With Slot Machines You Get Comps

With the new law stating that slot machine casinos can serve free alcohol to their slot machine players, many are wondering how far the Pennsylvania casinos are going to be willing to go to get their money. Any time you go to the casinos in Las Vegas or Atlantic City, sit down at a slot machine and start playing and then wait. Soon enough someone will come and offer you some free beverages – and if you get to be really good, that’s not all. 

There is a high calling for comps for big spenders and winners at most slot machine casinos and those in PA won’t be any different. It is just one more way of reeling in the slot machine players. It is not a mandate that the casinos give their slot machine players free drinks, it is just permission to do so if they choose to. However, if one slot machine casino starts giving out free drinks to their customers the others will have to follow suit or they will end up losing customers to those that give it away.

PA’s high tax rate on the slot machines will probably put a damper on some of the comps that they will be able to hand out, as Vegas and AC are not subject to the same restrictions. "Don't fall into the trap of comparing this market to Las Vegas or Atlantic City," said Bob Oltmanns, spokesman for PITG Gaming LLC, which is applying for a slot machine license. "Pittsburgh is not going to be that, with people coming from all over the country. ... It's not at all unreasonable to expect there will be comp services for our more frequent [slot machine] players here, but what that's going to be, I don't know."
 

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