High Rollers

Attention, freeloaders: As U.S. casinos pull in more bets than ever — gambling revenue has nearly doubled, to $32.5 billion, in the past decade — they're also giving away more in "comps," the free food, hotel rooms and other goodies designed to get gamblers into the casinos and keep them there. Last year alone, casinos gave out roughly $10 billion worth of these freebies. And while drinks and hotel rooms remain the most popular comps, these days casinos are giving away everything from spa treatments to all-terrain vehicles. In 2005 the MGM Mirage chain paid to install air conditioning in the vacation home of one of its high rollers.

But if you think you need to be a whale (industry lingo for a big-time gambler) to get in on the comping game, think again. Thanks to everything from better tracking technology to competition that's forcing casinos to try to keep even low rollers loyal, casinos are doling out freebies to gambling neophytes like never before. Even the awards themselves, once limited to hotel suites and A-list concert tickets, now include toasters, buffet lunches and coffeemakers. Indeed, anyone willing to hand over his email address and direct-marketing particulars will get at least a free buffet or two — and it may not take much more to score a hotel suite. No wonder a mini-universe of comp-related blogs has sprouted up.

Why the change? In large part it's due to technology that has made the process far more automated. While getting comped used to happen with little more than a covert tap on the shoulder by a pit boss, these days most freebies are doled out through frequent-gambler cards. Gamblers at Harrah's, for instance, now sign up for one of three tiers of reward status and log on to an online catalog to redeem points (recent rewards: a Black & Decker cordless garden sprayer for 8,300 points; a Polaris all-terrain vehicle for 870,000 points). If this sounds like a credit card loyalty program, it's no coincidence; Harrah's marketing exec in charge of the plan came from American Express. Nearly all the major casinos have similar programs.

But just because it's more high-tech doesn't mean scoring comps is easy. For one thing, the automated reward structure may be transparent in terms of points earned, but figuring out just how points accrue is still a mystery. In the hard-goods category, to get anything of value, you have to spend a lot of money — maybe the reason why the most-redeemed freebie for 2005's holiday season by MGM Mirage cardholders was a cake pan. And while the reward programs control much of the comps, most casino hosts still hand out some freebies at will. Below, our tips on how best to score comps in four categories.

But it will still take a lot of gambling to rack up points. At Bally's Atlantic City, you need 1,000 points to get a $10 comp at its Pickles Deli; at one point for every $5 spent on slots, it will cost you $5,000 in bets. It's sometimes better to try to land comps the old-fashioned way — by asking. Steven Moore, VP of loyalty marketing at MGM Mirage, says casino hosts still have wide discretion to dole them out. "We want to comp the things that make the customer happy," he says. During your stay, charge every meal to your room. At the end of your trip, ask a casino host to review your hotel bill and compare it with your gambling card. If he likes what you gambled, he might reduce your food bill or tear it up entirely, says Jeffrey Compton, casino-industry consultant.