Comps: the discretionary part

Field 1Two kinds of reward

It helps to separate a programme into what is written down and what is at someone’s discretion. A rakeback rate is written down: it is applied by a rule and you can check it. A comp is generally not. It is granted by a human, in an amount they choose, at a time they choose, and it can be sized up or down as the operator’s view of your play changes. The written rewards are the programme; the comps are a variable on top.

Field 2Judging a comp offer

The test for a comp is the same test as for any reward: what is it worth in cash, and what condition comes attached. Two comps with the same face value can be worth very different amounts, and the difference is almost always in the conditions and the tax position rather than in the reward itself.

• Value it in cash, not in face value. A hotel night you would not have booked, at a rate the operator negotiated, is worth less to you than its price tag suggests.
• Read the attached condition. Free play with a wagering requirement is not cash; it is a bonus in another name, and its real value is a fraction of the figure quoted.
• Ask who it is tied to. A comp that requires continued play to keep, or that is granted only while you maintain a tier, is a conditional reward, not a free one.
• Consider how it is taxed where you are. In some jurisdictions a prize or gift has a tax consequence; that is a question for a local adviser, not for this page.
• Never play to unlock a comp. The extra play to earn a comp costs expected value by design, and the comp is sized below that cost.

Field 3The trade you are actually making

Strip the presentation away and a comp programme is a trade: continued play in exchange for rewards in kind. That can be a fair trade for someone who is going to play regardless, in the same way that a shop card is worth carrying if you already shop there. It stops being fair the moment the reward becomes a reason to play more, or the reason a session continues past the point it would have ended.

1. 1A comp is funded by the same edge that funds every other reward; it is a designed fraction of what your play is worth to the operator.
2. 2The written rewards — rakeback, cashback, points — are the contractual layer; comps sit above them and can move or vanish with a change of host or strategy.
3. 3The condition attached to a comp, not its face value, is what decides whether it is worth accepting.