Memo to the AP writers.

It's called 'being comped' -as in, the room and/or other niceties are provided by casinos because their bean counters know that people who gamble a certain amount, will lose much more to the house than any opportunity cost of providing amenities.

Used to be you could put down some amount of cash for what was called 'a marker' and get comped. Smart folks knew this, and actually could and did get rooms and such 'for free' -because. knowing the odds, they didn't or only rarely gambled, and even then only if they were reasonably skilled at blackjack and craps.

When you left, you retireved the amount of the marker.