2a. Comps on losses
Date: Sat May 10, 2008 7:20 pm ((PDT))I read here http://vegasclick.com/gambling/comps.html that a big enough
loss an qualify you for a % cashback, not just on theoretical loss but
on actual loss. It specifically mentions the Hard Rock where aparently
a $4000 loss can earn you 10% cashback. Anyone know whether this is
true, and whether it applies at other casinos? Any experiences where it
is not a policy, but a chat with a pitboss after a big loss has been
successful in this regard are also welcome.
Let's see, if I win 55% of the time because I'm an advantage player, and then on the 45% of the time that I lose, I get 10% back, I think I might have an even greater advantage. Especially if I can somehow lump all my losing hands into one trip.
So, if the casino recognizes me as an advantage player, they certainly will not want to tip that advantage any further toward me, and even if they don't quite pick up that I am, they probably would not want to turn my play INTO advantage play for me with excess comps.
Seriously, I would be surprised if ANY casino would comp very heavily on actual losses - although there may be exceptions. Casinos usually (and this is a reasonable business model) have some formula they use to estimate the EXPECTED (not necessarily actual) loss from a gambler who bets X dollars an hour for Y hours at a game where the house edge is Z, with each of these variables often being an estimate that they make - and if they expect to win N dollars from this player on this trip, they will comp him/her with some fraction of N dollars back in free rooms, food, beverage, limos, perhaps airfare, etc. -- and if that doesn't eat it all up, they COULD decide to also throw in a little cash, I suppose.
Add to all this the factor that when you get a $100 room comp and $100 in free food, it doesn't cost the casino $100 and $100 (usually), so that perhaps gives your RFB comps a little less value to you and a little less cost to the casino - but I still would not think that this changes things enough for them to give away money.
The exception is the formulaic cash-back and bounce-back and free play offers (if you consider the latter to be cash - it certainly has cash value, but it's not money in your pocket).
There are "small" experiences to the contrary - I've taken a coffee shop comp and gotten it upgraded to a gourmet restaurant comp by a blackjack pit boss after a heavy losing session, for example. But on the other hand...
I had one experience where I was playing VP heavily (for me) on a trip, and losing heavily (for me), and asked my host if I could get airfare in addition to the (generous) RFB comps I was getting. She checked, and said that airfare comps were restricted to losses of $10,000 or more - which was far less than my unusually bad trip (for me) had generated, so I said, thanks, I don't plan to lose that much just to get a $400 air ticket comped.
I found this latter an interesting situation - it would seem to me that if I gave the casino enough action, that should be ALL that determines whether I qualify for an airfare comp, and not whether I lost $10K (or anything) on that particular trip. In fact, I mentioned this, but got nothing. Perhaps VP gives the casino too little margin to do anything beyond RFB and advertised cash back as a matter of policy?
--BG
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