Getting Started on the Comps in Casinos

The first thing that happens when you sign up for a slots club is that you'll be issued a card. This card identifies you as a player and member of the slots club, which issued it and will be used to track your play at the machines. And then you're ready to go. The casinos will have you on file and in the system. Armed with this card, you'll earn rewards credits every time you play.

Step one to insuring at least some promotional offers is to put that card to use right away with a little action in the casino. This lets the casinos know that they have a "live" player and will make them work that much harder to pile you with incentives.

But even if you don't use your card right away in a casino's machines, the casino will have you down on their mailing list and will still entice you with offers through the mail. The figuring here, as with any mailing list, is that you're an interested player. With the right offer and the right timing, they may get you back in the casinos and playing. If you're planning a trip to Vegas and a casino sends you some comp food tickets to get you in the door, that strategy just might work, to everyone's benefit.

Some slots clubs may want to qualify their players, that is, make sure you're really a player, one who is going to give them action and has proven so by already playing, not just someone who shows up on any list that he or she can get on. Or perhaps casinos may give the qualified player better offers. In any case, slots clubs change their thinking and offers all the time, depending upon their marketing programs, but we find that giving the card at least a little play is the safest way to get the ball rolling.

The next step toward really qualifying you as a player is to meet the casino's minimum level of play toward its first qualifying level. Again, the minimum playing requirements vary from casino to casino and can vary from one month to another as policies and the competitive environment changes. You'll have to see where things stand if you've been away from the casinos for a while and if what was a good program last time is still good, or if you find a slots club you like even better for this trip. Casino marketing programs are always in a flux.

Casinos that really value you as a customer will let you know up front what they expect from you to earn these playing rewards. It will be spelled out in black and white just how much action you need to generate for the awards programs to kick in. Some casinos publish newsletters which will give you the ins and outs of the promotional details, some might have that information verbally, while the less inspired casinos will keep all this a dark secret and, of course, generate less action from players who don't know what they can expect from their patronage.

Typically, and again this varies completely from one program to another, approximately one hour worth of action at the $1 slots, or 2-3 hours at the 25-cent machines, will kick in the first tier of bonuses and comps. Faster players may reach these levels a little faster; slower players may take a little longer. The critical element the casinos are looking for is the amount of action, how much money is wagered into the machines, not how long you happen to be sitting in front of a machine warming a chair.

The casinos want action. You give it to them, and they'll kick back in with their incentives.