Las Vegas Comps Becoming Automated

The process for how Las Vegas hands out comps has always involved a pit boss or cocktail waitress judging your play and deciding when you’re worthy of a free drink.

But that could be changing, though, with many Vegas casinos testing out automated comps.

“There’s always been this unspoken rule that the bartenders decide who gets what,” says Scott Roeben, a casino blogger who spoke with the Las Vegas Sun. “They’re watching the play and if you don’t play enough, they say you gotta play more. They’re automating that system, so there’s a very one-to-one correlation between play and the rewards.”

Roeben says that the automation process will allow casinos to tighten up comps and ensure that only deserving gamblers get free drinks.

“It’s a pretty rudimentary concept to understand,” Roeben explains. “You don’t get a free drink for a 50-cent play. You never did, but now you get a red light that says you’re not meeting the criteria. You’re not worthy.”

Caesars Entertainment has a system in their casinos that features green and red lights on top of slot machines. When a person bets enough money, the green light goes off and players are set to receive free comps.

The MGM is another casino company that’s testing automated comps, using them at the MGM Grand and Mirage’s Lobby Bar. Reports have shown that the Cosmopolitan is also using automation to dole out comps.

This doesn’t necessarily mean that Vegas is due for a wide-scale overhaul of its comp system. After all, the Tropicana, Golden Gate, D Las Vegas, Sands, Silverton Casino, and Boyd properties are still determining comps the old-fashioned way.

But with several major casino companies testing out the process of comp automation, it seems that this could be a turning point in how things are done.

Roeben says that the change makes sense because people aren’t gambling as much, and casinos need to tighten their comps as a result.

“(Gaming companies) once thought of casinos as subsidizing everything else,” the blogger says. “So the amount of play warranted freebies and being more liberal with freebies. But as gaming goes down, you gotta fill that gap in revenue. So you’re gonna automate things.”

MGM Resorts claims that they’re not automating comps to tighten things up, but rather to make the process easier for servers.

“The new technology has eliminated the guessing game for bartenders about how many drinks each guest is eligible to receive based on play,” MGM explains via a statement. “Further, it has made the number of comped drinks that players receive consistent for all slot players at these bars.”

Anthony Curtis, another gambling blogger, believes that one more reason behind automating comps is to prevent employee theft.

“It’s an attempt to end a problem that’s been rampant for years,” says Curtis. “If you have a cash bar with unlooked or overseen comping privileges, a cash customer can buy a drink and bartender can comp them even if they’re not playing.”

Curtis’ theory suggests that bartenders can pocket the money that customers pay them for the drink.

Curtis went on to say that comps given out by the automation system are generally worse than what players get through the old-fashioned system.

“Here’s what is making me believe that this is true, I test-drove it and sat down in one of voucher systems. Drink vouchers were coming out so fast that, literally, you couldn’t use them all. And I know how to drink and play. I’ve been doing it for years.”

Sam Pollock, a former gaming executive who now owns Food and Beverage Consulting Solutions, believes that comp automation is important because it makes sure that deserving gamblers are rewarded.

“From a service perspective, the bartender can look at the green light and then come over. It’s like a slot with a call button. That’s where I see it working better.”

A divide currently exists in the Las Vegas comp system. But if automation goes over well, then this new technology could take over how Vegas visitors receive freebies.