We get a lot of inquiries about casino free play, in particular how to get more. While we previously shared some details about how casino offers are calculated, in today’s post we’ll talk specifically about free play and ways you can get more.
Some of these may seem obvious, while others may be a bit more intricate, but if your goal is maximizing your offers, this should be a helpful primer!
Optimize Your Visit Frequency
Some players visit once a week or more, and wonder sometimes why people who go less often get more free play. If you think back to the calculation we shared, it’s amount wagered, time played, the house edge on the games you’re playing.
But if you’re going weekly, you’re probably spreading your budget thinner than someone who goes once or twice a month. Imagine if instead of going once a week with $100, you go once a month with $400. You’re spending the same amount of money, but to the casino you’re now a $400 a visit player.
Since comps are spread across various buckets, you can get a boost by looking to the casino like a higher limit player. You will only use one hotel room each visit, and can only eat so much food, so sometimes the free play bucket gets a bit more love as your value to the casino rises.
Plus, if they see you going once a month as a $400 player, they think an extra visit will hopefully yield $400, not $100 like the weekly player (who is already coming about as much as they could at that pace).
Being strategic about your budget and visit frequency can be a smart way to maximize free play.
Time Your Visits
Another easy way to maximize your free play is to time your visits. Many casinos offer various promotions that can include bonus free play on specific days or windows of time.
These are often designed to drive traffic when the casino is less busy, and that may not align with your schedule. But if it works out, it may be worth timing your trip to that.
Examples we’ve seen here are bonus free play on certain weekdays, single day “double your free play” promotions, and play to earn scenarios where you get free play for earning a certain number of tier points.
Staying Overnight? Choose Wisely
Many casinos will offer free play on a cycle – a week, twice a week, daily, etc. If you’re going to stay overnight, staying overnight in a way that lets you collect twice will is an easy way to get a bit more free play out of your visit.
Often a reset will happen Sunday into Monday to avoid weekend players from collecting twice, so this may not always be achievable, but if you have some flexibility in your schedule, it’s one way to boost your free play available to you.
Maximize Earned Comps
Some casinos let you take your earned comp dollars and convert them into free play. If your casino offers are already covering you well with resort credits, you may not need the earned comps for food or hotel rooms, so at that point free play isn’t a bad option (as long as the conversion rate isn’t too expensive).
Like free play, casinos will often run promotions on earned comp dollars on certain days where you will earn them faster. If you can then convert them to free play, that becomes another easy way to bad your balances and have more to work with.
Get the Most Play for Your Time
Some players like hard games and swing for the fences. Others like betting big on a small budget – another way to take a shot at something big. But your money can run out before anything exciting happens, and then the casino sees you as a short player.
Playing a variety of games with different volatility, and adjusting your bets as you go to ensure you can keep playing, can give the casino more faith in your time on device and feel more confident about extending offers.
Casinos see a player who places one $500 bet on red or black at roulette differently than a slot player who plays $500 over the course of a few hours. The slot player will get more highly rewarded, because the casino gets many, many shots at some of that money, vs. one chance to win or lose $500 on a player.
But even within slots itself, a slot player who blows through $500 in 20 minutes and leaves may get valued differently than one who plays through $500 over 4 hours. Even though it’s the same amount of money, the slower player is giving the casino a more likely shot at the money because more bets have been made against the house advantage. That first player could’ve doubled up fast and left, and the casino isn’t as fond of that idea.
Takeaway
Being strategic with your casino play can help you build your free play offers, along with all the other perks a casino will extend to you. Even employing one or two of these suggestions can give you a better chance at boosting your free play. Have fun!
If you withdraw your comp dollars that have accrued, does it affect your player or tier status? Wondering if it’s better to withdraw or to continue letting the points that convert to comps continue to accumulate. Thanks!
Hi JoAnna! Comp dollars and tier credits are separate buckets, so redeeming your comp dollars does not impact your tier score.
Thank you for the clarification!!
Love reading these and learning many things I didn’t have a
Clue about. Thanks for the information
Thanks for stopping by and reading, as well as leaving a comment! We appreciate the support!
Thank you for tip about how To get more free play. Instead of spending 100 per week I Will go once à month instead.
We’re glad this was helpful, Lorraine! Just remember that one trip on the new plan may not change too much too quickly – the casino will have a record of all those $100 per week trips so it could take a few trips for it to begin to shift.
I am about to go to a casino they’re comping me for two nights hundred dollars in food credit. But my question is how is the best way to turn my $300 in free play in the cash for me?
Hey Michelle! Check out this post we previously wrote on the best way to use free play:
https://fliptheswitch.com/whats-the-best-way-to-use-free-play/