If you’re reading this, you’ve probably spent enough time perusing various casino communities where people talk about how things aren’t like they used to be: Casinos, vegas, comp offers. And of course, time changes and things evolve, so I’m sure that’s accurate.
But people often also like to paint with a broad brush when they talk about these things. One of those I’ve heard about is the era where pit bosses could give comps to players after playing awhile. The advent of electronic tracking at tables has in many cases seen those done away with, replaced with an evolution of the casino offers that players receive in the mail or on their app.
When it comes to discretionary comps, we’ve talked about how asking a host at the end of a visit is one of those common sense things for players with a certain level of play to attempt before checking out or going home. The worst that can happen is they tell you that there’s nothing further they can offer you.
I personally don’t take this advice often enough. After one pretty challenging trip where I played a lot of tables, I called the host on duty and some of my room charges were removed. I had played above my normal level, had charges that could be considered, and had stayed on site a few days, so it was certainly a valid scenario.
Oftentimes I find myself in situations where my resort credit covers what I spent, or my trip was shorter so I just don’t have the level of play that breaks out of what generated my offer. And so there’s not much to ask for, or much to be done.
I also historically have been slot heavy in my play, which means everything is pretty accurately tracked, and the comps that come from my play are generally fair.
This year, as I wrote earlier, I’ve been playing more table games recently, in particular Blackjack. The pit boss comp being a distant memory is one of those things I (probably a bit lazily) presume was true, in large part because in my time playing tables, I never saw anyone ask for one, let alone receive one. And so I thought that was probably one of those things that faded away over time.
That was, at least, until last month. I saw a player ask if there was anything that could be done, and I saw the manager in the pit give a paper slip. The player was grumbling about the amount, but there it was – a comp.
The next week, I was chatting with one of the managers and noted purely as an aside that I needed to remember to grab food on the way out. She asked me what I was getting and from where, and how much it was.
She ultimately ended up giving me a comp that was more generous than needed to pick up dinner, so I got to bring home a bit more than I had planned. Aside from being a hero that night in my household, I saw it in person – the supposedly extinct discretionary pit comp.
This is a great reminder that casinos aren’t monolithic – different owners, and even different locations within the same owner, may have different house rules governing those sorts of things.
It also is an indication of how customer service can be a differentiator in casinos, especially when areas like game selection has become more homogenized over recent years. The comp was a pleasant surprise after a number of nice chats with the manager in recent months, and is the type of surprise and delight that raises my affinity for the casino, even if it’s not something I should or would expect to get regularly.
So for those who believe casinos have tightened up comps, there’s probably some truth to that, but it doesn’t mean the days of a discretionary comp are over. But some casinos are more likely to employ the practice than others, and as always a discretionary comp will depend heavily on how much you’re playing.
