Comps are calculated from theoretical loss, not actual loss. The casino multiplies your average bet by hours played by decisions per hour by the house edge of the game, and returns a fraction of that as rooms, food or credit.
Two consequences follow. Playing a high-edge game earns comps faster, because your theoretical loss is larger, which is exactly why comp rates are generous on slots and meagre on low-edge table games. And winning does not reduce your comps, since the calculation never looks at the result.
The honest arithmetic is that comps return a portion of an expected loss you have already agreed to. A comped room is cheaper than a paid room only if you were going to play anyway.
The number worth asking for is the reinvestment rate, meaning what percentage of theoretical loss comes back as comps. It varies by property, by game and by tier, and hosts will often state it. A rate quoted as a share of theo is a real figure; an offer described only as generous is not.
Related terms in casino floor
- Commission — A percentage charged on winning bets that would otherwise favour the player.
- Push — A tie in which the bet neither wins nor loses and the stake is returned.
- Natural — A hand that wins immediately on the first cards dealt.
- Shoe — The box holding several shuffled decks from which cards are dealt.
- Cut card — A coloured plastic card placed in the shoe to mark where dealing stops.
- Penetration — The proportion of a shoe dealt before the reshuffle.
Where an entry quotes a number, that figure comes from the computed sections of this site rather than from another glossary, so the definition and the derivation cannot drift apart. Each entry links to the page where the number is worked out.