Just in case you don’t know what getting comped means, “comp” is short for complimentary – a verbal shorthand for receiving a complimentary good or service from a casino. Getting a free drink, some free chips, a free room, a free meal or free Wayne Newton tickets are all part of the casino experience and can indeed seem pretty nice. I know when someone gives me something for free, I feel sort of grateful, or even somehow indebted. Never mind that I just blew a week’s wages playing blackjack.

Vegas 365 certainly doesn’t want to burst your bubble so if maintaining Las Vegas illusions is important to your overall enjoyment of gambling and that old Las Vegas mystique, exit here. However, if you’d like a little look into the heart and soul of Las Vegas and get a lot more info about getting comped, then you’ve come to the right place.

For starters, getting comped is not a random event. The reality is that the moment that you walk through the door of a casino, you’re being evaluated. Your skill level, speed of play, your game of choice, how long you like to play, and other factors are all analyzed, and in many places even fed into a computer, to determine your theoretical worth to the casino. If you’re an unprofitable chiseler like me, don’t expect any comps. The only comp a chiseler gets is when he steals the hotel towels. On the other hand, if you like to lay repeated $1,000 bets on the first five in roulette (0, 00, 1, 2, 3), look out because some heavy comps are coming your way.

Comps are generally given by casinos with two goals: 1) To make sure the casino realizes an acceptable profit margin and, 2) to ensure player satisfaction.

If you stop and think about it for a minute, the two are inextricably linked. When a player loses, he or she feels bad. This naturally makes most players develop an adversarial dislike for the casino on some level, be it conscious or subconscious. To keep you “satisfied” the casino then gives you a big enough comp so that adversarial dislike is replaced by a sense of relief and a even a bit gratitude. The casino doesn’t want to give you too much of course, only just enough to keep you “stratified” which in the language of casino management means enough to keep you coming back so that you can lose some more.

Comps are heavily based on a player’s theoretical loss (that is, the casino’s theoretic win) which is calculated like this:

For example, if you’re a good blackjack player who likes to make $50 bets on a game that has an average house edge of 2.5% and you play about 40 hands an hour here’s what your worth:

$50 x 2.5% x .6 (your rated skill level coefficient) x 40 x 1 = $30. That is you’re worth about $30 an hour to the casino.

If you’re a big betting craps player who loves to bet “any 7” (which means you’re a “soft” gambler - softer than wonder bread actually) who likes to play fast, look out. You’re worth $3,334 an hour (Say $500 x 16.67% x 1 x 40 x 1 = $3,334) and believe me they will do just about anything they can to keep you. You may just end up having dinner with Wayne Newton sitting in his lap.

Still, despite their intended purpose, comps are a good thing if you can recognize and distance yourself from the sense of obligation you may feel upon receiving a comp to keep gambling.

Comps are a compliance technique rooted in human psychology, nothing more. Recognize them for what they are and make use of them, but don't get taken it.