This may have been said but here goes. First get yourself a slot card and use it. Go to the Club or Promotions booth. Often all you do is give your drivers license and they just type info like your birthdate and address into the computer. That starts you off where you will sometimes get coupons and offers in the mail. If you live close or locally to a casino your box can fill up pretty fast. I have a small PO box and weekly it is filled to overflowing. Mostly due to Horseshoe coupons from Hammond, IN. When you live near by, they give you all kinds of cash offers for certain days of the week, free drawings, gifts,, free buffets... The idea is to try and get you in there as often as they can. If you live close by, that is a possibility. If you live, say in Chicago like I do, and you have a slot card with a Vegas Casino, you might only get a few pieces of mail each year with offers for discounted hotel rooms, and other packages to get you to take a vacation out to LV. Sometimes, as Harrahs does, they will offer charters that you can sign up for that include airfare, hotel, show tickets... Coast has offered packages for Rodeo weekends or NASCAR races with room, banquets, transportation and tickets to the race etc. It can be worth it just to get on the mailing lists. As I learned from watching friends in the past, take advantage of those offers and they will send you more. I had a couple older friends that used to go out 3 times a year and never spend a dime on rooms or food.

When at the casino use your card in all the slots. You will acrue points that can be used for discounts on food and in the gift shop etc. Or, let them build and, as I do, at the end of your trip get some cash back. I have a Coast Casino card that I use at Barbary, Gold Coast, Orleans... At the end of a week in Vegas, I can usually count on $15 to $25 cash back depending on my luck and how much play I get for my money.

Then, also use your card in the pits. When playing Blackjack, Craps, Roulette.... or other table games, hand the card to the dealer and have them track your play. Then, after you have played for a while, don't be shy. Ask the floor person about what you might qualify for. they might say that if you play for another hour, they can give you this or that. Or, you might be able to get something right then and there. I had never done that before but on the last couple days of my last trip, I broke down and asked. I was amazed to find that at a $5 table, playing anywhere from $5 to $25 a hand during a 3 or 4 hour session, a comp to the Buffet or the Coffee Shop was easy. Just Ask. I found that with my Blackjack play, I, Probably, wouldn't have had to shell out a single dime on meals for my entire trip had I just said, at the end of a session, I am hungry, can I get a comp. One time the floor person, without a blink of the eye, gave me 2 buffets. Another time they gave me a comp for $30 toward the Coffee Shop. That was more than enough for 2 maybe 3 people.

Then there are things like free rooms, limo rides, airfare reimbursements and show tickets. Some of that stuff might require more than a $5 a hand round of blackjack. However, a couple things that I have heard, How much I don't know is true. If there is a show at the casino that you want to see, ask for the comp close to show time. If there are empty seats available, they might be more liberal with handing them out. Better having the seat filled than empty. Especially if it will keep you there instead of going to another casino for the evening. Also, when playing, say blackjack, put down $200 to buy in. It was told to me that if you put down $50 or even $100, it isn't always noticed, especially if the tables are busy. You can fall through the proverbial cracks when things are hectic and not get noticed. However, if you put down, $200 and your card, the dealer will take your card and say, Buying in for $200. That will get the floorpersons attention to put the card in the computer and track you. This may not be true of all places but I have noticed a difference in the attention that I get when I put down $200 instead of $40. Often when putting down $40 or $50, I have noticed that they may never take the card. You don't need to play the whole $200 but just have it in front of you. As you are doing good, color up your chips and convert small denominations to larger and put them on the bottom. Try not to go into your higher denomination chips. Set yourself a limit. If you only feel comfortable risking $50 then have 10- $5 chips a couple of $25s and a Hundred. Don't touch the $25s and the Hundred but just play till the 5s are gone.

One other tip, If you are doing well, play higher, especially if the floor person is around and watching. You get better comps with the higher bets. I usually increase my bet every time I win. I go up by say $5 and take back the extra chips. Playing $5 that might be progressively betting 5 10 15 20 then 25 then I will hold at $25 till I loose and it is back to $5. If I am playing $10, it might be 10, 20, 30, 40 and 50, holding at $50 till I loose and so on. There will be times when they will check my play and see that I am playing $25 or maybe $50 or $75 if I have splits or double downs it even looks better. They see that as I am winning I risk more. That all factors in over the hours played and will raise your average bet amount.

Main thing though is bet what you are comfortable with and don't let the chase for comps pull you deeper and deeper if you aren't doning well. If you are having a bad run of it, take what you can get and run. I have seen people get in way over their heads trying to chase a comp. In the end, it would have been cheaper to just buy the dinner than try and win it. But, it is all part of the game. When you get bored with the game, as I do at times, or you are hungry or just need a break.... Maybe you aren't doing well, take a break and go back later. When you leave, ask for a comp. Have a nice meal or go to a movie or play a couple games of bowling or whatever they will give you. Then, when you are refreshed, go back and try again.