Describe your comp evolution

How have your comps changed over the years? How about your knowledge and attitude about comps?

I started with good comps for low rolling gambling even though I didnt know how they worked and then when I started high rolling I got good comps but I don't think they were as good compared to what I got when I low rolled when you factor in how much more I bet. Maybe 10 times better comps for 100 times more bet. Now most casinos use tiers that level the playing field a little bit because you can get a high tier by low rolling or high rolling.

When I was married my wife enjoyed the comps but I didn't care too much. Now after getting divorced I do not like to get many comps unless it is cash or promo chips and I do not like dealing with hosts. I wish I could just book everything online.

 

First few trips I paid for everything, like everyone else, but I also played lower.
I learned from local casino about better payouts on higher denoms, so I moved up my play, but was still paying for my hotel and all

Then on one trip to Vegas, I was playing HL slots and a host introduced herself to me, I was surprised, and told me to see her before I checked out. I knew little about comps, my value, or any of it, I thought I was too small a fish.
She comp'd my room at Paris and told me to email her for any future reservations, I haven't paid for a hotel on a CET property since, anywhere. I had my parents come along on one trip, because we wee going for a wedding, and someone needed to watch the kids, and she said "we'll book the room, see play at end and what we can do"...she comp'd it all
I don't pay for meals any longer if I charge to my room. I have seen Shania, Tony Bennett, Meat Loaf and others, and not paid for it.
She sends up a cart of food upon arrival, with a cheese tray, fruit tray, bunches of bottled water, crackers and more.
I don't stay in "regular rooms" any longer, my last trip I stayed in a room I flat out told her "thank you, but that's too big"....it's was a refurbished 1700 sq ft apartment sized room on the top floor of Bally's. I like NOBU at Caesars, as while the rooms are smaller, the service is stellar and the quality of the amenities is top shelf. I beg for more. Even the toothbrushes are cool as hell, as they're bamboo with black bristles. I'll take quality and service over room size any day.

I may not be "a whale," but she makes me feel like one.

At the same time, I have made a point to not take advantage of her or her generosity, I don't do $500 dinners, $200 bottles of wine or any real extravagance. Sure, maybe a dinner at a place like NOBU might cost $200, and she'll cover it, but I don't do it every night. I try to not take advantage.

I know what I am, I am a solid mid/low, I am consistent in my play (I may go up, but never under) and I put my time in.

 

This kind of info is always interesting, but it's hard to appreciate what 'mid sized whale' might mean. When ppl talk about their level of comps, if you don't mind can you estimate what you play? Don't have to but it makes understanding comps a lot better.

 

Just curious what denoms of slots you play?

 

If you go by CET's $5 to 1 Tier point on slots, my primary game, I can do 4,000-5,000 Tier Points in a day, which is a $20-25,000 coin in a day

 

Mine is very simple. I went from no comps to 5 free weekday nights at CET's lower propertieis and every once in awhile a comp at PH.

 

I started off not using player's cards because I thought I would never play enough to get anything. Lots of people probably have this mindset.

It wasn't until coming on this board that I realized that people were getting free stuff. I researched everything I could find about comps and I established a list of some rules for myself to get them. Then, I set out to get comps across various properties. However, I usually did not play enough on purpose to see if they would toss me the first freebie they give to newbies to entice them. I am not much of a player anyway. It worked for some properties , but then when I thought the low-play may have been fine for another comp, I shot myself in the foot with some of the properties.

I learned a lot about comps but especially that I don't need them. It produced too much anxiety for me and I did not like feeling obligated to play. I feel so much freer now that I pay for almost everything and used the occasional comps from Myvegas, mostly downtown properties and the occasional bonkers comp from Mandalay Bay or places like that.

I went from 5 free nights at CET to no nights at CET from low-playing them. Mlife rarely ever gave me comps. I got comps at places like orleans and Gold Coast regularly but then when I started to play tables (they like slots), I lost the comps. When Boyd stopped sending me offers, that's when I gave up on comps completely and started to just make my own way.

Then, I started getting more downtown comps and that stayed pretty consistent without heavy play (but that was after a very heavy first time). Now, random high-end properties send me freebies like Wynn and Cosmo. It is just weird. You can't wrap your head around it. I also received OUTSTANDING comps from Myvegas. I have never been comped more. It is the best thing to happen to a low roller like me.

