Somewhere in your casino right now, somebody is looking at a comp exception report and asking, “Why on earth did they give that to that player?”
And somewhere else, a host is trying to figure out how to say “no” more nicely.
I think we’re asking the wrong questions.
We’ve spent years teaching hosts how to determine whether players have “earned” a comp. Follow the policy. Check the play. Calculate the allowable amount. Approve or deny.
Anybody with a high school education can follow a comp policy. It’s not hard.
But hosts aren’t supposed to be comp dispensers. They’re business development executives. They’re salespeople. And comps are one of the most powerful negotiating tools we have.
So instead of starting with, “Can I give this player the comp?” start with a different question:
“What am I trying to accomplish with this player?”
There Are Really Two Kinds of Comps
I break comps into two broad categories.
Retention comps maintain existing behavior. These are for players whose business we already have. We want to incentivize loyalty and maintain their normal level of trips and spend.
Growth comps have a different job. They’re designed to drive incremental trips and income over and above a player’s normal level of play. That’s lift.
Every comp should tie back to one of four player development strategies:
- Acquisition: Drive trips one through three and turn a new player into a returning player.
- Retention: Maintain the existing trips and spend of a valuable player.
- Growth: Increase frequency, spend, or both.
- Reactivation: Restore lost trip frequency and/or trip spend.
If I’m trying to acquire a potentially valuable new player or reactivate one whose business I’m losing, I may be willing to take a bigger shot.
That isn’t giving away the store. That’s selling.
The More You Play, the More We Pay
Hosts sometimes struggle with this because they don’t want their relationships with players to feel like business relationships.
But that’s exactly what they are.
You can like your players. You can be friendly with them. You may know their spouses, what they drink, and where they like to eat. But they are your clients, and you have a professional obligation to manage that relationship professionally.
The mantra is simple:
The more you play, the more we pay.
Think about a player’s comp account like a bank account.
Deposit equals play. Withdrawal equals comp.
If there isn’t enough in the account for the withdrawal the player wants, you don’t have to say no.
You negotiate.
“Yes, you can have that. Let me tell you how much you need to play to earn it.”
Or:
“Based on your play, here’s what I can do for you right now.”
The player gets to choose.
That’s selling.
Every Comp Request is a Sales Touch
When players ask for something they haven’t earned, you have options:
- Educate them about the additional play needed to get the reward they want.
- Offer an alternative based on their current play.
- Give them the comp strategically, with the goal of getting them to lift their play and earn it back.
- Or simply refuse it — which doesn’t sell anything.
Which one you choose depends on the player, what you know about them, and the strategy you’re trying to achieve.
The important part is this: Negotiate play, not rewards.
And remember another mantra: The more touches you make, the more theo you generate.
A comp request is a touch. An invitation is a touch. A call before an upcoming trip is a touch. Every one of those touches is another sales opportunity.
Then Measure, Measure, Measure
This is where the numbers matter.
Take a group of players near the top of a segment and offer them a package from the next segment up — a suite instead of a room, $400 in free play instead of $200, dinner at the steakhouse instead of the buffet.
When we’ve tested this approach, we’ve seen higher play rates in the neighborhood of 30 percent to 40 percent among those players.
That’s lift.
But a bigger offer doesn’t automatically mean a successful offer.
Did it drive an extra trip? Did the player maintain their normal trip spend? Did you reactivate someone you were losing? Or did the player simply trade a normal trip for the trip you incentivized?
You have to pay attention to that.
Use year-over-year growth, post-program analysis, test-and-control results, and behavioral change analysis to understand whether your strategy actually worked.
The numbers tell you what is happening.
They don’t tell you why.
That’s your job.
The primary objective of comping should always be to drive profitable and incremental revenue. Comping isn’t about punishing players, and it isn’t about giving things away just to keep everybody happy.
It’s negotiation.
So the next time somebody asks for a comp, don’t start with, “Can they have it?”
Start with: What kind of player am I dealing with, and what am I trying to accomplish?
Then negotiate play for pay.
And if a player asks to write a check from their account, and they haven’t got enough play to cover it, then, for crying out loud, QUIT APOLOGIZING!
It ain’t your fault.
Negotiate instead.
This article is based on concepts presented by Steve Browne at the 2026 Casino Marketing & Technology Conference and Host & Player Development Conference. Steve is part of Raving’s PD and Guest Services team. Learn more about Raving’s work in PD here: https://betravingknows.com/services/host-player-development/
