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Video Poker Comps Vs Slots Comps – Which Offers Better Value?

One of the most enjoyable aspects of gambling, in particular at land-based casinos, is the generous comp offers. These can take many forms, with the most common being free drinks and free meals. For bigger spenders, there's the possibility of receiving free limo rides, free hotel rooms and much more. But there's always the question of which games give the players more in comps. If you enjoy casino games like slots or video poker, then will you get more generous slots or video poker comps?

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Are Slots And Video Poker Comps Equal?

On the whole, the vast majority of casinos offer both slots and video poker comps. In fact, the whole process of receiving these rewards is similar in both cases. Simply put, you sign up for the casino’s loyalty program and then received a player’s card. You then insert this into any video poker or slot machine game to receive your rewards.

Collect Points For Slot And Video Poker Comps

Each time you utilise the player’s card you’ll receive points. These are based on the volume and amount of your betting. Once you’ve collected a number of these points, you are able to allocate them towards comps such as spa visits, meals, hotel stays, etc. Given the fact that the process of receiving awards is similar for both the slots and video poker games, you might be wondering whether each gives the same level of awards.

How Are Casino Rewards Determined?

The slots and video poker comps are determined by a mixture of the house edge and the betting volumes. Essentially, the larger your wagering volumes, and the higher the house edge, then the more rewards you’ll receive. In contrast, lower betting volume and a lower house edge will give you much less for your comps. However, there are other factors involved in the formula for determining your comps. A good example would be if you’re a VIP-level player. This will allow you to make up greater reward points at a faster rate. Also, if you play risky games which result in you wagering more, then expect to see receive more comp points.

The following is a comparison of two different scenarios:

Scenario #1

Bet $5,000 on a game with a 6.5% house edge.
Then the casino offers a 0.1% comp rate for games with a 5%+ house edge.
5,000 x 0.01 = $5 worth of comps

Scenario #2

You bet $5,000 on a game with a 1% house edge.
The casino gives a 0.02% comp rate for games with a 1% house edge or less.
5,000 x 0.002 = $1 worth of comps

Slot Machines Usually Offer More Rewards

As previously mentioned, the two factors that decide the level of your slots or video poker comps are how much you’re betting, along with the house edge. In this respect, we can see that slots and video poker are not created equally. For a start, you’ll find a larger house edge when it comes to slots. This leads to bigger awards when compared to video poker machines. On average you’ll find that the slot machine carries between 5% and 8% house edge. In contrast, a typical video poker game will feature a house edge between 1% and 2%.

It goes without saying, that in order to achieve such a low house edge in video poker, you’ll need to play a perfect video poker strategy. This will allow you to lower the house edge even more. Nevertheless, if your strategy is a little rusty, you’ll still enjoy a good possibility to win the jackpot online.

Below we’ve listed the value of the rewards you should expect from playing either video poker or slots:

Slots

Playing a slot machine with a 7% house edge.
You wager $2,000 on this machine.
The casino’s comp system offers a 0.14% rate for this particular game.
2,000 x 0.0014 = $2.80 worth of slots comps

Video Poker

You’re playing a video poker machine with a 1% house edge.
Wagering $2,000 on this machine.
The casino’s comp system offers a 0.02% rate for this particular game.
2,000 x 0.0002 = $0.40 worth of video poker comps

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Reasons Why Slots Comp The Best

On the whole, you’ll find that slots deliver bigger comp rewards than video poker comps. There are a number of reasons for this including the following:

Higher House Edge

To be truthful, slot machines are not the most generous game in the casino. That’s because some of them carry a house edge of as much as 10%. Having said that, you will find many with a house edge between 6% and 7% on average. To be frank, none of these figures is that great. Keep in mind that these are the figures for a land-based casino. If you were playing online slots at 22Bet Casino, for example, you would find that the average house edge is around 4%. This will help you increase your jackpot winning chances. Because the house edge on slots is less than perfect, casinos are more willing to give rewards and incentives in order to encourage players to keep playing.

