How Do Casino Comps Work
The house edge is one factor that casinos use to determine how much you should be comped. Gambling venues are willing to give out more rewards to players who take a greater risk.
You cannot use Express Comps for purchases made inside a gift shop or mall, like other casino programs – shopping can’t be done on their dime. In some cases you can buy branded merchandise with your comps – how generous of them! Tier Credits are what tracks your earnings towards a higher tier. Tier credits reset on October 1 each year. My understanding is that your comps are based off a combination of the total points earned for your previous cruise and your tier level. The lower the number at the end of your multi comp, the better the offers. In order for us to maintain this comp after our next cruise, we will have to spend a lot in the casino.
Casino Comps Calculator
But casinos don’t meticulously tailor rewards to every game’s house edge. They instead use broad gaming categories to determine rewards.
Slot machines, keno, and scratch cards (online) offer the best comp rates because they have the highest house edges. Slots are the most commonpath towards more rewards since they’re far more popular than keno and online scratch cards.
Land-based slot machines have house edges ranging between 5% and 12%, while online slots house advantages range from 1% to 7%. In either case, you’re going to get the most comps by playing slots.
Casinos normally comp slots players at between 0.1% and 0.2% of their total bets. This may not sound like much, but it adds up over time.
How Do Online Casinos Work
Here’s an example.
- You bet $10,000 throughout a session
- The casino’s slots comp rate is 0.1%
- 10,000 x 0.001 = $10
Table games and video poker, in contrast, offer a much lower comp rate than slot machines. These games have smaller house advantages on average, which is why they also deliver fewer rewards.
Oftentimes, table games only give you one-fifth or one-tenth of the value of slots comps. Here’s an example.
- You bet $10,000 on baccarat
- The casino’s baccarat comp rate is 0.01%
- 10,000 x 0.0001 = $1
I’m not recommending that you should dive headfirst into slots just for the rewards. But if you’re already a fan of slot machines, then it’s worth playing them more often to pick up additionalfreebies.