Casino Comps and Cashback

Casino Comps and Cashback are both perks that casinos offer to players to encourage them to gamble. They are related but they are different.

Casino Comps or Complimentaries are the free stuff the casino awards to a player for playing a certain amount (Earned Comps) or to entice a player to the casino for a future visit (Marketing Offers). Comps include free rooms in the casino hotel (Comped Rooms), free food and beverage and gifts of items like toasters or sheet sets, free cruises, spa services, etc.

Comps

Any good or service the casino gives you that you are not directly paying for is considered a Comp. The keyword is directly. You pay for comps with your casino play, i.e. your (potential) gambling losses, so any way you can increase the benefits you receive for your play is a discount!

Cashback

Cashback is just that—Cash Back. It is usually a tiny percentage of your gambling action, given back to you in the form of Free Play (a certain amount of free money to play at a machine, which can be delivered by downloading directly to a machine or with a voucher). There are some casinos who still pay out cash at the cashier, but that is rare these days.

How Do They Accumulate?

Earned Casino Comps and Cashback balances accumulate like coins into a piggy bank as you play. Free Play offered by casinos via marketing offers sent to players by email or regular mail is not Cashback, but is used the same way.

If Cashback is not paid out in actual money then it is Free Play to be used at the machines. It can’t be used to purchase goods or services in the casino. That is what Earned Comps are used for. That is, unless the casino has a policy of Cashback OR Comps. In that instance, you have a total dollar amount earned and can use that amount as Comps or Free Play. Sometimes you receive a higher dollar amount for Comps and a lessor dollar amount for Free Play. It depends on the policy of the casino.

The rate at which you acquire Earned Comps and Cashback with your play varies between casinos and even within the same casino, depending on the games you play. It can be a published Earn Rate or more likely not published, but we use whatever information is available to us.

The Concept of Coin-In

You have to understand the concept of Coin In if you want to figure out or confirm the Earned Casino Comps and Cashback rates. Coin In will also help you discern how the casino is evaluating your play. If you know exactly how much you played and that the casino is awarding you X Y or Z, you can determine if what you are getting overall—action, fun, food, entertainment, etc. is worth what you are spending in time and money.

Amount of Money You Play Through

Coin In is the amount of money that you play through a machine in a gaming day. It is the total dollar amount of your bets. So, if you play video poker and you bet $1.25 a hand and you play 16 hands, you have played $20 Coin In. Coin In measures your action, regardless of whether you win or lose. If you were playing at a Caesars Rewards property, they publish that you get 1 Reward Credit and 1 Tier Credit for each $10 Coin In on video poker (unless a machine is marked with a higher rate, as all full pay video poker machines are in Atlantic City). Reward Credits are Earned Comps at Caesars properties. Each one is worth a penny in Comps.

A Video Poker Example

If you were playing a video poker game where the Earned Comp rate is $10 Coin In per Reward Credit and you played $20 through the machine, you would earn 2 Reward Credits worth $.02. To calculate the Earned Comp percentage: $.02 divided by $20 = .001 x 100 = 0.10%. So to earn $5 in comps you would have to play $5000 Coin In. That is not a very generous Earned Comp Rate. The rate for Slots is $5 per Reward Credit, so you would earn $10 in comps for $5000 Coin In or $5 for $2500 Coin In, which is not that generous either.

Caesars Rewards

Caesars Rewards Loyalty Program doesn’t have traditional Cashback. They give out Return Rewards, which is a tiny percentage of your action given to you for a future trip. There may be a way to figure out this rate but it is not published and you are informed of the amount through email or when you go back to a machine during another trip.

Be Sure To Also Read:
Gambling | Casino THEO | It’s All About The THEO
“Your theoretical loss to the casino (your casino theo or average daily theoretical – ADT) is the way the casino calculates what you are worth to them.”

Same Day and Bounce Back Cash

Cashback can be Same-Day Cashback, available immediately at a machine when you have earned a certain amount or it can be Bounce Back Cash, available for a future trip. Return Rewards are a form of Bounce Back Cash.

You can estimate your Coin In yourself, based upon your average bet and the time you have played, but you can also get this number from a Host or the Player’s Club. Having even a general idea of this number is very useful. By comparing this number (or numbers for different days or trips) to what you are receiving in Earned Casino Comps and Cashback and then to the Marketing Comps you are receiving (weekday or weekend rooms, a certain credit for food each month, any gifts, etc.) you can decide for yourself whether your play is getting you what you want and think you deserve.

Math is Liberating

Knowing the basic math is liberating and needn’t reduce the enjoyment of your gambling.  On the contrary, it’s just a way to evaluate the relationship between your play and the rewards you are getting for it.

FAQ – Casino Comps and Casino Cashback

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Casino Comps | The Big Play Casino Gambling Day
Generating Casino Offers (Marketing Offers)
Gambling | Casino THEO | It’s All About The THEO

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