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Weekend
January 27/28, 2001
Casino
Freebies
 Well
for those of us who aren't on the Vegas A-list, there
are still places here we can get treated like stars!
Jean Scott knows. This grandma's walked away from casinos
with thousands of dollars in freebies and she showed
EXTRA how you can too!
Las Vegas. You got to be a high roller to win big...
right? Wrong! Just ask this unassuming grandma from
Indiana. She says, "Anybody can do it."
Meet Jean Scott. She says, "They call me the queen of
comps."
The queen of what?! "Comps is short for complimentaries,
which means free stuff the casino's gonna give you."
Over the years, Jean's earned hundreds of thousands
of dollars in comps. From free meals to free rooms.
"Here's one from the Venetian. They want us to come
and have three days and two nights of a complimentary
suite."
So, how'd she do it? She says it's simple, "One word,
ask!"
And she's been asking for the last 16 years. Now, Jean,
a retired English teacher, has devoted her life to getting
freebies from casinos. Her first pearl of wisdom, "The
casino can't reward you if they don't know you're there."
EXTRA rolled the dice with this gambling granny to watch
her in action. She explains, "If you're a table player,
you should never put down a chip until you've told the
dealer, 'I'd like to speak to the pit boss, I want to
be rated.' That means they'll track your play."
The more you play, the more points you earn and points
equal comps.
She goes on, "If you're a slot player, you will never,
ever put a coin in a machine unless you have your player's
card."
Player's cards, or slot cards, also keep track of your
play and points earned. "Instead of you paying it, it
pays you."
So, you've racked up the points... what can you get?
How about some cocktails? Jean says, "The next easiest
thing to get usually is the buffet comp."
From there it's on to free rooms and show tickets. The
trick to claiming your freebies is again, ask and the
person to ask is the pit boss or slot host. Jean says,
"Don't be embarrassed and don't feel guilty."
In fact, Fiesta casino owner, George Maloof says casinos
want to give these freebies away because they are the
best way to build customer loyalty. "You always want
to reward your better players."
Another tip from Jean: do your sightseeing and your
shopping in these mega-resort casino-hotels, but when
it comes to gambling here in Vegas, save that for the
smaller casinos off the strip.
These less lavish casinos may not be as glamorous but
Jean says they pay better and more often. So, if you
take advantage of all the freebies Jean believes the
agony of defeat in the casino won't sting quite as much.
She says, "Let's say you've lost $300 on your latest
trip, but you got $400 worth of rooms, food, shows and
so forth, you didn't really lose."
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Frugal
Fridays by Jean Scott
