How To Gamble For Free

How to Gamble for Free

• Play the busiest tables. To maximize comps while minimizing losses, play slowly. The fewer
  hands you play, the less money you're likely to lose. A blackjack dealer can deal up to 250 hands per hour to a single player. At a busy table, he might deal as few as 50 hands per hour.
  
  Best: Look for a table with six other players - preferably a friendly table where people (including the dealer) are telling jokes and laughing. Delay as often as possible - but do not be obvious. Show your hand to other players and ask how they'd play it... sit out a hand now and then ... and take your time when it's your turn to cut the cards. All this lets you play fewer hands, but still log plenty of gambling time - an important key to comps.


• Coast during boss breaks. Pit bosses take two 20 to 30 minute breaks during an eight-hour shift, and a longer break for lunch or dinner. You can pad your rating (gambling less than the bosses think) by scaling back to the table minimum while the boss's relief is on the floor, then increasing your bets when the boss returns.
  
  This way, you could have an actual gambling average of $25 a hour, but an "official" average of $150. If you do the above once during every shift you play, you'll increase your comp rating while reducing the risk of losses.


• Look like a loser. Casinos like losers - and give them better ratings/comps. Even if you're a winner, you want to look like you're losing. The only way to do this is to hide chips. Casinos frown on this (it raises suspicions of cheating), but the fewer chips you have on the table after you've been gambling awhile, the more generous the bosses are likely to be with perks.
  
  Try this: Cup your hand over a stack of chips ... squeeze one or two in your palm ... and casually drop them into an inside jacket pocket while pulling out a mint. A woman can drop chips into an open purse in her lap.


• Play with a partner. Some casinos will combine two people on a single VIP card. This allows you to buy in with more front money - one of the keys to better comps. When you play together, the floorman will credit both bets on one rating slip, giving you a higher rating and more freebies.


• Ask for what you want. Many people are too embarrassed to ask for a free meal, a discount on a room, a suite upgrade or other comps. When playing any game in a casino, never hesitate to ask the boss for free drinks or other amenities. If he says no, ask how much more you need to be betting to qualify for additional comps. More often, you'll be given something, even if it's not exactly what you're asking for.
  
  Example: You ask for an unlimited coffee shop comp - you get two buffet tickets.