Ask the Slot Expert: How do casinos figure slot comps?

My wife and I got to Hollywood Casino in Indiana to hopefully win and naturally along the way pay our dues for the beautiful casino. We both have Celebrity Comp cards and use them religiously. I probably spend a little more than my wife, but when the comps come through, she always has $5 or $10 more than me.

How do they figure? Is it figured by time spent on a machine or total bucks fed into the slots during the visit? Does a win of, let's say, $100 reduce the comp credit you receive?

Hope you can supply some info to me.

Love to read your e-mails.

Jim

Dear Jim,

Thanks for the kind words about my columns.

Comps are usually figured as a percentage of the casino's theoretical win from a player. Take the amount of action you give, multiply by the house edge, and then take some percentage of that result to calculate the comp amount. The more you play on low payback slots, the greater your comps. If your wife mainly plays low-denomination slots and you mainly play dollar and up slots or video poker, the casino expects to win more from your wife so it gives more to her in comps.

Winning should not reduce comps. Players should not be penalized for winning. If we didn't win sometimes, we wouldn't play.

Jackpots for all,
John

Send your slot and video poker questions to John Robison, Slot Expert, at slotexpert@comcast.net. Because of the volume of mail I receive, I regret that I can't reply to every question.