For all the anxiety and sadness that comps have caused me, I think the comps from Myvegas, Wynn and Cosmo more than make up for it. Thanks myVegas, Wynn and Cosmo for redeeming this whole effort.

Great question.

 

My comp story is still being written but I think my parents is a funny one.

They started by going to the Westward Ho. They mainly play VP with slots thrown in here and there. They would get a 3 bedroom apartment style room (my stepmom's mother would regularly go as well as me sometimes even though I was around 12 years old). They thought this room was amazing for how little they gambled. I remember them staring at the larger hotels in amazement and dreaming of staying there. My stepmom and her mother would always say how there level of play would get nothing at higher end properties.

One trip my Dad says screw it. He goes to Caesar's Palace and gets a rewards card. For that trip he played exactly what he normally would at Westward Ho just doing it at CP. Their next trip they would be staying 4 nights comped in Augustus Tower with limo to and from the airport and all meals (they eat cheap) comped.

They had no idea that their play was high enough for that for all those years. They really thought the Westward Ho was the best they could do. They have been diamond members with CET every year since and now understand a little more about the comp system.

 

for myself anyway it's been a struggle not to play for comps even though i read it everyday on this forum. I started playing in Reno where my low level blackjack got me rooms at least. Got tired of the drive and started going to Vegas where I'm still trying to find my favorite place. I read alot that MGM properties were better to table games players but I've come to realize I kept upping my average bet to see what I could get to the point where I was playing too large for my bankroll usually, and even at $50-150 ave. bet I barely get 2 weeknights standard room any even the lower properties. As I began to gain a more thorough understanding of theo. I realize this was probably fair. A coupla years ago I decided to throw some money in the slots at Paris because I read CET was good to low level slot players. Playing at the $1 level was pretty good to me since then as I've stayed in all the CET properties for free. I never got it out of my head that MGM resorts were usually nicer, although I've come to question that. Last year I've upped my game a bit and hit Diamond CET and Platinum with Mlife. Mirage threw me a few decent jackpots at the $1-5 slot/vp level so I've been partial to them lately, to the point where they handed me a host's card at the Mlife desk when checking out. Honestly I'm not sure I'm going to be using that much. After getting married last year my wife's been pretty good at keeping the gambling in check while still having fun, so what I'm thinking from now on is the slot play will go to CET especially after seeing the renovated rooms at Ballys where I think I'll get the most bang for my buck. As far as blackjack I seem to do the best downtown. I used to not like downtown but places like the Cal and the D are growing on me and they're good at giving food, as well as having better VP. If I ever get to the $200-$500/hand level I think it'll be worth it to try Mlife again as that seems to be the sweet spot, but realistically I should be coming in willing to lose $10k+ at that level. Thus was my evolution in 20+ trips over the past few years, staying at almost all the strip properties along the way.

 

Comp evolution...?

Is that like, "billions and billions...of reward credits"?

 

I use to be a red/green chip player all over the place, I did not care where I stayed.
So I loved the CET calendar, it was easy to use, and very straight forward.

After a while, my job improved, and my "vegas" group grew with more people enjoying luxury and "clubs" more so than gaming.

We started to pay for Mlife and V/P and Wynn. I started playing green chips, and had many great mailers from V/P (before they screwed everyone). After that dried up, it was discounted rooms.
( I have a superstition about Cesars/Paris so I don't gamble or stay there)

It was hard for me to go back to CET properties once I got use to V/P, Wynn, upper Mlife. But since im an action I increased my play a little more and now hosts come into play.

I haven't stayed at a CET property in over 2 yrs now. I also use DT to "get away" and do some red chip there instead of lower CET properties.

bigger swings but free room, free food, limited free play. cant complain

fk

 

I owe most of my knowledge about comps to VMB. In fact its what led me here. I used to not really pay attention to how they worked. Especially things like screwing up ADT or earning tier credits.

In the 2000s I would just gamble and ask for what I wanted. In some ways ignorance was good because I didn't feel weird about asking for things my play didn't warrant, yet I'd still get them sometimes. I remember we'd go down to AC in college, play low limit BJ and craps, and have no hesitation to ask the pit boss for a room and a dinner comp right on the spot.

