Due to the saturation of casinos, rooms are generally fairly cheap in Las Vegas. As an AP, though, they can easily be almost free.
In Vegas, it’s usually not a good idea to stay where you plan on playing, or even to play rated in your real name if you’re hitting tables for any kind of substantial profit. Of course, players may sometimes find it profitable or necessary to stay and play rated at a particular casino. For this post, I’m talking about typical table games APs, whose anonymity is generally worth more than the value of a comped room. This is especially effective in Las Vegas, where competition is high and casinos are everywhere.
The key to staying on the cheap without compromising your identity is to obtain a comped room somewhere you don’t plan on earning much EV and that doesn’t come with a risk of having your real name and face being shared with other casinos. Think smaller, independent casinos where the locals tend to play.
This doesn’t mean you can’t gain any EV; you can easily fly under the radar earning a small amount of EV with a comped room and food as a bonus. Although there are many ways to do this, the safest, in my opinion, is by playing video poker. Unless you hit a jackpot, there’s practically no interaction with casino personnel, and comps are commonly given at a rate much higher than the actual EV loss of your coin-in.
For example, I recently played $10K coin-in on video poker at a 4-star, off-strip casino, for an expected loss of around $75. A month or two later I was sent a mailer good for two free nights, $75 in free play, and two free buffets valued around $40-$80, depending on which day I redeemed them. Since my negative EV on the play was only around $75, this was a positive play.
Although this is a terrible way to try and earn a profit, it sure beats paying the price of a hotel room. With a little bit of play, the room is essentially free, and the two buffets are an added bonus. In addition, many of these mailer offers will repeat for a few months, or even longer if you do a little maintenance play during your stay.
Without naming any specific casinos or chains, I’ll say that, in general, Downtown and off-strip properties are much easier to get comped at. I’ll also add that MGM properties are generally stingy when it comes to “low rollers,” or to people who play their good blackjack or video poker games without any serious coin-in. You’ll need to experiment a little to find the right property for your purposes, but once you do, you’ll be staying for free, without needlessly jeopardizing your identity.
May 10, 2017 @ 9:10 am
I once got a host to comp me a jacuzzi suite at a very nice hotel in southern Florida after Wonging-in just two shoes with my max bets. If you’re not afraid to ask and are nice about it, hosts can hook you up, but you would eventually need to surrender your ID card to check into the room. After qualifying for the room, I didn’t play any longer and spent the rest of the night relaxing in the jacuzzi.
May 10, 2017 @ 9:20 am
Another small casino overseas gave a free night’s stay for each day that I converted $500 USD into local currency to play their cash money-plays baccarat or dragon/tiger tables. The rooms would normally go for $65-$80 a night. They didn’t specify how much I had to play to qualify, so I “slow played” a little bit each day, losing no more than $5 worth of EV each day and then asking for my USD back. I also got free meals and iced coffees all day for two people, definitely worth the $5 expense. Ended up winning $50 just being lucky. I probably pissed of the casino owners, but I didn’t see any games worth sticking around for anyway.
May 19, 2017 @ 5:58 pm
You’re not wrong about MGM being stingy. I had +24K coin in and only got $130 off my bill. Nice article. I heard you on gambling with and edge podcast. I’ve been cc’ing for 4 years now. I enjoy your site, thanks for creating it!
May 23, 2017 @ 7:43 pm
Scott they set your theo at 2%. Depending on the game you may have been overcomped 🙂
June 22, 2017 @ 10:02 am
Great post! Do you think it is safe to play VP rated at one site of a chain casino (i.e., Boyd, Stations) as long as you are not doing AP table play at that site? I like the idea of getting room comps but wouldn’t want to jeopardize my ability to do (unrated) AP table play at some of the sister sites. This is likely unfounded paranoia on my part, but how much risk is there in having my photo, name, etc. in the shared chain database?
July 3, 2017 @ 9:37 am
Vandalay,
Playing VP rated at one casino in a chain and tables unrated at another will most likely be fine. You’re not going to get any attention or heat playing VP for rooms so there’s no reason for them to share your pic/name with the other casinos.
On the flip side, even if the casino you play tables at backed you off and shared your pic with the one you are staying at, you will likely be able to stay unnoticed as long as you don’t play tables.
Lee
September 18, 2017 @ 12:45 am
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