Earning Comps from Your Casino’s Loyalty Club

Introduction to Earning Comps

Earning comps, or complimentary gifts, is a winning strategy employed by millions of slots enthusiasts. From offering free slot play to food to free (or discounted) travel, casinos’ loyalty programs give you all kinds of gifts, or “comps.”

Get Your FREE Guide Revealing…

Keep Reading … or Watch Instead!

Or … Listen Instead!

Find my podcast wherever you listen to audio!

“Comps” as a Gambling Goal

Everyone has a gambling goal. For some folks, their laudable goal is not to gamble at all. Others want to make money, to take home more than the bankroll they arrived with.

Get Your FREE Guide Revealing…

The largest group of gamblers is those who are there for entertainment value by gambling a small bankroll along with their friends for a fun night out. Whatever a gambler’s goal for visiting a casino, using a player’s club card while gambling earns complimentary gifts, i.e., comps. Such comps can include dinners, gifts, trips, and much more, but the overall level of comps provided depends heavily on how much an individual plays.

Comps earned are based on two factors: tier level within the club and how much they have played or spent recently. Consider the typical annual cruise complimentary casino gift.

An annual 3-day cruise for two people, including one stateroom, is awarded to slots enthusiasts who achieve the second-to-top tier level in the players’ club. A yearly 7-day cruise is gifted to players who reach the top tier.

Get Your FREE Guide Revealing…

Cruises are an example of one of the most extravagant comps within most players’ clubs. Another is traveling comps, such as 2-night and 3-night stays in Las Vegas, which, unlike cruise ship comps, include airfare, room credits, and possibly a limousine to and from the airport.

Earning Free Food and Slots Play

Other comps are daily, based on the amount of play and tier level, rather than just reaching a top tier. The most common gifts are either related to food or free play. It’s so common that casinos have a systematic approach to rewarding comps.

Get Your FREE Guide Revealing…

Players used to routinely approach a host station to request a complimentary meal, which was often granted after the host checked the player’s level of activity.

Now, players check club kiosks throughout the casino. If a sufficient balance in earned points exists to earn a complimentary meal, they visit the casino dining establishment as directed and use those club points for a reduced cost or a free meal. Otherwise, the kiosk could inform a player of a promotional meal, which also happens.

Get Your FREE Guide Revealing…

Kiosks are yet another example of workforce reduction, which casinos are implementing to automate their operating systems.

Earning Complimentary Gifts as Compensation

Many slot enthusiasts enjoy “free” comps. Food is an easy, complimentary gift for casinos, whatever the player’s tier level. Players at lower-tier levels can occasionally buy their friends a nice dinner, perhaps once or twice a year.

Get Your FREE Guide Revealing…

At higher tier levels, players may regularly receive free slot play. I’ve personally found this player’s club feature to be quite entertaining. I’ve tried to explain free slot play to non-gamblers.

It’s like using an ATM to withdraw money, only I’m never sure how much my withdrawal will be. However, I don’t like that free slot play is usually restricted to a specific day and time. The amount of free slot play can be significantly different depending on the players’ club.

Get Your FREE Guide Revealing…

The availability of free slot play isn’t documented in the players’ club brochure, so the casino can change or even eliminate it based on the economic situation. Choosing to invest in a players’ club may result in a financial investment in a club that offers a lesser return in terms of maximum weekly free slot play amounts.

Tools for Maximizing Comps

To maximize comps, focus on the tools needed to achieve a higher tier level while maintaining a high level of play. Use my slot-winning strategies to, at the very least, cycle bankrolls through winning or breaking-even slot machines.

Get Your FREE Guide Revealing…

If targeting specific comps, consider how to achieve them. For example, a laudable goal is earning a free gourmet burger with fries and a drink on every fifth visit. Another component is an occasional visit to a casino restaurant with friends.

If your focus is on the 7-day cruise for two, then that is also possible. However, it requires an investment in the players’ club to reach the top tier. Regardless of which players’ club a player joins, achieving the desired level of comps means understanding how many points are earned for every dollar spent gambling.

It is also essential to understand which comps are automatically provided. When might you receive free slots play, trips, and cruises? And how much of an investment is needed for each player’s club at casinos near you?

