclaim, “My gosh, your comp is for $75 and you spent $74.75! I can’t believe it.” My usual response at such a moment is to ask the waiter, “Do you have anything for 25¢ or less?” When the answer comes back in the negative, I tell the waiter that we’re finished with the meal.
Sometimes it happens that Bonnie decides she’s in the mood for coffee and/or dessert after we’ve finished the meal. Since this is a rarity, usually it means that I’ve already arranged to spend at least $73 of the comp before she tells me this. So, we exceed the comp. It’s not a disaster if we go over the $75, of course. We have funds. We can afford to pay retail for meals. Still, one way to make sure we have enough funds to always eat what we want is to let casinos buy us stuff and spend as little of our money on food as possible.
Plus, it’s part of the “Advantage Player” mindset. I’ll arrange my life to go to a casino at 3 a.m. or 4 p.m. or whenever else it’s in my interest to be there to get the best deal. Getting the most out of food comps goes hand in hand with this.
People who don’t play enough in casinos to get “free” meals do not order this way. And to be sure, probably most people who get comps don’t order this way either. But I’m sure some do. I’ve overheard plenty of conversations in casino restaurants to just this effect.
Bonnie and I have been married seven years and before she started going out with me, she had never eaten this way before. But, being naturally frugal, it made sense to her, and she adapted pretty quickly.
Finally, a big part of Matt’s original Facebook post was about sharing food during dinner. Bonnie and I don’t usually share at the table — other than sometimes ordering one bowl of soup with two spoons as part of the meal. But as septuagenarians with diminished appetites, we often do not finish what we ordered. Doggie bags leaving a restaurant are the norm for us. And three times out of four, once the leftovers are in our refrigerator at home, I’m the one who finishes off both meals over the next few days!
Author’s note: If you’re at all interested in the art of telling stories, or even being a good conversationalist, do yourself a favor and pick up a copy of Matthew Dicks’ Storyworthy: Engage, Teach, Persuade, and Change Your Life Through the Power of Storytelling.
A link to the post you referenced:
https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=297077338657926&id=100050669863663&sfnsn=mo
When dining in a hotel casino restaurant:
As I’ve gotten older (I guess that’s why?) I often prefer a combo of appetizers and maybe a “side”, no entree. Usually more than sufficient, plus if comp/cost is an issue can allow for an extra cocktail. Seldom have room for dessert; occasionally one with two/three spoons when suggested and we weaken. LOL.
We all share at the table. We’ll spoon bites onto each others’ plates at the start, like “who wants a taste of this…” before we begin the serious eating and things get messy.
Usually not worth taking leftovers out unless there is a refrigerator and a microwave oven in the room, which the majority of hotels do not provide (at our level anyway). Occasionally a refrigerator, rarely a microwave. One place we frequent does provide both, good for cobbling together a midnight snack if we had an early dinner time.
Different story if dining out at home. Still, the take outs often end up tossed. Just not the same.
Pro Tip: Tell the Front Desk person when checking in that you need a mini fridge for your meds…they will provide one free of charge (at least they should).
The only time my wife and I shared a meal was at the Hash House A Go-Go at the Plaza. We got the Chicken and Waffles and knew how big it was and that it would feed us both. Otherwise we just get what each of us wants, and enjoy the meal.
In regards to using comps for meals, we do that quite frequently at Marilyn’s Cafe at the Tuscany. No tax if you use your comps, by the way.
I’m with you, Bob. In addition, it is a “golden rule” at our table that NO ONE, repeat, NO ONE comments negatively about the choice of any of the other diners. If they want to eat cottage cheese with catsup, so be it. In turn, they will not shun me for liking to eat Hawaiian Pizza. It is obvious to say, when dining out, no one has ever ordered something to eat that they weren’t expecting to enjoy. The same goes for me, so keep your negative comments about my food choices to yourself.
We just had our 30th anniversary, and as far as food and ordering at a restaurant, I am still widely distrusted by my spouse because I used to be a food bully to her, I would try and manipulate what she ordered, and when we shared I would act like a pig. When I was younger I had an insatiable appetite, at the old famous Caesars Palace Sunday Brunch in the big showroom I would hit the deserts first, because I knew how my brain worked, I was a spectacle, a freakshow. Now several surgeries later I have been tamed, no more freewheeling or gluttony, my food thinking has changed from short term to long term. My diet is way too rigid to adhere to a comp schedule, I truly miss the days I could order without a thought about digestion. I still live to eat, I still look forward to each meal, but now I have a lot to consider and ponder before my ordering decision…
Be sure to check that the comps were correctly applied…once I somehow was comping someone else’s bill and it cost me an additional $9.00 when they couldn’t figure it out, although they said it was fixed…live and learn.
Bob, sounds like our ordering strategy is very similar although just on a different scale.
We plan our days in Vegas around gaming promotions, meal comps and discounted or comp shows. We often combine, a food promotion, comp, coupon and payment by points.
An example of utilizing all of these to enjoy an otherwise expensive dinner is the happy hour specials offered at Cornerstone in Gold Coast.
