Comp dollars and tier credits offered through player reward programs at casinos may be one of the most overlooked aspects of gambling. These reward programs will be your key to unlocking exclusive offers such as slots dollars, comped rooms, free parking, dining credits, flights, contest entries and so much more.

The way to make money betting without gambling is called matched betting. Matched betting is different from gambling, because you’re not playing to win. When you’re matched betting, it really doesn’t matter who wins the game. You will make money whatever the result. Blackjack is considered to be one of the best casino games for getting an edge over the house (aka the casino). To be able to make a living as a professional gambler who specialises in blackjack, you must be good at either counting cards or shuffle tracking. Must Read – How to Make Money Selling Photos Online From Home. Winning at gambling might be one of the hardest ways to make an easy living in the world. If you paid attention to all of the 100 ways to win at gambling listed in this post, you could probably be earning six figures a year or more. But you can only make that kind of money playing certain games or betting on sports. The only way to really be able to make money out of betting is by finding value bets. Value betting is the way to get the highest possible return from your wagering. The idea of value betting is as follows: If you take a bet with odds of evens (1/1), then realistically you might expect to win half of the time. Both can earn you tons of tokens, but the Octagonia casino is the best way (that I know of!) to get tons of cash. First, let’s start with the Puerto Valor casino. There are two types of slot.

Even though the sole purpose of a player rewards program is to get gamblers into the casino and spend money, if you use them correctly you will actually be able to get a great deal of value out of them – especially if you follow our free guide below.

When you first enter a casino – whether it be in Las Vegas, Atlantic City, or anywhere else in the world – there is usually a desk or electronic kiosk near the main entrance for the company’s players club. Every gaming company, from large conglomerates like Caesar’s Entertainment and MGM Resorts to smaller, local properties like Station Casinos each have some type of rewards program in place for their players.

To participate in any casino rewards program, you must first obtain a player’s card. This card is your key to earning comp dollars and tier points at the casino you will be playing at. There are many different ways to earn comp dollars and tier credits, but some will earn you points quicker than others. We have outlined (in full detail) the most effective ways to accumulate these points below, so you can get the most out of your next visit to the casino.

The Basics of Earning Reward Points & Comps

Let’s start off with the most basic way that players can earn comp points; gambling at the casino. When gambling, you should always make sure that you are using your player’s card – whether that means giving it to the pit boss at the tables or making sure it’s properly inserted into a slot machine. This will ensure that the casino can properly keep track of how much money you’re wagering at slots, video poker or table games. In turn, this will result in you being rewarded proportionately to your play.

If you’re playing slots or video poker, always make sure that your card is inserted correctly. Sometimes the machine will not be able to read your card on the first insert, and hence won’t be able to track your play. When this happens, the machine will usually display a red light around the card slot.

When playing slots or video poker, comp dollars and tier credits will be earned based on the amount of money you wager on the machine. A common misconception among players is that comps are awarded based on losses, while this is in fact not true in almost all cases. The amount of time you play at the machine also has no effect on how many points you will earn.

Most, if not all gaming machines in a casino will have a small electronic screen with a countdown towards the next point(s) that you will earn. The countdown will go down after every hand or spin you play, and will be based on the amount of money you wager for each hand or spin. Once the countdown hits 0 it means you earned points for your play, and it will restart again.

The process will continue in the same manner for the entire time you are playing. This should be your main focus if you are trying to maximize point earnings, and it will also give you a general summary of how many points you have earned on this session. The most common electronic machines that people play include slots, video poker, virtual blackjack and electronic roulette but there are some others as well.

The First Visit to a Casino is Key

The first day’s worth of play on a new rewards card can make all the difference when it comes to the value of the offers you receive from a casino. Most casinos will look at the action of all their new players and base the value of the promotions and offers on how much a person wagered to encourage them to come back. Some player reward programs even have “new player” promotions, where gamblers can earn comp dollars or tier points at an increased rate. A perfect example of this is Caesars’ Total Rewards Program, which offers new players the opportunity to earn 3x the normal rate on tier credits.

For this reason, we encourage players not to sign up for a new players card if they only plan on spending a few minutes giving action at a specific casino. We recommend waiting until you can get in a full day’s worth of play before signing up for a new players card.

The first mailer a player receives is often the best one they will ever receive. Mailers have historically been sent through the U.S. Postal Service, but today they may also be received by email or even text. The offer may include free slots play, table game bets, comped hotel rooms, and meals.

Playing Low House Edge Electronic Casino Games

One of best ways to earn comp dollars and give the casino a lower house edge is to play multi-hand blackjack machines. Not every casino will have this game, but if they do and you are trying to rack up points quickly, you should go fire away. The concept of multi-hand blackjack is fairly simple. You pick the denomination and credits that you want to play (similar to that of any machine), and then you play 7 hands of blackjack at once versus the dealer all in one dealt hand.

