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Gaming Guru  Even more on comps17 April 2018
By Frank Scoblete If you really want to be a savvy comp commander, I’m going to show you a secret way that only I know about to discover what exact formula the casinos you play in use to rate you. Here goes: Ask them! Yes, no one knows this secret, but you can actually ask to see your rating. When you go to your host (by all means get a host, even if you are a low roller), just ask to see “the screen.” He or she will show you exactly how they are rating you – what house edge they are using, how much your average bet is, what your theoretical loss is, and what they are willing to give you back in terms of comps. And you’ll get what you deserve. Now, let’s start moving into the fun territory of the undeserving, shall we? How to stretch your comps True story time. I played three days at a very nice Las Vegas casino, just a notch below an A+, where I was RFB, which meant I was a big shot and got everything “free” – gourmet restaurants, room service, shows, limos and a big, big-shot suite with two bathrooms, a Jacuzzi, a living room, dining room, four televisions, a huge bedroom and a stable for my polo ponies. When it was time to leave, I checked out my “screen” and asked my host if the casino would pick up the airfare for me and my wife, the Beautiful AP, and he said: “That would put you way over the return we can give you based on your theoretical.” I looked at the screen and next to my “room” was $1,500! Yep, that’s what they “charged” me for the suite – per night! Thus, $4,500 of my comp return based on my “theoretical loss” was eaten up by the big-shot suite, which I basically slept in, showered in and did a couple of unmentionable things with my wife in. So I asked him how much a regular room would have been “charged” to me. It turned out to be $250. And he then volunteered the information that I would have gotten the airfare “no problem” had I taken a regular room. So right there, I learned a very valuable lesson. Did I really have to stay in a suite if not doing so would allow me to have our airfare covered? In good Vegas hotels all the rooms are good, by definition, and I really don’t do much in a big-shot suite that I wouldn’t do in a regular room. Here’s another little trick. When you ask for a comp for the café for two, don’t let the floor person or pit boss write it out for the “normal amount,” say $50 for two, because often they take that whole $50 off your comp allowance even if your meal came to $30. If you know what you’re going to eat, or if you know approximately what you’re going to spend in the café, when you ask for a comp say, “Make the comp for two for $37.” This way you only use up the actual money you spent. Again, feel free to ask your host how they handle a meal price that comes in under the comp value. Many casinos return the unused portion to you. Visit Frank’s website at www.frankscoblete.com. Frank Scoblete’s latest books are I Am a Dice Controller: Inside the World of Advantage-Play Craps, Confessions of a Wayward Catholic and I Am a Card Counter: Inside the World of Advantage-Play Blackjack. Available from Amazon.com, Kindle, Barnes and Noble, and at bookstores. This article is provided by the Frank Scoblete Network. Melissa A. Kaplan is the network's managing editor. If you would like to use this article on your website, please contact Casino City Press, the exclusive web syndication outlet for the Frank Scoblete Network. To contact Frank, please e-mail him at fscobe@optonline.net. More on comps10 April 2018
Here is the basic formula for comps: average bet times the number of decisions per hour times number of hours you play times house edge equals your theoretical loss times whatever percent of your theoretical loss the casinos will give back, which (finally, thank God!) equals how much the casino will give you in comps. ... (read more)
Love me, love my slots10 April 2018
If you are married to, or a friend of, someone who enjoys playing slot machines, you know that such people must tolerate you. If your companion or friend plays other games or they are in fact non-players, they have to show great patience if you enjoy significant time at the machines. If they like or love you, they better be patient and understanding. ... (read more)
Getting comps3 April 2018
In the next few issues, I will give you excerpts from my book “Casino Conquest.” These will give you the full ins and outs of the casino comping system. Here goes: By now, everyone going to casinos will know something about comps. Table game players dutifully hand in their cards to the floorperson, who ... (read more)
Ask Frank: Spanish 21 StrategyHello there, Living in Canada, I find that the rules are more liberal here than at other casino locales, such as the dealer standing on all 17s for Spanish Blackjack. In your book, Armada Strategies for Spanish 21, there is only a strategy for when the dealer hits soft 17. I w... (read more)Ask Frank (Playing Winning Craps)Dear Mr. Scoblete: In your book Forever Craps, you recommend to play one Don't Come bet per shooter without odds in order to reduce your exposure to the house. I usually play at casinos that count the spread and odds. If I play one ... (read more)Bad Ways to Play Good Casino GamesYou've met this guy before. He's cantankerous, witless, and loud. He knows everything about everything when it comes to casino games. He's a self-made expert who knows more than all writers and mathematicians combined, and as he doubles on his thirteen against the dealer's ... (read more)The Craps to English DictionaryCraps is another country, a kingdom with its own mores, legends, myths, rites, rituals, superstitions and government. It also has its own language, much of it easily misunderstood as sexual or scatological references. For those of you interested in journeying to this ... (read more)Craps Crap and Craps Gold - Part 1What do the following sayings have in common? "An apple a day keeps the doctor away." "Better late than never." "High fences make good neighbors." "Always play the Pass/Come and take full odds." Answer: The above statements are true. Yes, some people might quibble and say that you can eat as ... (read more)Frank Scoblete |
Frank Scoblete |