Unfortunately, players’ club brochures often fail to explain how many points are earned per dollar and what other comps might be available. While marketing materials may list points to reach a tier level, they won’t explain the maximum weekly amount of free slot play provided.

Get Your FREE Guide Revealing…

Maximum free play varies with players’ clubs, where minor weekly differences can be significant when added up over long periods. When choosing a players’ club, research may be needed to determine which casino venue provides the best maximum comps. Given shortcomings in marketing brochures, the best approach is to ask a slots enthusiast who is already a member.

Assessing Two Players’ Clubs

There were two casinos in my area, which I had frequented with two different players’ clubs. Both have the cruises available for the highest tier levels. Both have trips available to their associated properties in Las Vegas.

Get Your FREE Guide Revealing…

However, one player’s club provides an annual lease of a luxury automobile at its highest tier. This casino also has far fewer restaurants than the other casino does. It also has less influence on local businesses to obtain comps.

Which should I choose? Which would you choose? Yes, it entirely depends on what you want. It’s an individual choice that should be made with care.

It is possible to win $10,000 to $15,000 annually in complimentary gifts. For many, it was their only compensation from a year of gambling. To do this, they spent all their bankrolls.

Whatever jackpots they won went back into one slot machine or another. All free slot play was spent. At the end of the year, they had two sources of income from gambling – income tax refunds and complimentary gifts.

Get Your FREE Guide Revealing…

Remember that income tax refunds are only possible if gambling records are kept. The U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) states that we can deduct gambling losses up to the amount of our winnings. For more on doing this yourself, see Keeping Gambling Records for Tax Preparation and More.

Disadvantage: Comps are Taxable Income

A disadvantage of receiving complimentary gifts as compensation is that they are taxable income. I am not a tax professional, so please consult with one as needed. But all compensation is expected to be declared as income on U.S. income tax returns.

I understand that casinos tend to be quiet on this topic when issuing comps, but each gift has a fair market value that must be recorded for tax purposes. This is a negligible issue. Why?

Get Your FREE Guide Revealing…

On average, most slots enthusiasts spend more money than they win. In their annual income taxes, therefore, they can deduct their winnings, as well as the fair market value of their complimentary gifts, because it is still less than what was spent, if gambling records are kept.

Impact on Your Return

Complimentary gifts have monetary value and can contribute to a player’s annual return. Many casinos report to their state-run gaming commissions that their slots payout percentage is somewhere between 90% and 93% for some months and years. My goal in educating slots enthusiasts is to improve their return to the point that their annual payout percentage exceeds 100%.

Get Your FREE Guide Revealing…

Earning comps can significantly assist in reaching and surpassing a 100% return threshold. Sometimes, it’s the only profit slots enthusiasts see after a full year of play. And a deliberate result, which they carefully targeted as their gambling goal.

You need to decide for yourself if the comps being offered by a casino are desirable or even wanted. It can also be challenging to determine what smaller mailer or flyer gifts may be made available throughout the year, primarily because casinos work very hard to select relatively high-quality and valuable gifts.

Get Your FREE Guide Revealing…

But these casino plans don’t always succeed. For instance, I have been gifted with far more (very lovely!) electric grills than I quite know what to do with. Eventually, I re-gifted them to family members during holidays and birthdays.

Summary of Earning Comps

Earning comps is the most common winning strategy. The first comp is free play when signing up for a player’s reward club card. Whatever a slots gambler’s goal, the use of a player’s club card results in earning complimentary gifts.

Book Your Consultation…

Related Articles from Professor Slots

• 7 Advantages of Players Clubs for Playing Slots

Winning Slots Strategies from Professor Slots

1. The 5-Spin Method to Take Advantage of Your Casino
2. Progressive Jackpots: Small, Large, Life-Changing
3. Earning Comps from Your Casino’s Loyalty Club
4. Special Event Promotions & Winning at Your Casino
5. Win on the Morning After Holiday Celebrations
6. 3 High-Limit Slots Tips & Tricks for Small Bankrolls
7. Déjà vu Method: Syncing Your Gameplay to Casinos
8. Casino Environment Observations for Winning
9. Highly Visible Locations: The Other Advantage Play
10. Bank the Bonus: An Online Slots Winning Strategy