The aspect of this game that makes the casino edge relatively smaller than most other machine games is what it allows you to do. In multi-hand blackjack, one can split, double, and get paid 3-2 on blackjack, something that is a rarity even at the low limit blackjack tables themselves. On top of the reduction in casino edge, by playing 7 hands you are playing that much more money in the game. Because of this and knowing that multi-hand blackjack is a machine game, you will be raking in the additional comp dollars and tier credits, and possibly some profits too.

Playing Low House Edge Table Games

Other than playing electronic machines at a casino, you can also play table games (such as blackjack or roulette) in order to earn comp dollars and tier points. However, the difference between the two is the number of factors involved with how many points you will earn. For table games, the amount you buy-in for, the time you play at the table, and your average bet size per hour all have effects on the points you earn while gambling, with the latter two being the most important.

Your Fate is Decided by the Pit Boss

When you go to sit down at a table game, you will always start off by buying in and giving your player’s card to the dealer who will then hand it off to the pit boss (manager of the table games). The pit boss will then enter into the system the amount of money you bought in for, and continue to update your average bet size during your time playing at that table (which will lead to you earning both comp dollars and tier points).

This is all very important if you are trying to earn points, since your fate is in the pit boss’s hand. He or she will not be able to watch every bet you make, so the average bet they enter into the system for you may not be accurate. There is usually just one pit boss on duty, and he must keep track of players at several tables.

Checking in with the Pit Boss

It does not hurt to get friendly with the pit boss since he/she can sometimes be on the generous side when entering your average bet into the player reward system. Regardless, you should always be checking from time to time what he/she has for your average bet, especially if you are altering your sizing.

On top of the average bet, the time you spend at the table is crucial for earning points. The longer you stay the better, as points are increased in exponential form based on time. In fact, certain casino companies will reward you with a higher status if you earn enough tier points during a 24 hour period, which generally means for you to have a reasonable average bet, along with playing for at least 4 hours at once, usually more.

Getting a VIP Host

The policy on VIP hosts changes from one casino to another. Some set a specific players club tier where a host becomes the reward. Others wait for a player to ask for it. Some casinos have hosts scour through data to determine if a player’s action warrants special attention. Once a serious player is identified, a host will introduce himself to the gambler.

What Does The Casino Host Do?

A host gives players a personal experience while in the casino. They also give players a reason to visit when he may not otherwise. This includes special perks like a limo ride from the airport, hotel room upgrades, show tickets, and visits to resort amenities on the house.

It never hurts to ask a pit boss or slot attendant to call a VIP host after a big session. This can include large wagers, long playing times, or a big win or loss. At the very least, the host will simply say no. There is nothing to lose.

Earning Points and Comps Without Gambling

Besides gambling, there are other ways to earn points. Those include staying at the hotels themselves, dining or shopping at places inside of the casino properties while using your player’s card, and more. In addition, if you have gambled in the past and used your player’s card, you may get promotions for free comp dollars and tier points that you can earn without having to gamble.

So if your goal is to earn comp dollars and tier credits in the best way and as quickly as possible, make sure to carry around your player’s cards and use it whenever possible. One note if you are trying to save up your comp dollars. Certain casino properties have stipulations where you must gamble at least once in a certain period of time to continue to keep your current comp dollars earned, and some also have it so your comp dollars will expire in a certain time period. In order to avoid having the casino take away your unused comp dollars, make sure to see what the casino policy is first.

Make sure to read our article on how to get Diamond in a Day at Caesar’s properties.

Almost every online casino has some sort of welcome bonus to help try and persuade you to sign up and use their website rather than their competitors. With a little bit of thought and cleverness, we can take these new-player casino bonuses and convert them into withdrawable cash.

But before we delve into casino bonuses, let’s talk about sportsbook bonuses. Making money from them is known as matched betting and is pretty easy and may be where you started off?

But right now because of the COVID-19 coronavirus most sports aren’t running so there aren’t that many matched betting offers available. But to try and keep customers casinos are offering better bonuses than normal. Now is a great time to try some casino bonus bagging – especially as we all need to make some more money!

Contents

Unlike Matched Betting, Casino Bonus Bagging Isn’t Risk Free

Unlike matched betting, making money from casino bonuses is not risk-free. But that doesn’t mean that they can’t be profitable and worth doing.

We call this notion EV (expected value). By using maths we can work out how much money we will make on average from the bonus. So why is that not risk-free? Because of variance. Each time we make a slightly different amount, but over the long term it averages to the EV.

If you understand what I mean then feel free to skip straight to the how casino bonuses work section.

