Replying to "How casino comps work?" hinges on a single number. Most casinos hand out loyalty points on every stake, often called comp points, and let them be exchanged for credit, spins or items in a shop. The exchange rate is where their value lies, and it is rarely shown next to the points balance. Working out what a single point is worth in money turns a vague reward into a percentage of the stakes behind it.
The value of a point comes from the conversion rate. If a hundred points buy one unit of credit and each point costs ten units of stakes, the programme returns a tenth of a percent of everything staked. That figure is small next to the house edge on most games, which is the honest scale for a loyalty reward. Rates often improve with a higher tier, and the improvement is easy to measure the same way.
Points expire. Some programmes wipe the whole balance after a few months without play, others expire each point a fixed time after it was earned, and a few reset everything once a year. A balance left to build toward a larger reward can vanish before it gets there. Checking the expiry rule when joining, and redeeming small amounts regularly where the rules allow, keeps the points from turning into a number that pays nothing.
Often they earn nothing, or earn at a reduced rate, and the loyalty terms state which rule the programme follows.
Compare the points a shop item or batch of spins costs with what the same points would fetch as credit at the cash conversion rate.
Divide the credit a block of points buys by the stakes needed to earn them; one point per ten staked at a hundred points per unit returns a tenth of a percent.
Rates often get better as a player moves up a loyalty tier, and the gain can be measured with the same stake to credit calculation.