Not long ago I wrote about a time I was in Reno when there was a power outage at the Eldorado, the hotel where I was staying and playing. After calling the Peppermill to make sure they were open, Bonnie and I, along with one other player, took a Lyft to that casino (maybe two miles away) and paid retail for a meal at Café Milano. I commented that it was a novel experience for me to pay for a meal in a casino.
One reader commented: “Does it bother you in the least that you’re so damn cheap that you won’t pay for a meal outside of a casino?”
Another reader came to my “rescue,” if that’s the appropriate term, but I thought the subject was worth exploring a bit. So here we are.
Since I moved to Las Vegas in 1993, I’ve received more than $1 million dollars in “free” food. I put the quotation marks around the word “free” because I always tip on meals, comped or not.
This doesn’t mean I’ve saved $1 million dollars on food. On some of the more expensive meals, the tip was more than I would have paid for a meal that wasn’t comped. Still, I’m sure I’ve saved several hundred thousand dollars over that time period by this practice.
I don’t consider this “cheap.” (Or “damn cheap” or even “damned cheap,” which I believed is better English). I consider this as part of the slot club benefits that result from my decision to gamble at a particular game in a particular casino at a particular time. Food comps are part of the equation when I decide whether a game is positive enough to play.
There are times I pay for food in a casino. If I’m playing at the South Point on a Monday, I’ll often eat there using points because on Mondays, seniors get half price meals if they use their points. That makes their breakfast buffet cost $8 worth of points rather than $16 worth of cash.
I have essentially unlimited food comps at a casino 15 miles away from the South Point, but driving 30 miles roundtrip (and spending more than one extra hour traveling) to save $8 is a stupid type of economy, in my opinion.
Let’s say I have a $40 food comp at a casino. I check to see if the sales tax goes away when you use the comps. If I only want $20 worth of food and it’s a “use it or lose it” comp, I’ll sometimes take food home. Not always, though. If I’ll be driving around Las Vegas in the summertime and don’t have an ice chest in the car, I won’t take food to go because it will spoil before I arrive home.
If I spend more than the comp for a meal, I’ll usually pay with points (if I have them) in those casinos where sales tax disappears when you pay with comps and points.
When I’m playing and all food is free, it’s smart to take advantage of that food — saving both time and money. There are casinos I’ve played at where I don’t take advantage of food comps because the quality of the meals is sub-par.
I play less in casinos than I used to, so Bonnie and I eat at home more than occasionally. I don’t usually have comps at grocery stores.
Near the end of the month, Bonnie and I take inventory of what unused food comps we have that will expire. Sometimes there’s no way we can use up all the comps. Often, we’ll go out to eat at casinos more in the last week of the month than the first week.
The original question asked if it bothers me in the least to be so damn cheap. The simple answer is no, it doesn’t bother me at all. One of the “secrets” of obtaining and keeping a bankroll is not to spend money on things I don’t need. And if I have food for free, I don’t need to pay for a meal somewhere.
But if Bonnie and/or I are hungry and no food comp is available, I pay for meals.
IF YOU RECEIVED A MILLION DOLLARS IN COMPS, YOU MUST HAVE LEFT CLOSE TO A
HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS IN TIPS
100k in tips on a million in meals would only be a 10% tip. I think that makes you the one who is “damned cheap”, sir.
since you are leaving a tip for service i see no reason not to use your comps for food or what ever the casino wants to give you. and the cost of every thing keeps going up except retirement pay take advantage of every thing that is legal and that includes the federal government to as they waste enough of the tax payers money
thank you
Interesting article as well as post comments. If the general public saw the food waste in just one major casino they I’m sure would be appalled. A free meal for someone who puts literally millions of “coin in”over the last two or three decades is not even on their expense column.
Interesting article as well as post comments. If the general public saw the food waste in just one major casino they I’m sure would be appalled. A free meal for someone who puts literally millions of “coin in”over the last two or three decades is not even on their expense column.
Jean Scott would call that being frugal. That’s part of the fun of going to Las Vegas. My husband and I are quarter players and I can’t remember the last time we’ve paid for a meal in a casino where we play. I use airline miles, casino offers and host comps to make for a very nice vacation where my costs are tips, gambling and maybe a rental car.
Are you getting most your free meals from using points for vouchers or by asking a host for discretionary comp foodvcredit?
I always charge my meals to my room and see the host before I check out. Sometimes I use a few points at my local casino if I happen to spend a few dollars more than my monthly offer. Otherwise, I spend my points as free play. I thank the LVA writers for the knowledge of how comps work, and to Jean Scott for her “Just ask nicely” method.
It’s not often that I agree with Bob, but the thought of paying for food in a casino gives me the shakes. One of my main regrets in life is that I know when I go to the big Casino I will have left 1,000,s of dollars in comps simply because I can’t eat through all that I’ve got.
10% I would suspect would be a lot for Bob.
Well done, Bob. So few of us exercise simple common sense these days
LOL. I have, on occasion, been confronted by a situation where I want to do something strategically money-saving, but also pretty “damned cheap.” On those occasions, I must admit that I have asked myself not what “JC would do,” but “What would Dancer do?”
That query usually brings an ironic smile to my face as I contemplate all my many decades of coupon-cutting, wrangling of every comp, and somewhat commonplace “Me being a horse’s ass.”
So as we head into the new year, I promise to once again, when faced with what one might call “the opportunity to be cheap,” follow in the footsteps of one Bob Dancer. If it ain’t nailed down, I’ll probably eat it, or something like that.
Comped meals are not free, they are paid for – with tears of anguish