Note: this can get quite complicated. If you want someone to explain it to you one-to-one then Oddsmonkey have an onboarding coach who will hold your hand when you sign up to their £17.99 a month service.

The Maths – How Casinos Make Money

Let’s say that we are playing a game of flip the coin, and because we’re fun people we’re also betting on it.

If we bet £1 a throw.

• I win £1 and you lose £1 if the coin comes up heads.
• You win £1 and I lose £1 if the coin comes up tails.

That is what we call a fair game.

There is risk – we could play 100 flips and I might lose money, or I might win money. But either way, it is just down to luck. Statistically, I am not more likely to win than to lose.

There is a 50% chance of me winning each throw, and a 50% chance of me losing each throw.

That is not what it is like in a casino. The casino has an edge.

Let’s change the rules slightly:

• I win £1 and you lose £1 if the coin comes up heads.
• You win £1.10 and I lose £1.10 if the coin comes up tails.

That is not a fair a game.

There is still risk – we could play 100 flips and I might make money. But I am more likely to lose.

On each coin toss I expect to lose 5p. We use this word “expect” a lot when it comes to making money from casino bonuses. It means the average in the long-term.

Here is a very simple tree showing you how we worked out that expected loss of 5p.

(0.5 x £1) + (0.5 x -£1.10) = -£0.05

That number becomes what is called the house edge. For every £1 we bet we expect to lose 5p.

If we play 1,000 flips, I will have bet £1,000 and expect to lose £50 (1,000 x 5p).

The More We Play The Closer To Expected We Get

Now we get a bit more complicated. The longer I play, the more likely I am to lose money.

I am not going to explain the maths here (email me if you want to know), but over 1 coin flip my chance of walking away with a profit is 50%. The coin can either come up heads or tails.

Over 100 coin flips my chance of making a profit has dropped to 31.7%, that’s almost a 1/3rd chance which still is quite high. I might decide that I’m feeling especially lucky and take that 1/3rd chance. But over 6,000 coin flips my chance of leaving with a profit drops only 1%.

That is how a casino makes money. If there are 60 people playing at your casino and each plays the coin flip game 100 times, then each person has a 31.7% chance of leaving with a profit. But as the casino is playing 6,000 total flips it only has a 1% chance of not making a profit overall. A pretty clever business model.

What Are The House Edges Of Different Casino Games?

Now you can’t actually play our coin flip game in a casino so let’s apply this concept to two real casino games.

Roulette. Is a very basic game which almost everyone understands.

There are 36 numbers not including the zero. Of those 36 – 18 are red and 18 are black. The number zero is not red or black. Each time the wheel spins there is an equal chance that the ball will land on any of the numbers 0 – 36.

If you bet on red and it comes up, you win your stake back. So a £1 bet would win £1.

There is an 18 out of 37 chance of a red colour coming up. That means that you have a 48.6% chance of winning, and a 51.4% chance of losing.

Let’s draw that same tree we did earlier but this time for roulette:

(0.486 x £1) + (0.514 x -£1) = -£0.028

For ever £1 bet we expect to lose 2.8p. That’s the house edge.

That’s pretty low. But roulette is not the casino game with the lowest house edge. That award goes to….

Blackjack. Forget card counting or anything you’ve seen in the films, your basic blackjack is the casino game with the smallest house edge.

There are many different rule sets for blackjack, and the house edge depends both on those rules and also on how close to perfect strategy the player is playing. But most games of blackjack have a house edge of about 0.5p per £1 bet (0.5%).

Let’s just think about that, 0.5%. That’s so low! It’s the equivalent of playing the coin flip game with the rules:

• I win £1 and you lose £1 if the coin comes up heads.
• You win £1.01 and I lose £1.01 if the coin comes up tails.

If we played 1,000 hands of blackjack at £1 a bet, we would have staked £1,000 and expect to lose just £5.

How Casino Bonuses Work

Thank you for sitting through all of that. Now that the basics are out the way let’s talk about the juicy stuff. How we can actually make some money from casino bonuses.

Just like with matched betting, most casinos offer new players an incentive to sign up and play at their casino.

Unfortunately, unlike with matched betting, there is no way we can hedge out our bets. But we can use this knowledge of the house edge to turn things in our favour. Provided the bonus is good, we can expect to make money.

Let’s take a look at one bonus that is currently offered by William Hill on their live casino.

To get the bonus, we need to deposit £25 and then place a series of bets that total at least £200. When we have reached that target and we contact customer service, a bonus of £25 will be added which we are then free to withdraw along with whatever is left of our initial deposit.

How We Make Money From Casino Bonuses

£200 sounds like a lot, but after what we’ve learnt about house edges and blackjack it shouldn’t sound so bad. Remember blackjack has a house edge of 0.5%.