We used to get meal comps on for seniors by earning a minimal amount of points on certain days and go to Cornerstone during happy hour to get the special prices, use the LVA $20 off $40, and if there was any amount to cover beyond that use our points at 60% on the dollar.
With COVID, we not only have lost all of our slot club status, we no longer have any points balances.
Hopefully we can resume our trips to Vegas and begin to resume building our status and point balances.
HelloRay
I follow a similar strategy like yours.Or shall I rather say: I used to follow that strategy? Not so sure if the casinos will continue what has been a successful path over these decades once this pandemic will be completely under control again.
Well anyways, let’s pretend like it’s going to happen again: I fly from halfway around the world to play in Las Vegas, and I spend quite some money and time when doing so. Although I plan to lose some money I know that Las Vegas used to give me something in return. It all happened about 2x a year for the past 30 years so I figure that I have been traveling to Las Vegas more than 50 times so far. I earned my players status at Station Casinos and at Boyd, mostly by playing at the Goldcoast and Sam’s Town, Santa Fe, Red Rock and Palace Station. I definetely enjoyed the Senior days specials with the whopping 50 per cent discount in the restaurants when using my points. The benefits by using 2-for-1 coupons from the LVA and ACG was additional value that covered some (if not all) of my losses playing the machines.
During my long videopoker sessions I was able to accumulate quite some points that allowed me to spend them in the restaurants at my discretion. Sometimes after asking the floor personnel they offered me a buffet comp, and very rarely I received a steak house bonus of 50 dollars or so. Station Casinos was actually a bit more generous to me by buying me breakfast in the Grand Café whenever I asked.
I heard that they keep removing the high percentage return videopoker games at the same time they reduce the comp value by cutting the multiplier days and on top of it removing the good games and also rising the prices in the restaurants. This is a toxic combo which I absolutely can’t understand and will not support at all.
I am not the “squeaky wheel gets the oil” type of person, not at all. And I am not the person using up all comp dollars until the very last penny and avoid paying anything that comes over. I understand if some people live according this policy , but that’s not me. If I get a 25 Dollar comp and order up whatever I like to eat and then the total bill will come to 30 or 33, that’s still fine with me so I use my points. The tips come extra, and because I am not a gourmet-type-of-person, I sometimes even prefer a 20 dollar coffee shop comp than a 50 dollar steak house coupon because all I want is to eat and then return to the action.
Let’s hope that Your President will decide to open up the country to all vaccinated people soon so that in 2022 people like me from overseas will be allowed to visit again. However, if the situation will not get better and this is the new normal, Las Vegas in my opinion will not be the same again. With all these casinos all trying to make a profit, it may become difficult if there are not enough incentives for out-of-towners , or out of the country visitors , to fly all the way because there are also other places in the world that offer a variety of gambling. Always keep that in mind, folks.
From Switzerland
Boris
It looks like this article accidentally got misplaced within the LVA system. It’s all about eating. It’s not about playing video poker, or anything directly related to playing VP.
It is an article about maximizing your value using a food comp.
It’s an AP topic and this is the place for that.
I am really wondering when Bob Dancer is going to start focusing on Video Poker again. I truly enjoy his podcast “Gambling With an Edge” and this column but it never has much to do with playing Video Poker anymore. Bob seems so intent on protecting his best plays that he doesn’t discuss video poker either here or on the podcast. Dancer keeps talking about retirement. If he doesn’t really want to talk about Video Poker anymore then please find someone who will. Such a shame to see what Mr. Dancer has become.
Redeeming food comps correctly and having an enjoyable dining experience is just part of being an advantage player.
For the guys who feel shortchanged because Bob’s columns are not always strictly a lesson in VP, there are many other sources for his knowledge. If you are that utterly dependent on his weekly LVA article, you can’t be all that serious about getting better at VP. Expand your scope.
Kudos to Bob for showing that there are a lot of tangential aspects which are related to the broad topic of Video Poker.
Hi Bob: I always get a mini fridge with a freezer compartment in my room. Although the rooms all have a nice sized fridges in them, there is no freezer compartment so I have to order one that has a freezer. I use the freezer to freeze 3-4 bottle of water in it, that are always in my room for my drinking pleasure. Then I double bag plastic bags and put the frozen water along with my leftover foods (meat) and pack it in my luggage for my flights home — it ALWAYS STAYS COLD AND SAFE!!
Why am I telling you this? Well my standing comp is always for $200 but it has one limitation; it is for 2 or more people. For one person, the max comp value that can be used is $100 pp. If I have 4 people in my party, we can use $50 pp each. So if I am by myself, I always ask my favorite waiter to put me down as “2” — this way I can use up all of the $200 comp. I then tell him to not bring me the NY strip steak, just wrap it up in alum foil for me to take home. And with my diminished appetite in my old age, I can never finish my 32 oz cut of prime rib, or the filet when I order surf and turf (I also normally have enough comp value to also order an appetizer or salad, and even dessert. I take these leftovers home and I feed my dogs some meat, and sometimes I make steak Caesar salad for my wife and me. I also sometimes make steak or prime rib sandwiches for us to eat too when I go home.
I too am an advantage player, even when it comes to the casino’s restaurant comps!!