Player Card Points… How do they work?
Written by SG Admin
We all see them, hear about them, and know about them. Every casino wants you to sign up for their “players card”. We see people with them connected to their shirt, as the long black string stretches from the shirt, to the card, stuck in the machine. Or the player that sits down at the table, and puts a players card down with the cash they are buying in for. Sometimes, this will strike another player at the table to grab theirs, as they forgot to throw it down when they bought it. We all know about them… but do we all know what they are for, and how they work? I will attempt to give you a crash course in casino comp points. Please ask a host, or guest services expert for more information, a specific casino details.
The casinos use the cards to track a player’s habits. Do you like to play table games, or slots? Do you like to play nickels, quarters, or dollars slots? When you sit down to play Blackjack, do you play an average of $5 per hand, $25 per hand, or $100 per hand? These are the things that the casino likes to track. They are clues as to what kind of player you are, how often you gamble, and how much you gamble. Sometimes, you hear people say “I don’t use a card, cause I don’t want them to know how much I win or lose. It’s none of their business!”. Well, I am here to tell you that, unless you are a card counter who makes a living out of cheating the casino, having a player’s card is to your benefit!
The reason that the players card benefits you are many. First of all, they allow you to be rewarded for your play. If you play often, this can be a big benefit. If you are a casual player who doesn’t play a lot, and bounces from casino to casino, it may not benefit you as much. When you play enough, you are raised to a higher level “player rating”, which means you get rewards that regular players do not. At most casinos, there are three levels of player. The first level of player doesn’t take anything to qualify. All you have to do is show your driver’s license, and you are issued a players card. The second level and third level each have benefits that reward you for playing at their respective casino. These rewards can vary based on casinos, but usually include:
*Concerts *Cash Back *Discounted or Free Hotel Rooms * Casino Promotions *Food Vouchers *Other Perks
They level of rewards are based on your level of play. I know of players who are offered free flights and hotel stay at different properties across the US, players who were given limo rides to and from Dallas, to and from sporting events, and other destinations. The goal of the players card is to get you to play at “their” casino more, to build more points, and to also reward those players that do show loyalty to “their” casino with freebies, in the hopes that you will continue to come back to their casino, and gamble more.
A lot of people are not sure how the comp system works. And each casino calculates your points a little different, but the main point is the same. Slots and table games are computed a little different from each other. On table games, when you first buy in, the pit boss will mark down how much you buy in for, and then go enter you into the computer system. When they come back, they will look at how much you are betting. This is important to know, as I will explain in a moment. The two most important factors in computing your table comps are what your average amount of bet is, and how long you play. Once the pit boss has entered you into the computer, and written down the amount you are betting, they will place the card in a slot behind the table. Then they will periodically pull all of the cards at the table to verify who is still playing. They will look at each card to make sure the person is still at the table. If they are, they will write down what you are betting at the time, what time it is, and put your card back. If you are no longer at the table, they will pull your card, average what your bet was, and enter your time into the system.
The buy in isn’t so important to them. It is entered into the equation, but carries little value. The most important parts of the equation are the amount you bet per hand, and the amount of time you play. Because of this, I always try to bet a little higher then usual the first couple of hands. This way, when the pit boss comes back to the table from the computer, he will write down a basic description of what I am wearing, and the amount I am betting per hand. For example, say I am only going to bet $10 per hand on blackjack. But for the first few hands, I bet $20, until she comes back from the computer, and writes down my bet information. When she comes by to write down the amount I am betting, She will see, and write down $20 per hand. Then I will come back down to $10 again. They usually come around checking the players’ cards about every 20-30 minutes. This is when they will write down your bet again. The higher your bet average, and the longer you play, the higher the comp you will get from the casino.
When it comes to slots, everything is computed by the monetary denomination you are playing (.25, .50, $1, $5, etc), and the amount you play. It looks at the total amount of money you put into play. It doesn’t matter so much as the amount of money you put into the machine, only the amount that you put into play. For instance, if you are playing a quarter machine, and you are betting three each play, you are putting .75 cents into play. Now, if you win $5 on the spin, and play again, you are putting another .75 cents into play. You are now playing on $5 that isn’t your money. But the machine doesn’t care about that. All it cares about is that you are still putting .75 cents into play each time. Say two players sit beside each other, and both play .75 cents per turn on a quarter machine. And say both players play for 2 hours. Player A put in a $20 bill, and played the whole time on the same $20. Player B kept losing, and put in a total of $100 in the same two hours. Both players earned the SAME number of comp points, because they both put the same amount of money in play. Player B lost $100, but was still putting the same .75 cents into play for two hours, just like Player A was. The system will show that Player B lost $100, but this has no bearing on the comp points received.
One other thing I want to point out is that there are two different kinds of points that you are earning while you play. There are Tier Points, which determine when you move up into the higher level of players card. And there are Comp points, or rewards points. These points are what are used to get free things, such as food, hotels, etc. The tier points are very easy to calculate. In slots, for every $5 you put into play, you earn 1 point. It does not matter if you are playing penny slots, or $100 slots; you earn one point per $5 put into play. And your tier credits never go down. They are reset at the 1st of every year, so that you have to “re-earn” your player status each year. The comp points go down each time you use them to get a free meal, or a free hotel, etc. When you put your card into a slot machine, it will show you what your tier credit is.
The final thing I wish to point out is a small incentive you can earn if you ever have to pay taxes on your winnings. Very seldom do you have to pay taxes on your table games, unless you win money in certain types of tournaments. But in slots, you usually have to pay taxes on anything over $1,200. At the end of the year, you have to claim that as income, which the casino gives you a form 1099 as proof of income. If you ever do have any off these 1099 forms, that means they took out state taxes on those winnings. When you use your player’s card throughout the year, they track how much money you win or lose. Unless you hit something really big, you will usually show a loss for the year. If you have to claim a 1099 on your taxes, ask the casino for a “winning and loss” statement. They will usually give you one for the previous year. As long as you can show that you lost (winning and loss statement) more than you won (all 1099’s added together) then you can actually write off those winnings, and get the taxes back. Now, understand that you can only write off the amount of your loses. Example, if you show that you lost $15,000 for the year, but you have 1099’s totaling $10,000 in winnings… you can write off the $10,000 in earnings. You cannot write off the other $5,000 that you lost. The rule of thumb is this, you can equal out winnings with loses, but you can never write off only loses. This information is for knowledge purposes only. I am not a tax professional, and you should consult a professional before you apply any of this information to your personal taxes.
