Rating: 
Summary: Amusing, but...
Review: Rubin is an amusing fellow, obviously a debaucher, degenerate, and reprobate. This I admire, along with his writing style and ability to spin an ancedote. What I can't grasp is the cheapskate mentality that would have folks do almost anything for a comp. I go to Vegas to gamble and to win money. I can readily afford the cheap airfares, rooms, and food or I wouldn't go. I can't imagine making large bets into a negative deck just because the floorman is watching and I want to fool him into inflating my rating. Intentionally spill a drink on the table to stop the game for a few minutes so you play fewer hands than reported? Gimme a break. Ninety percent of average players would be far better off learning to gamble intelligently than worrying about sqeezing a few extra comp dollars. Still, some of the stories are laugh out loud funny and worth the price of the book.
Rating: 
Summary: Free Lunch Vegas Style
Review: The convoluted premise of the book is that you should obnoxiously badger the casino into giving you comps while endlessly playing Blackjack and feigning large bets. Assuming you have no shame and find a casino that will put up with such antics, the sophomoric author promises that your expected mathematical losses will eventually be offset by getting free meals and hotel rooms. A lot of sordid effort for a small return - bon appetite!
Rating:
Summary: Free Lunch Vegas Style
Review: The convoluted premise of the book is that you should obnoxiously badger the casino into giving you comps while endlessly playing Blackjack and feigning large bets. Assuming you have no shame and find a casino that will put up with such antics, the sophomoric author promises that your expected mathematical losses will eventually be offset by getting free meals and hotel rooms. A lot of sordid effort for a small return - bon appetite!
Rating: 
Summary: Only Useful If You Enjoy Blackjack
Review: There's no point in wasting your money on this if you don't like blackjack. 90% of the book is based on blackjack play. If you play slots, for example, the advice is very limited and is mostly common sense- sign up for the slot club and you'll get discounted rooms. Don't sign up and you'll still get free drinks. That's about it. There's a whole section on why everything except blackjack stinks.If you like blackjack and play well, there are some interesting ways of trying to make the casinos think you play more than you do. Some will make you look like an idiot at the tables, but that's all part of the scam. Your main goal will be to slow down the game for everyone at the table so it looks like you play more per hour than you do. Some of the stories in the book are entertaining, and it did make me chuckle here and there, but there's nothing very original here. If you play $25+ hands of blackjack, bet huge when the "bosses" are around, and slow the game down as much as possible, you might have a shot at some decent comps. Bribe (Tip!) some of the employees if you can, and your odds of getting comps go up. Who would have guessed? The best advice I got out of it is that if you don't ask for comps, they won't give them to you. I'm one of the people who goes to casinos to relax, not to stalk the employees at 3 in the morning to bribe them with buffets from the hotel next door, so I'll probably never get that free hotel room. Ah well!
Rating:
Summary: Only Useful If You Enjoy Blackjack
Review: There's no point in wasting your money on this if you don't like blackjack. 90% of the book is based on blackjack play. If you play slots, for example, the advice is very limited and is mostly common sense- sign up for the slot club and you'll get discounted rooms. Don't sign up and you'll still get free drinks. That's about it. There's a whole section on why everything except blackjack stinks. If you like blackjack and play well, there are some interesting ways of trying to make the casinos think you play more than you do. Some will make you look like an idiot at the tables, but that's all part of the scam. Your main goal will be to slow down the game for everyone at the table so it looks like you play more per hour than you do. Some of the stories in the book are entertaining, and it did make me chuckle here and there, but there's nothing very original here. If you play $25+ hands of blackjack, bet huge when the "bosses" are around, and slow the game down as much as possible, you might have a shot at some decent comps. Bribe (Tip!) some of the employees if you can, and your odds of getting comps go up. Who would have guessed? The best advice I got out of it is that if you don't ask for comps, they won't give them to you. I'm one of the people who goes to casinos to relax, not to stalk the employees at 3 in the morning to bribe them with buffets from the hotel next door, so I'll probably never get that free hotel room. Ah well!
Rating: 
Summary: A Little Helpful And Funny
Review: This book is a good read for any gambler with limited knowledge of casino operations and marketing. Many of the reviewers pan the book for some of his comp hustling ways, but he explains that not all things in the book are for everyone. Max also states that it is for people that would have gambled anyway and were getting nothing or very little. I think this book benefits gamblers that are currently not comped and don't know how to get comps. Max is a bit overboard in his ways, but it is a good primer for people that don't know how casino comps work. Most people play and get nothing because they don't know they can get something. I have friends that I gambled with many years ago, but they don't go very often anymore. These friends are in significantly higher income brackets now and still don't get (or ask for) comps for their higher action during the few trips they make to casinos. This book would be very helpful to them. The one knock against the book is when Max writes if a game becomes a "magilla," to leave because too many eyes will be on the game. If black chips are flying at a table, I think most people would stop comp hustling and get in on the winning!
Rating: 
Summary: It worked for me!
Review: This book might not work for everyone, but it sure worked for me. I bought it two weeks ago and stayed up all night reading (and laughing at) it. I called in sick and drove to Las Vegas with my wife the next morning. We did what Max told us and had our best Vegas Vacation ever. We got free rooms for the first time ever, never paid for a meal or a drink and we couldn't even look at pit boss without cracking up. If you read it you'll know why. We're not pros or high rollers, but for a couple of days there, we felt like we owned Las Vegas. This is the best gambling book I ever read.
Rating:
Summary: Worth the price in one casino visit....
Review: This book was easy to read and understand... Max keeps the readers entertained with some of his many experiences. Should recover the price of the book in the first trip to any casino..
Rating:
Summary: He is really pushing the definition of "comps"!!
Review: This book was really a disappointment! We go to Las Vegas frequently and do take advantage of many legitimate comps offered by the casinos. I had hoped this book could give me some further insight into the intricacies of the comp system. Unfortunately, Max Rubin has written a book about squeezing the system dry. Some of his topics include "Feeding 4 with a comp for only 2" - this sections includes bribing the waitress with $5 and ask her if it is ok for your guests to "taste" your food. He says to
make sure you order plenty of appetizers so you will have empty plates for your guests' portions of the food. He says that if you are being comped for Room, Food and Beverages, never leave the hotel without taking home at least a couple of extra bottles of booze or champagne. This is not taking advantage of comps, this is stealing. He also says that if you are offered free tickets to a fight, don't worry if you are not a fan of boxing. He says to take the freebies and resell them and then he says "you're on your way". A really poor book. Not at all what I expected.
Rating:
Summary: Follow at your peril
Review: This is an entertaining read and almost certainly the most comprehensive work on the subject. But the fundamental premise (basically: the casinos will do anything to screw you out of your money, so here's how to sink to their level) is not only self-demeaning (who could consider days spent trying to weasel their way into a crummy buffet a vacation anyway?), but almost certain to fail even on its own terms. As some other reviewers here have correctly pointed out, one bad streak at the tables will completely wipe out whatever paltry "gains" the comp-grubber may have nickel-and-dimed their way into. Consequently, this book could be likened to an auto repair manual that destroys your car engine if you follow its instructions. Buyer beware.
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