It's my understanding that the rate at which players accrue comps is most dependent upon: average bet size, length of play, and the game being played. I'm interested in the 3rd variable, the game at hand. Say two different players are betting equal amounts for an equal amount of time, but one is playing BJ and the other is playing 3CP. Am I correct in assuming that the 3CP will accrue more comps. because the HE is ~3.37% with perfect play while the HE of BJ is much less (.5% and below, we'll say). Obviously BJ is dealt faster at ~60 hands per hour while 3CP is somewhere in the ballpark of 40 hands per hour, but I don't think that negates the large difference in edge.
Comp. Rates of Different Games
- Thread starter Wookets
- Start date
From experience I can tell you I racked up way more comps in one night of 3CP play at $10 tables than I did in 10 nights of BJ play at $25 tables. This was at the evil empire, so it may vary at other places, but their blackjack comps are close to meaningless, and I was racking up what felt like real money at 3CP.
For the most part, yes, that is how it is supposed to work. The higher the edge the more the comps. However this can be affected by hands per hour which some casinos actually keep track of but not so much in America.
ALSO, not every casino uses the same HE for each game. I was playing a game with some other guys for about 8 hours and we got $5 in comps playing table max. The HE was probably around 10% but the casino refused to believe it.
ALSO, not every casino uses the same HE for each game. I was playing a game with some other guys for about 8 hours and we got $5 in comps playing table max. The HE was probably around 10% but the casino refused to believe it.
It varies wildly from casino to casino. Some have been known to ridiculously overcomp carny games. (Although it may not be so ridiculous in the case of the commonly-found players playing horribly and giving up huge edges.) Others haven't figured out that they need to assume house edges much greater than for blackjack, and need to take account of the fact that the initial ante bet doesn't accurately reflect the full amount of action the player is giving.
I conducted a little experiment over the last 2 days to confirm my suspicions. I played BJ for an hour on the first day, followed by an hour of 3CP on the second. The results were pretty eye opening, at least to me. After comparing my reward point balances from each of the days, I calculated that I earned 30x more comps. playing 3CP. The funniest part of it all is that I probably played less than 25 hands on the 3CP table because the dealer was being trained at the time. He/she also flipped over her cards twice before anyone had even placed a play bet :laugh:
For the most part, bet sizes were equal. I realize there were probably a lot more variables at work here, but the results were surprising nonetheless.
For the most part, bet sizes were equal. I realize there were probably a lot more variables at work here, but the results were surprising nonetheless.
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In my experience carnival game comps are accrued much more easily than BJ comps. Even a BJ game being dealt at 120 rounds per hour is only 3 times as fast as a normal 3CP game, and 4 times as fast as many of the other major carny games. Even with civilians playing at a 1.5% disadvantage, they still stand to lose far less at the fast BJ game than they do losing 5%+ (often close to or exceeding double-digits in some of the poker variants, which most people have NO idea how to play even close to correctly). The casinos know this.
Not only do they believe it, they correctly believe it! Watch any full table of people playing any of the current poker-based carnival games. To say that the play is suboptimal would be like saying that surrendering every hand in a blackjack game is a slight leak. The level of degeneracy that I've seen at these games is nearly incomprehensible; it's safe to say that most civilians play significantly worse than BS at all carny games (including 3CP—how many times have you heard dealers and civilians state that QT+ is the correct play?), and in not-infrequent cases play with an EV of well over -10%.
One little nugget of advice is most places will comp you somewhere between 20-40% of your theoretical loss or your ACTUAL loss. Again depending on the place this could be mail offers, free play, rooms/buffets whatever.
You just have to find out what the theoretical on a certain game is and how much they're clicking you in for your bets and if they're clocking you out when you take 20min "restroom breaks".
You just have to find out what the theoretical on a certain game is and how much they're clicking you in for your bets and if they're clocking you out when you take 20min "restroom breaks".
I have personally seen a "game speed" field on pit screens for various games, as well as a value for player skill (no clue what the ranges are, but eh).
Ignorance can be a very tough barrier to overcome for the staff (which can be good sometimes). Plus, it is a tough argument to make that "hey, I was just playing an awful game for hours and got nothing but junk comps" so it is a fight that you often have to give up.
Ignorance can be a very tough barrier to overcome for the staff (which can be good sometimes). Plus, it is a tough argument to make that "hey, I was just playing an awful game for hours and got nothing but junk comps" so it is a fight that you often have to give up.