Back then the tier system wasn't as common either. I knew that the Harrahs casinos had tiers but never really gave them much thought or cared about building status at any one casino. I felt like it was something for little old slot ladies, not something for men who hit the tables. We didn't deal with computers and little plastic cards for comps, we just dealt with people! Then I was out of the country for a few years and when I came back I stayed at Wynn a few times. No tiers there and just booked things through a host, whatever charges he'd comp was cool and I just paid the rest. I didn't really ask many questions. But the landscape had changed everywhere and things got much more systemized and tiers became more common.

It wasn't until one day in AC a couple years ago where I decided to learn about the system. We were waiting to check-in to Caesars and the line was long and slow, I saw a Diamond line that was empty with people walking up and getting immediate service. I thought, this is bullshit I need to be in that line. Before that I never really had any memory of waiting in long lines, especially since casinos had things like Invited Guest or VIP check-in, so the status thing never seemed important. Then I started reading up on things and found VMB. I was purely a table player but read about Diamond in a Day on here and how VP was the optimal way to do it. So I did it. I was purely chasing tier for ego and so I wouldn't have to wait in a line again, but I came to enjoy VP anyway. Now I keep track of things like points and my play.

 

We started going to Vegas around 2000, when we moved to LA. We exclusively went to spend time at The Star Trek Experience at the then Las Vegas Hilton. I don't remember if we ever even signed up for their players club. It would be amazing to me if we ever even dropped $20 in a slot machine back then, but we really got to love spending time in Vegas. And I remember getting decent deals from them for rooms with tickets to the Experience included, etc. When they were going to close the Star Trek Experience, we were, of course, devastated, but decided to see about branching out to The Strip. The Hubs had seen a sign that Total Rewards would pay you back for your first $100 if you were a new member. So we took the monorail down to Paris and we each signed up and we each dropped $100 (exactly) into a quarter slot. We got our $100 rebate checks on the mail later and also offers for free weekends at IP. We were amazed!! Free vacation? Yes, please! So we booked IP a few times, we were getting the King Suite even, and kept dropping a few hundred dollars in a weekend when we went, before you know it, we were getting free rooms at other properties, we were moving up in the world. Then we learned to both play on one card and we could reach Platinum and get better rooms and a few more perks. By this time, we were less afraid of losing and more thrilled by the games and the ups and downs. No we drop a couple thousand in a weekend, make Diamond, even nicer rooms and more perks and usually also get a few hundred in free play each trip as well, at least. We've also seen Elton John for free and get offers for other shows that we haven't taken advantage of yet.

 

Went to Vegas for my 21st bday and immediately signed up for the different players clubs. I had a $200 a day BR and spread it around to pretty much every game since I didnt know what I would like. I went back a few months later and played on the same BR. The next month I got my first offer ever, it was an offer for $99 a night over new years. Me and a few friends booked the offer and I played on the same BR for that trip.

Since that trip I have never paid for a room in Vegas, to date always booked corporate offers through the Mlife website.

I started a new job in June 2012 so I bumped up my BR to $500 a day, since that change may offers now include $100 FP, between $100-$200 RC, and Comped show tickets...on top of comped room.

 

It sure is a slow learning curve with comps, seems everytime you work out how it all comes together, they change the rules/tiers/whole programme!!

When I started playing, sure enough you end up just paying your hotel bill when you check out, but about 3 years ago I had my 1st "zero balance" on checkout. Now I have a host at Orleans and LVH, both of whom I have no complaints.
I dont feel obliged to play anything other than my usual budget (which I would do anyway, Hey,you are going to gamble somewhere, so you may as well play where you stay)

I get RFB at LVH and Orleans, but I dont eat at the high end places when I,m on my own, and if my GF is with me she plays on my card which is a very important to rack up the ADT. Yhese are things I would not have thought about 4-5 years ago.

 

I, like many, started out getting nothing. Then the Stardust started offering us free rooms. A couple of trips later it started to include food coupons.

Fast forward to our move downtown to MSS. Started out with a food coupon book and free rooms. Then we were bumped up to the Silver card which is good at most restaurants, but not the higher end ones. Then moved up to the Gold Card-good at all restaurants at Boyd, downtown.

In between Stardust & MSS, there were free rooms and food at Trop, Sands & Frontier. I've been going to Vegas for 4 decades, so I don't have a good time line, but it has probably been 20 years since we paid for food at a property we were staying at.

