Customer Reviews

Comp City: A Guide to Free Casino Vacations, Second Edition

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

Rubin is an amusing fellow, obviously a debaucher, degenerate, and reprobate. This I admire, along with his writing style and ability to spin an ancedote. What I can't grasp is the cheapskate mentality that would have folks do almost anything for a comp. I go to Vegas to gamble and to win money. I can readily afford the cheap airfares, rooms, and food or I wouldn't go. I can't imagine making large bets into a negative deck just because the floorman is watching and I want to fool him into inflating my rating. Intentionally spill a drink on the table to stop the game for a few minutes so you play fewer hands than reported? Gimme a break. Ninety percent of average players would be far better off learning to gamble intelligently than worrying about sqeezing a few extra comp dollars. Still, some of the stories are laugh out loud funny and worth the price of the book.

This book was really a disappointment! We go to Las Vegas frequently and do take advantage of many legitimate comps offered by the casinos. I had hoped this book could give me some further insight into the intricacies of the comp system. Unfortunately, Max Rubin has written a book about squeezing the system dry.

Some of his topics include "Feeding 4 with a comp for only 2" - this sections includes bribing the waitress with $5 and ask her if it is ok for your guests to "taste" your food. He says to
make sure you order plenty of appetizers so you will have empty plates for your guests' portions of the food.

He says that if you are being comped for Room, Food and Beverages, never leave the hotel without taking home at least a couple of extra bottles of booze or champagne. This is not taking advantage of comps, this is stealing.

He also says that if you are offered free tickets to a fight, don't worry if you are not a fan of boxing. He says to take the freebies and resell them and then he says "you're on your way".

A really poor book. Not at all what I expected.

This book is a good read for any gambler with limited knowledge of casino operations and marketing. Many of the reviewers pan the book for some of his comp hustling ways, but he explains that not all things in the book are for everyone. Max also states that it is for people that would have gambled anyway and were getting nothing or very little. I think this book benefits gamblers that are currently not comped and don't know how to get comps. Max is a bit overboard in his ways, but it is a good primer for people that don't know how casino comps work. Most people play and get nothing because they don't know they can get something. I have friends that I gambled with many years ago, but they don't go very often anymore. These friends are in significantly higher income brackets now and still don't get (or ask for) comps for their higher action during the few trips they make to casinos. This book would be very helpful to them.

The one knock against the book is when Max writes if a game becomes a "magilla," to leave because too many eyes will be on the game. If black chips are flying at a table, I think most people would stop comp hustling and get in on the winning!

In my opinion this is one of the few worthwhile gambling related books out there. Max does a great job clearly explaining how the anyone with a $500-$50,000 bankroll can get their full gambling value. My wife and I had spent the last couple years playing positive expectation video poker and obtaining comps the "Frugal" way. We always came home with a seriously depleated bankroll and free rooms, but rarely did we ever do anything better than a free or discounted buffet. However, I can now take $3000 to most any casino market, play Blackjack and break even for the most part, while eating at the best joints in the casino, free rooms, free spa admission, airfair discounts, etc. The trick is to make them think that $3,000 is $30,000 and this book shows you how.

First, I would like to say flat out-- yes, Max talks about husteling every possible comp you can get and sometimes the methods he mentions can be demeaning or whatever (pardon my terrible spelling!). But this is the definitive book an all aspects of comps, from sittting down at a slot machine right as the cocktail waitress walks by to full RFB (room, food and beverage), and as such, it covers ALL aspects. You choose what you want to do, but don't bite the book because you don't like some methods. Secondly, I would like to inform all the people who rate this book low and talk about Max's strategies eventually losing your bank and this that and the other thing. Knowing about blackjack and standard deviation and the correct odds will help you there. If you DO play basic strategy blackjack, your comps will, ON AVERAGE, pay for your blackjack play and then some. Don't tell the people who are browsing this book that Max doesn't know about casinos. This is MAX RUBIN. Max is a very knowledgable man, and the host of teh infamous Blackjack Ball, where all the best of the best BJ players get together and brag to eachother about how great they all are. I can assure you Max knows what he is talking about. If you are looking to make money, learn to count cards, or better yet, get a real job. If you are looking to get the most bang for your buck, get free stuff, and maybe even have a Vegas vacation pay for itself, GET THIS BOOK. Max is the man!

in light of an upcoming casino vacation, i figured, "what the heck, I'd might as well try to get as much free stuff out of the casinos if they're gonna take my hard earned money." So I ended up buying this book. I mean, who doesn't like free stuff?? Well after reading the book several times, and applying the tips Max Rubin tells you to do while playing table games, I ended up getting more in comps than I have ever did. and that was my first time using Max's comp counting techniques. I'd imagine that it would take a bit of practice to get higher-end comps and nicer accomadations. But after the first meal comp, this book had paid for itself. To think after all these years of getting beat by the casinos and getting nothing for my $25 to $200 bets. Thanks Max!!

First, let me say that Rubin doesn't tell you to grovel before the pit bosses to get a comp, nor does he advocate stealing. He does say that it pays to ask, and at worst, they'll say no, but often they say yes, or at least make some kind of offer. He tells hilarious stories about Vegas characters, some of whom were thieves, but he doesn't favor copying their example.
What he does want to teach is his ACES method of gathering comps, which is based on blackjack played with the black chips. But you don't have to lay down a C-note to use his methods. Even a low roller like me can get good comps, (particularly with the rise of the California tribal casinos creating wonderful competion for the gaming public) if I use his methods.

I'm not sure if I'm reading the same book as the one read by all the 'positive' reviewers here. What I was hoping for when I ordered, was some insight into how someone with a relatively small (at least in the casino's eyes) bankroll could find places to exploit the comp systems at the casinos. Instead, I found the book was 90% geared towards 'high-rollers' who would be able to play blackjack for hours at $100 per hand.

In my casino experiences, if you have the bankroll to play at that level, a) you have enough money that comps don't matter and/or b) the casino will make certain that you get the 'attention' you deserve.

There was nothing that I found useful for the smaller player. Things mentioned are common sense to most players.

I did a low roller trip to Vegas, and received $40 in food comps at 2 different casinos. I wasn't playing for comps, but knowing how, who, and when to ask paid for some meals. If you don't ask, you will never get a comp. Its a good read.

The reviewers who said Rubin is a cheat and a thief don't know what they are talking about, nor do the ones who say this is only for $100 and up players. He gives numerous ways for players of EVERY bankroll level to maximize their return in comps. If the casino doesn't want to give it, they don't. If they do, why not take it? Would you turn down buying a car that costs $18k normally for $15k just because you know other people are paying $18k for it, but you got the better price because you knew invoice on it? OF course not. Applied properly, this is the best edge any average player will EVER have versus the casinos, bar none, and all it takes is learning basic blackjack strategy and asking to be treated as you deserve. Some people just don't understand it, and I am thankful for that, as that is what keeps Las Vegas profitable for people like me. Trust me; this book is brilliant, well writen, well thought out, and anyone who loses sleep over getting extra comp value out of a casino is not of sound mind anyways. And as far as selling boxing tickets you got as a comp when you don;t like boxing? Why not? They're yours.