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Extraordinary Comps
And How They Started
by Bobby Singer
It was Sunday morning on Labor Day Weekend of 1974. I had just left the casino cashier’s cage in a major Las Vegas strip hotel. In my pocket was the $1,056 I had just been reimbursed for two round-trip first class airfare tickets for my wife and I. In addition, I had another $29,874 of the casinos’ money. $4,874 represented my win since our arrival late Friday morning and the other $25,000 was my credit line that I had carefully removed from the tables over the forty-eight hours I had been in the casino. Let me explain all this madness and then the real fun begins. The real fun for me, besides the wonderful wins, was bypassing the casinos’ very flawed systems.
During the seventies I had a $25,000 credit line in most of the Nevada casinos as well as many casinos around the world. Because my average bet in those days was several hundred dollars, I would draw markers in $5000 increments. I rarely played more than one hour sittings followed by short breaks, therefore in a given two or three-day trip to a casino, my draw of markers would usually range from $60,000 to $100,000. My action was more than enough to warrant the casino to fully comp my stay, including shows, gourmet dinning rooms, amazing suites, and of course first class airfare reimbursement for two. Shortly you will see the importance of this paragraph and where this story is going.
Now let’s go back to Sunday morning. My wife and I have now decided not to go home until Tuesday. We can’t stay in this hotel because over the last two days, I have systematically made it look as if I have lost my entire credit line of $25,000. So I now call another strip hotel and tell them I wish to fly in that day and stay until Tuesday morning. This would never be a problem, as my action in any casino was well known by all casino hosts. They would always find me a suite and book the reservation.
Late that Sunday afternoon Judy and I took a taxi over to the second casino hotel. From Sunday evening until Tuesday morning we now enjoyed their lovely facilities. We saw another show sitting at the stage.
We ate in the gourmet room Sunday and Monday evening. I also won an additional $3,096 for a total four-day trip win of almost $8,000. But it’s about to get better and will launch me in an entirely new direction in what will become almost a mission, a quest to bypass the systems the casinos had in place to deliver comps and services.
It’s now Tuesday morning. I went looking for the casino host to thank him for another lovely trip and to let him know when I would be back. We exchanged small talk for a few minutes. The host then consoled me for what he thought was another losing trip. That’s right, I was leaving this casino also without paying some of my markers. The best was still to come. The host now said, “Bobby, don’t forget to stop at the cage and pick up your airfare reimbursement, I approved it earlier this morning.”
Thank goodness I thought quickly enough to simply say “Thank You.” I soon realized what a good but unique dilemma this was. I now began to formulate a plan for today and started to make notes so on the airplane ride home I could address all of my concerns.
I now went to the casino cashier’s cage and told them I had lost my airline tickets but would send them a copy of my travel agents invoice when I returned home. The cage manager got an okay from the host and then proceeded to pay me $1,056 and even gave me a self-addressed stamped envelope directed back to her. I then had one of the hotel’s limousines take us to the airport to head back home.
It’s now early Tuesday afternoon, I’m sitting comfortably in first class on my journey home and begin checking all my notes. Was this business of getting paid twice for my airfare legal? I need to discuss this with my attorney. How do I handle the additional income? See my accountant. If getting paid more than once for the same ticket is legal, how can I expand on this? Is there an easier method? At this time I am so excited about the potential, I can hardly wait until Wednesday morning when I know I will get all my questions answered. I’m truly beside myself. I’m desperately hoping for the positive!
It’s now Wednesday morning. I call my attorney to notify him what happened regarding the airfare. He’s very conservative and responds with, “I’ll call you before the day is over.” I now call my accountant who says “call me after you get a response from the attorney.” I remember being so anxious waiting for the phone call that I went on an eating frenzy.
It’s now late Wednesday afternoon. My attorney calls with wonderful news. He said, “Bobby, if a casino is willing to compensate you X number of dollars in the form of comps for action received, it really doesn’t matter if the reimbursement is for airfare, shows, or room food and beverage or any combination of such. If more than one casino on the same trip duplicates this comp scenario, it really doesn’t change anything. However, you should report any comps that come in the form of real dollars as income.” I immediately called my accountant and shared the good news. He informed me that he would treat all airfare monies received over actual costs as ordinary income and continue to treat my gambling wins separately as they are directly affected and offset by the occasional loss.
It’s now Thursday morning and I’ve always believed I probably formulated the following game plan in my sleep. I decided all of my future trips would now be three to four nights. Each of my Las Vegas trips would now have me checking into and departing from three hotels on the same days. My airplane tickets would now correspond to the proper days. I would copy my tickets in advance and give the copy to the cage managers. My action was good enough in three to four days of playing at each casino to continue to get full comps as well as airfare reimbursement. Although I only physically stayed in one hotel, I would eat in all three therefore reducing my food bill per hotel. I also would leave luggage as well as some clothes and toiletries in the two hotels I wasn’t sleeping in. I would even mess up the bed. Occasionally I would have a friend join me and they would stay in one of the other rooms. It was important not to let a maid turn in my room as unoccupied.
It’s necessary for you to understand that action in a casino warrants comps. Regardless of the degree of your action, learn to maximize the comps you receive. We’re all capable of taking something to the next level. Make your everyday and every effort extraordinary. By the way, did I mention the bank interest I would receive on the casinos’ money, on those unpaid markers? The casino would always allow me four to six weeks before paying those markers. Extraordinary!
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