Dear Mark,
What is the difference between a soft comp and a
hard comp? Leta R.
Before
you try strong-arming a casino to get your fair share
of comps, it behooves you to know the difference between
a hard comp and a soft comp. One is much easier to
get from the casino than the other. Hard comps are
reimbursements for airline tickets, golf, concerts,
off-site casino shows or anything else that would
cost the casino real out-of-pocket dollars. Soft comps
are cocktails, restaurant expenses and shows that
the casinos produce themselves.
Whales
(high limit players) can get anything their hearts
desire, but if you’re a low-limit player, go
for a soft comp because casinos technically purchase
them wholesale and bill them to a comp account retail.
Dear Mark,
I have an amusing (at least to me) anecdote about
losing in a casino. I had been playing blackjack
and lost about $400. I then went up to my room and
my wife asked me to get her a soda. I went down
the hall to the soda machine and inserted my dollar.
The machine wouldn't give me a soda or my money
back. I was grumbling about this all the way down
to the hotel's convenience store until I realized
I was more upset about that one dollar than all
the money I had lost all day.
Now here's my question for you: Does the casino
have more than a 2% advantage on the soda machine?
Andrew R.
Haven’t you heard
the saying, Andrew? “Change is inevitable,
except from a vending machine.” Actually, I
would guesstimate your average vending machine holds
about 5.26%, the same as most of the bets on a double
zero roulette table.