Over £200 staked we expect to lose only £1. That means we expect to keep £24 of the bonus!

This is what we expect to happen.

• We deposit £25 into William Hill Live casino.
• We place 200 £1 bets. At the end, we have lost £1 and have £24 left.
• A £25 bonus is added to our balance.
• We withdraw our balance of £49 (£24+£25).
• We have made a profit of £24.

But, there is risk.

There is a chance we will lose more than just £1. There is even a chance of us losing more money than the bonus is worth. If we use up all of that £25 we would need to deposit more in order to finish the staking.

We won’t go into the maths on variance. But understand this. Blackjack has a house edge of 0.5% and a standard deviation of 1.15.

That means that at a £1 bet size there is a 95% chance we will make somewhere between £7.75 and £40.25. But it also means there is a 7% chance of making a small loss.

That is the essence of making money from casino bonuses. You are simply moving the odds to your favour.

Websites like Oddsmonkey and Profit Accumulator (more on them later) have calculators for working out your variance and house edge from different casino games. They also have strategy calculators to help you play the games optimally.

Whew. So after all that explaining, the actual steps were very simple.

But we had to go into all that details because it will enable you to look at more advanced offers and take advantage of them as well. Every casino bonus has different terms and you need to be able to work out what strategy to follow to get the highest ‘expected profit’ or ev from the bonus.

Which brings us on to the hardest part of making money from casino bonuses.

Where To Find The Best Casino Bonuses

You can only do that William Hill Live casino offer once, so to continue making money you need to find some more offers.

And the unfortunate truth is for more casino bonuses it is not profitable to make money from them. You need to find the diamonds in the rough.

You can do this in exactly the same way as you would when sports matched betting. And in fact, if you have done matched betting before you will probably already know the following two choices:

• Look through casino terms and conditions manually.

95% of people pay for a service. Compared to the EV you can make the services are cheap, they give you a curated list of offers to work through, and they point out any dangerous loopholes in the terms and conditions.

My two favourite paid for services for casino bonuses are:

• Profit Accumulator. Free for your first few bonuses, then £19.99 a month.
• Oddsmonkey. Free for your first few bonuses, £19.99 a month.

Nowadays they are both pretty similar with largely the same offers but different communities, website feel and customer service. They each have free accounts you can try out so I suggest signing up to both and then choosing which one you like the most.

Note: this can get quite complicated. If you want someone to explain it to you one-to-one then Oddsmonkey have an onboarding coach who will hold your hand when you sign up to their £19.99 a month service.

There Are Lots Of Different Types Of Casino Bonuses

Wow what a beast of a post!

Best Way To Make Money Gambling On Football

Let’s just finish on saying that there are lots of different types of casino bonuses and all have slightly different best ways to exploit them.

By now you should understand the concept of expectedvalue and therefore making money from casino bonuses. You have a guide to tackle your first bonus and you have plenty of resources to help you research and find new offers. Good luck!

USEFUL LINKS

• More details on casino wagering requirements.
• My summer betting diary where I made £250 a week throughout the summer holidays.

FAQ

What happens if I lose all of the £25 before completing the wagering requirement??

This is a very real risk and is also the reason why there is a chance of losing a small amount of money while completing the wagering requirement.

What you need to do is to deposit more money and finish the betting.

I hear people talking about ‘sticky’ bonuses or doubling up. What does that mean?

You should really join a forum and start asking people there. You are getting into some quite complicated areas with the potential to lose some large amounts of money if you make a mistake.

But in short: A sticky bonus is one that you can never withdraw. You can only withdraw the winnings. This means that the tactics we spoke about earlier don’t work. Doubling up is a technique to make money from them. You basically bet the whole bonus on red on roulette. If the bet wins you withdraw the winnings. If you lose you’ve lost the bonus which you couldn’t withdraw anyway.

What are the house odds of some other casino games?

• Baccarat – 1.06%
• 3-card Poker – 2.01%
• Craps – 0.34%
• French Roulette (you get 50% of your stake back if it lands on 0) – 1.35%
• American Roulette (two 0s) – 5.26%
• Slots – 3-10%. Average is about 5%.

Can I card count online blackjack?

No, you cannot. Card counting relies on the contents of the remaining cards changing as the rounds go on. In online blackjack the cards are shuffled every hand so the contents don’t change. You can do it with live blackjack – but I believe they shuffle regularly to make it more difficult. I have never tried.

I have a question that is not answered here?

Drop me an email at hello@sampriestley.com and I will do my best to get back to you.

How To Make Money Gambling

Can you make money from casino bonuses while self-isolating or under quarantine?

Fastest Way To Make Money

Yes you can! It is actually a very good time to do it because you can do every step of the offer from your home.