Online casino comps
• The "comps" system
• Games and house edges revisited
• Intercasino
• Intercasino UK
• VIP
• Omni
• Totesport
• Dash casino
• Paddy Power
• Hundred Percent Gambling!
The "comps" system
All casinos, both on land and online, offer player reward systems of one
kind or another. On land the format depends on whether you play table or
machine games and is beyond the scope of this article. Online, you simply
get a certain number of points for a certain amount wagered, and these points
are then convertible into cash.For example: Casino Average offers one point for every $10 wagered, and will give you $1 for every 100 points. So, in order to earn a dollar in comp cash, you need to wager $1000 in total. One dollar in a thousand works out at 0.1%. Now, just add this to the return of the game in question, and you have the overall return, with "comp points value" included. For example: a Jacks Or Better video poker game, at 99.54%, improves to 99.64% with 0.1% comps.
For the VAST majority of players, these comp points really don't amount to much relative to the games they play; if you play slot machines with a player return of 95%, the fact that you get 0.1% in comps (or 0.5%, or even 1% or 2% for slot players) really doesn't matter a jot. However, for our purposes these comps represent a significant addition to the overall return, because the house edge on the games we're considering is already so low; for example: a 99.90% game jumps all the way to a 100% break-even game, with just that relatively tiny comp-value factored in.
Games and house edges revisited
Now let's look back briefly at the games and the numbers:• Cryptologic single deck blackjack: 99.93% (add the composition-dependent exceptions for 99.96%). Recommended casinos: InterCasino, InterCasino UK, VIP, and Omni.
• Microgaming single deck blackjack: 99.87% (99.90% including the composition-dependent exceptions). Recommended casino: Dash Casino.
• Playtech "blackjack switch": 99.84%. Recommended casino: Totesport.
• Wagerworks "Power blackjack": 99.77%. Recommended casino: Paddypower.
And now let's take a look at the reward systems and work out the final numbers - all information correct at the time of going to press. Remember, when we see the magic "100%" figure, we have the edge!
The "Players' Club" programme offers 0.5 comp points for every $10 wagered in single deck blackjack - then $1 in "comp cash" for every 100 points. This equates to $1 for every $2000 wagered, or 0.05%.
Single deck blackjack 99.93% + 0.5% = 99.98% overall return. Factor in the Cryptologic composition-dependent strategy variations and we arrive at 100.01%.
As with the Intercasino dollar version, The "Players' Club" programme offers 0.5 comp points for every £10 wagered in single deck blackjack - then £1 in "comp cash" for every 100 points. This equates to £1 for every £2000 wagered, or 0.05%.
Single deck blackjack 99.93% + 0.5% = 99.98% overall return. Factor in the Cryptologic composition-dependent strategy variations and we arrive at 100.01%.
The "Players' Club" programme offers 0.5 comp points for every $10 wagered in single deck blackjack - then $1 in "comp cash" for every 100 points. This equates to $1 for every $2000 wagered in blackjack, or 0.05%.
Single deck blackjack 99.93% + 0.5% = 99.98% overall return. Factor in Cryptologic composition-dependent strategy variations and we arrive at 100.01%.
The Peak Entertainment group offers comps on a sliding scale, dependent on how much you wager per month. The starting level earns 0.04% comps for single deck blackjack. Earn more than 5000 points in a month and you move up a level, to 0.5% comps. At the highest level you get 0.8% comps on single deck blackjack, requiring 250000 comp points from the previous month, and $360,000 in wagering.
To redeem points, log into your peak rewards account and follow the instuctions. Points can be redeemed into any casino account you choose. Single deck blackjack 99.93% + 0.4% = 99.97% overall return. Factor in Cryptologic composition-dependent strategy variations and we arrive at 100% exactly.
If you achieve the top wagering level and 0.8% comps, then the overall return with perfect play is 100.04%
Standard Playtech comps offer 1 comp point for every $10 wagered in blackjack switch - then $1 in "comp cash" for every 100 points. This equates to $1 for every £1000 wagered, or 0.1%.
Blackjack Switch 99.84% + 0.1% = 99.94% overall return.
Every £50 wagered earns you one point, and 1000 points earns you $10 in comps. This works out at a rather miserly 0.02% comp value, or £1 for every £5000 wagered.
Single deck blackjack 99.87% + 0.02% comp value = 99.89% overall return. Factor in the Microgaming composition-dependent strategy variations and we arrive at 99.92%.
The standard deal: one point for every £10 / €10 wagered, and 100 points earn you £1 / €1. This equates to £1 per £1000 wagered, or 0.1%.
Power blackjack 99.77% + 0.1% comp value = 99.87% overall return.
Hundred percent gambling!
You can see that EACH ONE of these games, utilizing perfect strategy
combined with comps, returns from exactly 99.87%% to as high as 100.04%. Still:
nobody's perfect. It's likely you WILL make mistakes along the way. The
video poker games are not easy until you've got some good practice and experience
under your belt - I still make mistakes myself, even when playing simple
blackjack. It happens. Practise the blackjack games in "free" mode, and
use a good video poker programme like Winpoker
until you're proficient at the game. You'll get there. In time, and with
a little sweat, you'll be playing in the knowledge that your game is actually giving you
a small edge over the
house. Speaking from experience, it's a good feeling!
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