This may be an overlooked part of the whole advantage slotting experience. But first, you may be thinking, is it worth possibly drawing attention to what you’re doing? I would always say yes, but let me explain.
A casino host has very little awareness of advantage slotting. And even if they caught wind of something, it’s not their job to boot possible advantage players. They look at the raw betting numbers and comp you what they can based on that. I’m sure there’s a human element at times too, so it’s a good idea to be as nice as possible while selling yourself.
Each casino has different things they’re looking for. Most care about average bet size and “coin in,” meaning how much you’ve pumped into the machines on your most recent day(s). Most don’t care much about wins or losses, since historically everyone would eventually lose if they played enough slots. But depending on where you are, there could be other factors at play, including even time on the machines.
It also depends on who’s working the host desk at times. It depends on how much you really sell yourself (“I lose $10,000 all the time at other casinos…that sort of thing”). It might even depend on how the casino is doing at a given point, as the host desk may have recently been mandated to limit what they’ll give away to players.
Over the years, I’ve gotten free rooms countless times, free dinners, additional slot play, and much more. Heck, on some cruise lines I got comped hundreds of dollars each time at their duty-free stores. I haven’t actually bought myself clothes in years because of that!
Of course, you’ll also get plenty of rejection, as I mostly did in this video I was able to film. Sometimes the stars don’t align and the host won’t offer much of anything. But always ask if you think you’ve shown some action at a casino. The worst they can tell you is no, and if you never ask, they most likely will never give.
You’ll get some slot play and possibly some comped rooms, but unless you’re an unbelievable whale losing thousands of dollars per day, you won’t get anything else of substance without asking.
Join me in this oddly filmed, fairly awkward seven-minute video as I try to get a comped dinner from my local casino. My success rate is usually around 40 percent or so, but it often depends on who happens to be behind the desk when I’m asking. As mentioned above, it also varies by casino. In this case, I got a real hardass (nice guy otherwise).
He did eventually say he’d give me free lounge (buffet) access. He also recommended I put whatever charges I have on my already comped hotel room, which I did, and that alone is good advice to pass along if you have a hotel room. The casino will sometimes pick up the tab, but you’ll never know if you pay the bill yourself beforehand.
Another tip: If you happen to be a poker player, don’t mention that to a host. Casinos make very little from poker, and they give almost nothing back to poker players. In some casinos, I’ve even heard of poker being a negative rather than something neutral.
Each casino has its own policy regarding comps. Some would rather you come every day and gamble a few hundred dollars. Some, such as many in Las Vegas, will see you come once, gamble heavily, and reward you for the foreseeable future based on that one result. That could (and probably will) be its own topic: card building.
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