Dear Mark,
I heard you on a radio show talking about getting comps, and one of your suggestions
was to call a casino host and ask what type of action was needed to warrant, as
you said, “getting some goodies.”
So, I called a casino host and asked how much I would need to play in order
to get both a dinner for two in their steak house, and possibly a buffet for
two. She said that I would need to “put in action” at least $5,000
to warrant the free meals. I’m not that big of a player. Don’t you
think that betting that amount is a bit unrealistic when all I’m asking
for is a couple meals? Peter T.
Whoa, Pete, all that the casino you called wanted was for you to blow into
town with some of your hard-earned money, and not necessarily five large, and
they’d like a crack at it.
What the host meant by “put in action” was NOT the actual dollar
amount of money you were to bet per hand, nor even the amount you are supposed
to bring to the table with a “Gamble” ear tag on it.
For instance, suppose that you sat down at a blackjack table with $500 and
proceeded to play 100 hands an hour over, say, three hours, betting $20 on each
hand. Now multiply 100 hands, times three hours, by $20, and it totals $6,000.
This would be the amount of money you “put in action,” even though
your actual bankroll was just $500.
This is but one criterion a casino would use to assess your rating and eligibility
for comps. The joints I worked in had sort of the same formula to figure out
what you’re worth. To get your goodies from us, we also wanted you to bet
a decent chunk of change for a calculated stretch of time, but we based your
RFB's merit (room, food and beverage) on what you were probably going to
lose.
We considered your average bet, how many hours you were possibly going to play,
speed of the game, and the casino advantage. This, in theory, computes essentially
your expected loss to us over a certain period.
Again, suppose you are betting $20 a hand for three hours, averaging 100 hands
per hour, coupled with a house advantage of five percent the casino holds over
the average blackjack player, we could predict in advance that you should lose
$300 ($20 x 3 hrs. x 100 hands x .05 = $300) of the $6,000 wagered, or as she
said, “put in action,” over that time period. That free trip to the
chow line was really going to cost you $300.
Dear Mark,
On a field bet on a craps table, some casinos pay 2-1 if a 12 rolls, others pay
3-1. How much of a difference is there in the house edge between the two? James
D.
A Field bet is a wager that the next roll of the dice would turn up a 2, 3,
4, 9, 10, 11, or a 12. This one-roller pays even money for 3, 4, 9, 10 and
11, and usually pays 2:1 for either 2 or 12. Some casinos pay 3:1 for either
the 2 or 12, but not both.
When the casino pays 2-1 on the 12, the house edge is 5.56%. If they
pay 3-1, the casino advantage is reduced to 2.78%. Either way, both advantage
levels are far higher than the 1.41% edge on a pass line wager or 1.4% on the don't pass, so, James, I’m recommending neither.
Gambling Wisdom of the Week: "Betting is the only moral thing you
can do. It is an intellectual pursuit, as good as The Times crossword. For millions,
it is the only uninfluenced democratic decision they take." - Lord Wyatt