More Theoretical Losses

It’s a given that the larger the house edge, the higher will be the theoretical losses. As such, you are going to lose more playing the slots than if you were playing video poker. At this point, it’s important to keep in mind that these are average losses over a considerably longer length of time. There are also multiple other factors involved. For example, it’s perfectly feasible to choose a high-paying slot and then lose less than the theoretical result. There’s also the possibility that you have a terrible poker strategy which leads you to lose even more. But generally speaking, you’re bound to lose more when playing the slots than by playing the video poker machines.

The following example will illustrate this point even better:

Video Poker Machine

Play 8/5 Bonus Poker (99.17% RTP).
You wager $1,000.
1,000 x 0.9917 = $991.70 in theoretical winnings
1,000 – 991.70 = $8.30 in theoretical losses

Slot Machine

You play a slot machine with 95.5% RTP.
Wager $1,000.
1,000 x 0.955 = $955.00 in theoretical winnings
1,000 – 955 = $45 in theoretical losses

Players Lose Faster

All casinos, whether brick-and-mortar or online ones know that it’s not a good idea to bleed the gambler completely dry immediately. After all, this could lead to dissatisfied gamblers never returning to the casino. In order to keep the average gambler happy, many online establishments need to give even more comps to big losers. As such, you can see that, because the casino notices that one player is losing more rapidly than others, it might give them more bonuses as an incentive to keep them returning.

You’ll also find that many casinos weigh their reward system more in favour are those who lose faster. And because these gamblers are losing their bankroll faster than anyone else, they are more likely to receive more and bigger rewards.

Some Video Poker Comps Are Great

On the whole, you’ll find the vast majority of video jackpot poker machines pay very well. But having said that, don’t assume this is a given. It’s perfectly possible to find video poker machines that carry unfavourable paytables. Often these can raise the house edge considerably. For example, 6/5 Jacks or Better carries a 5% house advantage. As such, this game pays more and is therefore similar to a slot machine.

Look Out For The Paytables

When it comes to online video poker, you can find many games and paytables that aren’t so friendly to your bankroll. However, they will probably provide better video poker comps than your average land-based casino video poker machine. As a matter of fact, so much depends on the system that the casino is utilising to determine comp rewards. To this end, the majority of casinos take into account individual games rather than have a one-size-fits-all system. Because of these variations and differing rewards, you’ll find that they probably deliver more value.

Choose Games You Like

To be honest, it’s not the best practice to simply choose games based on the rewards they might offer. As you’re probably aware, here at Jackpotfinder.com, we feel that having fun is the most important point of gambling. And that’s why we suggest you should stick to the jackpot games you enjoy playing. Whatever VIP perks or comps come with that game, then so be it. Keep in mind, that whatever the comps are, they exist to offset the theoretical losses. Obviously, as a casino needs to make a profit, they have programmed its systems to ensure that they make more incoming profits than they give out in comps and incentives.

Below we’ve listed an example of this:

Play a casino game with a 4% house edge.
Bet $3,000 total.
3,000 x 0.04 = $120 in theoretical losses
The comp rate is 0.1%.
120 x 0.001 = $1.20 in comps
120 / 1.20 = 100

The theoretical losses are 100x higher than the rewards in this case.

Conclusion: Slot vs Video Poker Comps

As you can see from the above, earnings from video poker comps and slots are the same. But each individual game or slot will give you a different type of reward. Having said that, it’s the slot machines that do lean towards better rewards as they feature higher house edges on average. And the higher the house edge, the more a casino like 22Bet Casino is going to give you in order to offset your losses. However, if you stick to video poker, then you have a bigger chance of enjoying more theoretical winnings.

To this end, keep an eye out for video poker comps, in spite of the fact that they may not offer the same high rewards that can be found when playing the slots.