Comps have become a rarity at Atlantic City casinos as competition from other states and the slow economy has hurt Atlantic City’s revenues. All gaming halls in Atlantic City have started to offer less complimentary benefits and are now shifting toward catering to the high end player.

A gaming analyst from Deutsche Bank AG, Andrew Zarnett, told The Sunday Philadelphia Inquirer, that: "No longer does everybody get a comp no matter what. They have to be very discerning to give those comps to people who earn them."

Comps may not ever return to Atlantic City casinos, according to some operators. The casinos earn the majority of their revenue from slots, more than 70 percent, and it has been down this year by 8 percent. Scott Barber, the Senior Vice President and General Manager of Harrah’s resort stated in the Philadelphia Inquirer that Atlantic City will now have to focus on developing poker customers and not be reliant on one source of income. Female slots players from age 45 to 65 had been the “sweet spot for Atlantic City” according to Barber, bringing in a large part of the casinos revenue.

Last year, Atlantic City spent almost $422 million on comps from January to June and this year in the same time period they have only spend $375 million. Other casinos have upped their promotional spending, such as Pennsylvania, who spends more than 130 percent from last year.

“You are seeing a shift in the entire marketplace on how we market," stated Barber. Time will tell if the decision to pull the majority of the comps for slots players will benefit the Atlantic City’s casinos or hurt them in the future.


- 2008-08-25