For this upcoming trip we are staying at Suncoast. Room, but no food. Host says charge everything to the room and we'll see. I haven't had to do that in decades so I'm a little reticent, but we feel like we need a change and we want to walk across the street and golf at Angel Park.

We have never abused the Gold Card. One trip with relatives we did go through 3 bottles of wine, but normally it's a glass or two. I don't pay a lot of attention to the bill since it goes on the card, but I would say my wife and I average around ~$100-150 for dinner. Add in lunch at 777, breakfast at the buffet, $220 tops for the day.

Play level: $1 = 1 point. I just averaged our last 6 trips and it was ~46,000 points for our normal 4 night trip.

 

My husband and I are low rollers ~ quarter video poker players. We started playing Downtown because it's so much better for vp players. We started getting free nights offers. A few years ago we started staying at Main Street Station, with 3-4 week nights free and $50.00 in food. Now our 6 nights are comped, but no food for this next trip. My main point here is that we only gamble approximately 20% of our BR at the Downtown Boyds. We rent a car and like to move around. Staying & playing in one casino is not for us. Probably if our whole BR were gambled in one property, we would get more comps from them - am I right?

 

Don't sell yourself short. Quarter VP is not low rolling.
My brother & sil are nickel VP at 4Q and still get comped room & token food offers.

 

"Quarter" VP = 5 x $0.25 = $1.25 a spin?

 

My evolution with comps began in 2007 with CET. Prior to 2007 i mainly gambled at MGM properties or up at Stardust, Frontier, Riviera (back in the early 80's. Then it progressed to MGM and CET up till about 2006.

In 2007 i felt CET was better for me as a slot player. So even though i still spend plenty of time at other casinos like MGM, Monte Carlo, Mirage, etc., i only gamble at Caesars properties. I will do so again this year.......visit most of the properties on the Strip from Wynn-Mandalay Bay, as well as Rio and Gold Coast (i take the shuttle from Bally's to Rio, then walk across the street to the Buffet at GC).

So up to June 2011, i constantly got comps at Imperial Palace, Flamingo, and Harrah's for up to 5 nights (which is my preference, 5 nights).
In June 2011, i had a medical issue, therefore i couldn't travel to Vegas until about a year later. My only choice at that time was Imperial Palace to make my grand re-opening appearance because my credits expired but IP was dirt cheap including 2 free nights. There were no resort fees at that time so i decided to stay at Imperial Palace instead of Travelodge (next to Harley). I had a great time staying there (i never gambled at IP, just bunked there) but i am glad i stayed at the Palace to get my feet wet once again at CET. I have stayed at IP a couple of times back when the Holiday Inn was next to IP before it became Harrah's.

So for the last couple of years, CET has given me free rooms for 5 nights Sun-Fri all year at Harrah's, Bally's, Flamingo, Quad, and Rio. Last year i booked Caesars for a week comped in the summer because it was too good to pass up.
This year i have booked Bally's and Planet Hollywood twice. Planet Hollywood is not normally comped for 5 straight nights (like Caesars) for me so i grabbed it......twice, once in August and again in November.

In my case i like to go solo (many of my friends don't care for Vegas and those that do only go to Vegas weekends). That's why i don't take offers. I'd rather get 5 comped nights using the TR rate calender instead of getting 2-3 days comped with some food credits. YMMV.

I get offers for shows, food, rooms, whatever, through e-mails from CET, Milife, and B, but free rooms for 5 nights is only what i want and CET rewards me by NOT taking offers.

I have always been a Gold card holder, and CET temps me with billions of reward credits if i stay at CET properties once a month (like the first week in April, with 8000 RW credits)), but 3 weeks in Vegas is fine with me, and i use my RC's on a daily basis in Vegas which is perfect for me for getting snacks and drinks comped when using my card to bring up to my room. $10 per day in RW credits.

Since i'm a Gold card member, i do realize that my comped rooms are not really "free" nowadays, but i am easy to please, $100 for 5 nights in the middle of the Strip is still really cheap.

My main objective is paying less for rooms, less for food, and less for travel.......but still maintaining my gambling bankroll like it has for many, many, years, and still have a great week in Vegas even though i don't drink, smoke, fine dine, do shows, etc.

It CAN be done.

I do own some "sin" stocks however, so feel free to smoke, drink, and be merry, and will be visiting the new Linq street in a few weeks to visit my investments....