Chicago Sun-Times: Casinos limit comps based on size of bets

A shuffle through the Gaming mailbag:

Q. I was wondering if you could help me out in the world of comps. I'm not very good at knowing what to expect as far as freebies go. For example: My friend and I were at Harrah's Las Vegas and played table games for about five hours one night with the goal of getting something for free. We switched tables a few times, but always made sure the pit boss knew where we were.

Afterward, we approached the pit boss and asked him if our gaming had awarded us anything. He explained to us that their policy is that comps are only available to players who bet at least $25 per hand (our bets were around $10-$20) for at least four hours. No buffet, no show tix, no nothing. We were a bit put off since a year ago, Bally's offered us a free meal after playing for only two hours. I don't get it. I know there's plenty of resource material out there on this subject, and I wondering if you could point me in the right direction.

And how aggressive do you have to be with these pit bosses? I'm about as confrontational with people as Gandhi, so I'm a bit leery about approaching them and demanding free stuff if I think I've earned it.

Clay, via e-mail

A. Comp rates vary widely from casino to casino. As a rule of thumb, the casino will kick back anywhere from 10 percent to 40 percent of your expected losses in the form of comps. The difference lies in how badly the casino needs to attract your kind of business.

Being extra aggressive won't help. You need to ask for comps, and ask how much longer you need to play to qualify for a comp, but if the pit boss starts to see you as a pest or a pain in the neck, it just gives him an excuse to deny the comp.

Let's say you were averaging a $15 bet at blackjack while playing about 50 hands an hour at a full table. You risk $750 in an hour's play, or $3,750 in the five hours you played. The casino expects you to leave behind about 2 percent of that, meaning your expected loss is about $75. That would leave comps likely to range from $7.50 to $30.

Note that a $7.50 comp isn't even enough to cover the price of a dinner buffet, and in a casino that draws big crowds of mid-level players, you can't expect much more. Harrah's likes to market through direct mail, so you may find that your level of play brings you offers in the mail for discounted rooms or meals on your next trip to Las Vegas. There's no free lunch now, but maybe one next time.

If you want more immediate rewards, with comps higher up the range, you need to target a casino that has to work for your level of play. You're more likely to score a meal comp with $10-$20 play at casinos downtown, those that cater to Las Vegas locals or at older, smaller operations on the Strip.

If you want to read more about casino comps, the two best books on the market are Comp City by Max Rubin and The Frugal Gambler by Jean Scott.

Q. Why don't the Illinois boats have progressive slot jackpots like they do in Las Vegas or Tunica, Miss.? We just came back from Harrah's in Tunica-it was just outstanding. There were nine five- cent Wheel of Fortune slot machines that were tied into all other five-cent Wheel of Fortune machines in Mississippi. The progressive jackpot was $489,000. Can we do this in Illinois?

Skip S.

A. Progressive slots that link jackpots in several casinos are known in the casino industry as "wide-area progressives." Usually, the machines are owned by the manufacturer, who pays the host casinos a percentage of coins played in order to have the games on the floors. Big winners are not paid by the casino, they're paid by the manufacturer or distributor.

Such systems are not legal in Illinois and Indiana. Gaming officials are keen to avoid the appearance of casinos being partners on a game rather than competitors. One former Illinois gaming official also once told me the jackpot frequency on such games was so low that it was simply a trap for the unwary, dreaming of lotterylike riches with no real chance of keeping their money.

Linked progressives are legal in Illinois and Indiana as long as the entire system is in one casino. That leads to lower jackpots than on the wide-area systems, but single-casino progressives also pay off more often.

Sunday in Real Life: Caribbean Stud side bet.

E-mail John Grochowski at BetKol@aol.com