This month I was going to write a promotion blog called Promotional Perils. Well, I AM going to be writing on that subject but sad to say I will have to use very recent examples, some just encountered for our June play, which will show why smart players will need to stay alert. Not constantly monitoring players club changes and promotion details can be dangerous to your wallet.
THE M RESORT SPA CASINO
TROPICANA LAS VEGAS
Last month I wrote about the new benefits at the M Casino called Marquee Comps. I gave the link for the dedicated website that covers the Marquee Rewards players club program for the many Penn National Gaming properties across the country. I also made this comment: “Notice that it does not include their recently-acquired Tropicana casino, which hasn’t as yet been folded into this players club system.”
The Tropicana HAS now become part of the Marquee Rewards players club program.
Lesson learned: When a casino changes owners, check out the changes, especially in the players club.
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TUSCANY SUITES & CASINO
The monthly senior 20% discount moves to Caffé Bottega for the month of June.
STATION CASINOS
My Generation 50+ senior specials on Wednesday: Some are on-going but others change from month to month.
Lesson learned: Check casino websites EVERY month. Many promotions change frequently, especially the ones in senior programs.
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BOYD PROPERTIES (The Orleans, Gold Coast, Suncoast, and Sam’s Town)
Lots of lessons here every month: Not all properties under the same ownership umbrella offer the same promotions.
Different casinos may offer different multiplier days. And each casino may have its own capping rules on the multipliers. And there can be different caps on multipliers in the same casino depending whether it is a “corporate” promotion (like the Young at Heart) or a specific-to-that-casino promotion. For example, at the Gold Coast you can get the mystery multiplier on the Young at Heart Wednesday for up to a cap of 10,000 points for VP. But on multiplier Mondays in June (it might be another day another month!) you face a cap of 5000 points. This fact might be a surprise to you if you didn’t get out your magnifying glass out to read the fine print in your mailer since in the past months the cap was 10,000 points.
Lesson learned: Always read the fine print. And to repeat myself ad nauseam: Check for changes EVERY month!
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Good lesson: Read vpFREE forum posts and sign up for vpFree2 e-mails for additional information. Here is some information I learned from these just in the last week:
- I believe the Downtown Grand senior day is on Tuesdays and 50+ are now eligible instead of 60+. This is from their locals mailers and personal experience.
2. Palms – Mystery Multipliers May 31-June 3 – We must take the kiosk voucher to the slot club for this. (This was not necessary sometimes previously.)
Tuscany – Free Play Fridays – There are five levels we can earn. Lowest is $5 for earning 500 points. Highest is $100 for earning 10,000 points. Scratch and Win Saturdays – We can earn a max of four scratch cards each Saturday for 250 points each.
Tropicana Player’s Club Update
5. Normally South Point has four weekly Tues-Thurs mailers. Not this month because starting on Tuesday, June 21, they will be installing a new slot system.
Week 1: W-F June 1-3
Week 2: Tu-Th June 7-9 (this is normal)
Week 3: Tu-Th June 14-16 (also normal)
“Week 4”: Sa-M June 18-20
There appears to be no double-point days for June.
SOUTH POINT
Actually I had gotten that above information earlier from my own South Point mailer and I was anxious to share it with the readers here. Regular local players would also have probably gotten this information earlier, but it might be important for out-of-towners who don’t get a mailer but might be planning a trip to Vegas the later part of the month. During a slot system change, play might not be registering and could affect earning club points, comps, etc. Sometimes there is a backup system in place, but if you are concerned about earning benefits that last week of June, you might want to talk to a host to see if there would be any problems about this.
Another thing you have to watch out for is the “fine print.” I just got an email offer from a major Reno casino–one where I’ve historically played a lot–that said I had “earned two free nights.” Well, this could have been potentially useful–except for the fine print, which said that the offer was only valid from June 5 to 9–in other words, starting on the same day they sent the email!!! I’m 800 miles away, so that offer is worthless.
I do get a lot of Vegas room offers, but more often than not, they are only good for Sun-Thurs. However, exceptions are my Sam’s Town (NOT other Boydbrain casinos) and El Corpse offers. As long as there are available rooms, I can use my promotion code to book any days, including Fri/Sat. An exception to THAT: the Hard Rock keeps sending me two nights on the cheap + free slot play + food offers: essentially zero cost. However, I have tried at least half a dozen times to book a room–on different days of the week–and been told every time that “those rooms are sold out.” Their emailed offer says “based on availability.”
I have learned casino-style savvy marketing! Log on to my website and buy a genuine bar of gold bullion from Fort Knox for only $10!!! Based on availability.
DOWNTOWN GRAND – LVA “Players Club Bonus Points” shows senior day being Wed. not Tues. I believe Tues. is correct. FYI