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Blackjack Comps
Here are 5 rules you should follow when playing blackjack to receive casino comps:
- Play blackjack using basic strategy
- do not vary from basic strategy
- do not play hunches
- Play only when you have the advantage
- your advantage is receiving more in comp value than the amount you expect to lose
- Play at the casino you are staying at
- this is your best chance to receive a comped room and future room offers
- if you are staying on a room offer, it is also expected that you play in the hosting casino during your stay
- Concentrate your play in one casino each day
- this is your best way to receive room offers and better comps
- spreading your play around multiple casinos will make you a smaller player to each casino
- comp offers are usually based on average play per day
- Play just enough to receive the comps you want and to maintain future comp offers
- this takes some investigation and learning from experience
- for instance, I know that to keep my room comp offers I need to play at least 4 hours per day, so I always play 4 hours per day on average but never more
- on a recent trip I learned that a particular locals Las Vegas casino expects 3 hours of play at any amount to receive a buffet comp
- if in doubt, just ask how much play is needed for a particular comp you want
- don’t play more just because you are winning
These 5 rules may not sound like much fun to follow, but it is your best way to maximize your blackjack comps.
Match Play Coupons
When playing blackjack, you should also take advantage of using coupons.
Match Play Coupons
Bet any amount (up to a maximum listed on the coupon) and the casino will match your bet. If you win, you will receive your normal bet and the casino will give you an extra payoff on the match bet. For example if you bet $25 with a match play coupon of $25 and win, you will win a total of $50 ($25 for your bet and $25 for the coupon). These coupons are only valid for one play and usually you get to replay the coupon in the event of a push. This is the most common coupon you will find.
Free Ace
Your first card dealt will be an Ace. This is a very valuable coupon for the player, as the Ace is the most valuable card in the deck for a player. With this coupon, your chance of getting a blackjack on the first hand increases significantly.
First Winning Blackjack Pays 2 to 1
Your first winning blackjack will pay off 2 to 1 instead of 3 to 2. To use this coupon, you need to play it when you sit down at a blackjack table. The coupon is valid until you receive your first winning blackjack. With this coupon you will need to play a few hands as blackjacks only occur about 1 in 21 hands on average.
Non-Negotiable Chips and Free Play Coupons
These are chips the casino will either give you as part of a promotion, or you can buy them (such as $50 in non negotiable chips for $40). You have to play these chips until they lose, but you get paid with real value chips. This is the hardest coupon to find, but also the most valuable.
Keep your eye open for these opportunities and take advantage of them as much as possible. All of the above coupons will help to cut the house advantage on blackjack.
Free Rooms in Vegas
You have already learned about receiving free drinks and free buffets by playing blackjack. From my experience, to receive free rooms in Las Vegas you will need to play a minimum of $25/hand for 4 hours per day. This minimum is for most downtown Las Vegas casinos and many of the off-strip casinos. To stay on the Las Vegas strip, you will need to play for a higher average amount per hand. For this reason, I recommend you play in downtown or off-strip Las Vegas when you are looking to receive room comps.
| Game | Hours | $/hand | Hands/Hour | Action | Game EV | Expected Loss |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2D H17 | 4 | $25 | 84 | $8,400 | -0.60% | $50.40 |
| 2D H17 | 4 | $25 | 70 | $7,000 | -0.60% | $42.00 |
| 2D H17 | 4 | $25 | 60 | $6,000 | -0.60% | $36.00 |
The above chart shows your expected loss from playing a 2D H17 blackjack game for $25/hand for 4 hours at various hands per hour. In order for a free room to make sense, you must value a free room for more than your expected loss. If you value free rooms at $60/night, you will have a positive net expectation of at least $10/night depending on the number of hands played per hour. For the Las Vegas strip casinos, you will need to value room comps higher for them to make mathematical sense, due to the higher play requirements.
But it get’s better, what if you get free drinks, free food, and a free room.
| Free Drink Value | Free Food Value | Free Room Value | Expected Blackjack Loss | Net Win |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NONE | NONE | $60 | $42 | $18 |
| $10 | NONE | $60 | $42 | $28 |
| $10 | $15 | $60 | $42 | $43 |
If you can get free drinks, free food, and a free room by playing a 2D H17 blackjack game at 70 hands/hour for $25/hand for 4 hours, you will have a positive net expectation of $43/day. Not too bad. As always, this is your expectation, and fluctuation will cause your experience to vary in any one trip, but will average the above amounts over the long-term.
