Understanding the Table Comping System

While electronic tracking (slot clubs) have been a godsend for both slot players and the casinos, most table pits still use tried and true "we'll watch your play and see what we can do" methods for issuing table comps. Occasionally a casino, usually one catering to a local audience, will try some scheme to integrate table players into their slot point system, but they are few and far between. And most experiments regarding cashback to customers have ended in failure (followed by a policy change).

There are several factors why the pits have not fully automated, but the most important are:

1) Due to the decreasing business and profit of table games, many casinos do not want to market to anyone but a few big players (over $100/hand). Except for casinos catering to younger players (Hard Rock, Mandalay Bay, Palms), table pits are giving up more and more space to slot machines, which work 24 hours a day and do not require salaries and benefits (and even less surveillance). Although I do not know of a case where it actually happened, I have heard of discussions that some tribal casinos are consider eliminating table games altogether. Personally, I think that would be a big mistake. Tables, especially blackjack and craps, not only add a great deal of tradition and personality to a casino, but they also attract slot players including those who play both tables or slots, or more commonly, couples where one person plays tables while the other hits the machines.

2) Pit players tend to be more adversarial than slot players and are suspicious (sometimes with good reason) of any attempt to automate the tables. Electronic slot tracking has caught on with both management and players, but most attempts to automate tables have met with total non-acceptance.

3) Unless a table player is betting more than $25 a throw, he is earning so few comp dollars that it is not worth the effort to keep track. Example: I play quarter three-coin slot machines for three hours; you play $5 blackjack. Over those three hours I will probably put, assuming breaks for rest room, drinks, change etc., at least $1,000 through the machines. Assuming a 7% house hold, the casino made $70 off of my play, but during the same period the casino only made $18 off of your action (and that is assuming that you do not know even basic strategy). If they offered cashback at similar formulas used for slots (or more appropriately video poker, as blackjack is a skill game), the cashback award would be about a buck (exciting, isn't it?).

Today, most table pits' comp system is a combination of the traditional and the modern. Manual observations regarding bet size are keyed into a central computer which computes the player's theoretical win, which is based on his average bet, how many times he has bet and whatever hold percentages the casino has worked out for each game. For example, blackjack games usually have about a 1.5% hold, so assuming 80 hands per hour (industry standard), a $100 player playing for four hours would have a theoretical of $480 ($100 x 80 x 4 x 1.5% = $480). Assuming a 5% hold for roulette with 35 bets per hour on average, a four-hour $100 player would have a $700 theoretical ($100 x 35 x 4 x 5%).

The second factor is how much of the theoretical the casino gives back to the player, i.e., the reinvestment percentage. For smaller bettors (less than $50 per hand) playing in local market casinos (where the customers will consume food, not hotel rooms), the reinvestment percentage is about 15%. Aggressive players on the Strip can usually get back as much as 40%. Also, depending on the casino's policy, some of these benefits may come through an open comp dollar account that can be accessed through the booth or kiosk, while another part may be a discretionary account, administered by the hosts. Most casinos require a minimum per trip or monthly theoretical before allowing a customer any discretionary comps.

The final factor to check is if comp dollars are computed on a traditional trip-by-trip basis, or if the casino allows its players to accumulate them over a period of time. More and more casinos, especially those catering to local markets, are moving toward some sort of cumulative system, allowing players to earn them over several trips and spend them on one big meal or event.

All of this may sound confusing and it is, even for experienced casino executives. Let me lay out a step-by-step comp dollar battle plan that should work for almost every table player:

1) Pick up a copy of COMP CITY by Max Rubin (Huntington Press), the best book ever written about table comping. And since the second edition is in paperback, it costs less than twenty bucks. Rubin does a great job of discussing fine points in making your play look bigger than it really is (although I could live without the tip about spilling a drink on the table to slow the game down).

2) Learn the most you can about the game you play, especially blackjack and craps. As little as two hours of reading can reduce your loss per hour to considerably less than the theoretical house average, and thus get you credit for dollars you did not give to the casino.

3) Steady customers get better comps, especially in a system based primarily on manual observation, so concentrate your play in one, or at most, two casinos. Personally I would base the choice on who has the best rules (can you double down on any two cards, re-split aces etc.), but if you really love eating in a particular restaurant, then make that casino your first choice.

4) Read any available player club literature regarding table games. True, much of it is vague and useless, but many newer casinos are doing a better job at explaining the basics of the process.

5) Get to know the staff, supervisors and hosts, and slowly, over several visits, see if you can find out key information about their comping system, especially the reinvestment percentage as well as other policies that effect how many comp dollars you can consume.

Finally, remember to have a good time doing this. I have seen too many players obsessing over comps trying to get every last dollar's worth, often much more than they really use and it can wind up spoiling their trip.