Chicago Sun-Times: The master of comps has new volume of tips

When I reviewed the first edition of Max Rubin's Comp City back in 1994, I wrote, "Rubin is a comp wizard with an insider's knowledge of the casino industry, and he plays angles that have never even dawned on the rest of us.''

It seems Rubin has come up with even more angles.

Just out from Huntington Press, the new paperback edition of Comp City is every bit as much a bargain as some of the plays Rubin writes about. Anyone who read the 1994 hardcover edition should easily have been able to recoup the $39.95 price tag in bigger, better casino comps. That goes double or triple for the new edition, priced at $19.95.

Fully updated to take into account the nationwide expansion of gaming and the rise of slot clubs, the new Comp City takes a casino classic and makes it even better. Any player who can't find tips in this book worth more than $19.95 in comps isn't really trying.

Rubin is a blackjack player, and that's the game that gives the player the best chance to really apply his brand of comp wizardry, but any player interested in maximizing comps will find something of interest.

Comps are granted as a percentage of the player's theoretical loss. Multiply average bet times hands per hour times hours of play times the house edge on the game, and you have the amount a player with average luck is expected to lose. For example, a blackjack player who bets $25 a hand for four hours at a busy table averaging 60 hands per hour has a theoretical loss of $25 x 60 hands per hour x 4 hours x .025 (2.5 percent house edge against an average player). That comes to $150, and the house will grant the player comps worth a percentage--usually between 10 and 40 percent--of that theoretical loss.

Players in the know already understand that if they play basic strategy, they trim the house edge to 0.5 percent--a little more or less, depending on house rules--bringing their theoretical loss down to about $30 in those four hours. If the house is granting 20 percent comps based on a $150 theoretical, then the basic strategy player is getting $30 in comps while losing only $30.

That's a pretty good deal in itself, but Rubin goes far beyond that. He's a master at disguising play so that his average bet looks larger than it really is. What if you're credited with a $100 average bet while averaging only $25 a hand? And what if it looks like you're playing 240 hands (60 per hour times four hours), but you're really playing less because you're chatting with the cocktail waitress or taking a restroom break or any of a number of slowdowns Rubin describes? Then your comp potential skyrockets, even while your theoretical loss is declining.

There's plenty more. How do you get a free bottle of wine in your room even if you're not on a full room, food and beverage comp? How do you get a Chivas Regal on the rocks for 3 cents? What do you have to do to get airfare reimbursed? Whether you're trying to make mid- level play look larger for that free room, food and beverage, or just trying to score a buffet comp, Rubin can show you all the angles-- and a few more.

OF LOCAL INTEREST: One new feature in this edition of Comp City is a section on comps in new gaming jurisdictions. Rubin also takes an example from each of five jurisdictions to show just what you can get at different levels of play.

In the Chicago area, he takes a close look at Binion's Horseshoe in Hammond. Just as anywhere else, low-end comps start with beverages. Someone playing $10 a hand for five minutes can expect soft drinks, juice or coffee, although complimentary alcohol is illegal here.

An hour at $25 a hand brings a complimentary buffet. Make it $100 a hand for two hours and upgrade to a comp at Binion's Steakhouse. Eight hours at $150 a hand is worth two free nights at a nearby hotel, and eight hours at $250 a hand brings two nights room, food and beverage. Out-of-towners can even hope for airfare and room after eight hours at $300 a hand. Of course, for the Max Rubins of the world, the challenge is getting that airfare and room without REALLY betting $300 a hand.

JUICY BRUCIE? Rubin tells some fun tales along with all the tips. One involves a new term in Las Vegas. For decades, any big tipper has been George'' to casino employees, and a really big tipper is King George.''

What about someone who doesn't tip, who routinely stiffs the help? Nowadays, such a player is Bruce,'' and a waitress who has been stiffed has been Bruced.''

Why? Word is that movie star Bruce Willis is a notoriously bad tipper, bad enough that cocktail waitresses up and down the Strip have taken to giving him a little something of their own in his sparkling water. Use your imagination ... or read Comp City.