Do not forget to hand your players club card to the dealer at every table you sit down at. This is the only way that the casino will track your bets and award you comps.
Las Vegas Free Play Coupons
When using your players club card at a casino you may receive free play offers in the mail. In addition, when you sign up for a players club card in Las Vegas, the casino may give you some free play coupons as a bonus for signing up. Usually free play is only allowed to be used on machines, but sometimes you will receive free play for table games.
How Should I use the Free Play that I am given as a casino comp?
The 2 best options are video poker and video blackjack. The expected value (EV or average return using optimum strategy) for video blackjack is -2.50% because almost all video blackjack machines only pay even money when you get a blackjack. Conversely, 9/6 JOB video poker has a better EV of -0.46%. There are many video poker games to choose from. The important thing is to play the best video poker game you can find and use the optimal strategy for that game.
Let’s assume that you receive $100 in free play and that you have decided to play $1.25/hand for 80 hands and then cash out. Most free play comps require you to play the free play coupons through a machine at least once before cashing out. You can expect to cash out $97.50 playing video blackjack and $99.54 playing 9/6 jacks or better video poker using optimum strategy.
Without going into too much more statistics, I will ask you to trust me that using standard deviation you can estimate the likelihood of cashing out various amounts.
| Video Blackjack | 9/6 JOB Video Poker | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Percent | Low | High | Low | High |
| 68.3% | $82.23 | $112.77 | $49.69 | $149.39 |
| 95.4% | $69.47 | $125.53 | $0.30 | $198.79 |
| 99.7% | $56.70 | $138.50 | $0.00 | $248.17 |
Reading the table above you can see that there is a 95.4% chance that on video blackjack you will receive between $69.47 and $125.53 but between $0.30 and $198.79 playing video poker. So if you are very unlucky you will get basically $0 from video poker but will get close to $70 playing video blackjack.
To make your decision on what to play, you need to decide if you are playing for the long-term, in which case video poker is your best bet. If you just want to have the best chance of cashing out some money, video blackjack is your best choice.
Free Las Vegas Buffet
You have already learned about the easiest comp to receive in Las Vegas – free drinks.
Let’s say that you are willing to play more than $5/hand blackjack, and step your action up to $10-$15/hand. The following chart shows your expected loss based on various levels of play. Feel free to change the variables in the chart based on the type of game you play.
| $/Hand | Hours | Hands/Hour | Action | Blackjack Game EV | Expected Loss |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| $5 | 4 | 60 | $1,200 | -0.50% | $6 |
| $10 | 4 | 60 | $2,400 | -0.50% | $12 |
| $15 | 4 | 60 | $3,600 | -0.50% | $18 |
You already know that by playing for $5/hand for 4 hours you can get free drinks that will only cost you an expected $6 loss playing blackjack.
What can you get for playing $10-$15/hand at blackjack?
At a minimum you will continue to receive free drinks.
In addition you can expect to receive a free buffet comp. Don’t expect to go into the Bellagio however and get a free buffet for this level of play, but many of the casinos in downtown Las Vegas and many off-strip casinos will be happy to comp you a buffet for this level of play.
So what is your net profit by playing $10-$15/hour for 4 hours and receiving free drinks and a free buffet.
| $/Hand | Free Drink Value | Buffet Value | Expected Blackjack Loss | Net Win |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $5 | $10 | NONE | $6 | $4 |
| $10 | $10 | $12 | $12 | $10 |
| $15 | $10 | $12 | $18 | $4 |
I have even received a buffet comp for 2 hours of play at $10/hand, so when you get to that point you may want to ask for a comp. Asking something like “have I played enough to receive a buffet comp?” is good because they can’t say “no”. They will either say “yes” and write you up a comp or give you some information on how much longer you should expect to play. At worst you can play 4 hours of blackjack at $15/hand and get all the drinks you want and a free buffet and walk away a small winner. Keep in mind that the expected loss is highly variable so that you will sometimes win and sometimes lose, but in the long-term it will average the above amounts.
Do not forget to hand your players club card to the dealer at every table you sit down at. This is the only way that the casino will track your bets and award you comps.
