OK lets get real here. IMHO, points are earned by you putting your money in
a casino machine and playing that machine, win or lose. Points earned are
really like a monetary rebate to you. It was/is your money you are spending,
whether it be points you pay with, a credit card you pay for later or cash.
You are simply recycling your money. It is not something the casino owes
you. It is an incentive to play at their casino and they are betting you will
lose your money. You are betting you will win the casinos money. Again
points earned is like a rebate or small discount if you will on the money
you have shoved through a machine.
Comps or free is something else, a reward for gambling your money at the
casino. A host recently told me, "discretionary comps" is a gift from the
casino to reward your loyalty and in the case of Station casinos, an amount
equal to your accumulating points is the value of your discretionary comps.
For example, you have 100,000 points in your account, your host could offer a
discretionary comp (read free as in no reduction in points) up to your
100,000 point account.
If you abuse the system by asking for repeatedly comps or worse demanding
them as your right, often, then your comps are going to dry up. Don't kid
yourself, they keep track of the freebies you get. Don't ask too often. We
were upset with Orleans over this because we have played there regulary for
three months, asked for three comps over that time and got two buffets,
grudgingly given I might add. We generally used our points to pay for meals
there. We have now pulled our cashback out and probably will not return
unless things change.
We mostly use points for the food we eat and comps for the shows we would
like to see. We try not to ask too often, once or twice a month. If I
really want to eat an expensive meal, I wait even longer. I played at
Barbary Coast three years before I asked if I qualified for a comp to
Michael's for my birthday that year....yes, I got it. We are single line .25
players, so I played a really long time to get that.
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