APRIL VEGAS PROMOTIONS

More Marketing Relationships

MGM and Thunder Valley Casino Resort have announced a strategic marketing relationship which creates reciprocal benefits for the loyalty programs of both companies. Thunder Rewards members will receive exclusive offers at MGM Resorts destinations in Las Vegas, while MGM Resorts’ M life members will enjoy offers to play and stay at Thunder Valley Casino Resort in Lincoln, Calif.

SLS Las Vegas will become part of the Preferred Hotels & Resorts guest loyalty program, which includes a worldwide collection of 450 independent hotels and resorts. The hotel, which is expected to open Labor Day weekend, is the first Las Vegas property in the Preferred Hotels system. Guests who enroll in the iPrefer guest loyalty program can redeem points at any of the Preferred properties.

 

TUSCANY

I have dug up some additional information about the 20% senior discount off “EVERYTHING, EVERYDAY!”  The ads list the places where this is good: retail, restaurants, the gift shop, bars, lounges, the spa, and rooms. But as usual “everything” doesn’t really mean everything.  In the restaurants the discount isn’t good for take-out.  In the gift shop, it doesn’t apply to papers and magazines or sale items. (Surprisingly it does apply to alcoholic beverages.)

The slot club now has Senior stickers to add to the players club cards of those 50 and older so they can more conveniently get the 20% discount.  However, be aware that the restaurants may be giving the discount only to the person who shows his/her card to pay.  I’m not sure how this works with a group – if everyone shows a Senior card would the whole bill be discounted 20%?  Or, does each one have to have a separate bill?  I haven’t been able to test this yet.

 

ELLIS ISLAND

There had been some reports on Internet gambling forums that all of the “good” video poker games here were gone.  This erroneous news was a result of some incomplete scouting.  Even some very experienced players got it wrong because they did not check every denomination on their usual machines.   Paytables at some denominations have been cut but not at all of them.

Scouting these days, with multi-line, multi-game, multi-denomination, requires careful attention to details.  You don’t need to just check every option in one machine, but you need to check every single machine.  Many a time I have seen a good paytable on a machine but a downgraded one on the machine right next to it.

Promotions for machine players include the usual Wednesday drawings plus a new daily one for April.  Earn 50 base points same day and swipe your card at the kiosk and everyone wins something – cash, free play, or gifts.   If you belong to the 50+ Club, there is a similar swipe on Tuesday and Thursday, plus 6 drawings through the day.  For table players there are weekly “Beat the Boss” drawings with a 50” flat screen TV as the grand prize in the final drawing on April 27.   See pit for rules on how to earn tickets.

Gift days continue on Sundays, with “surprise” items.  I call these clean-out –the-warehouse promotions.  Then to celebrate National Beer Day on Monday, April 7, they are offering a 20oz EI craft beer for $1.

The free pizza/sub offer from your mailer, good on Tuesdays and Saturdays, is no longer eligible for to-go packaging.  (Bring your own wrapping supplies if you want to take it home to eat later!)

 

BOYD PROPERTIES

There’s still some confusion about the difference between being a local or a non-local at these properties, whether you have a choice if you have an out-of-state address, and what are the advantages and disadvantages of each.

I do know that some out-of-towners who come to Vegas very frequently get a local mailbox so they will receive “local mailings,” which include food coupons and free play.  More importantly, it is becoming more frequent to have multiple-point days for locals only.

In fact, we got an extra mailing for March 30-April 26 labeled “Las Vegas Locals Get More.”  Details were skimpy but it seemed to be touting more penny slot bonuses, more dining offers, extra point-multiplier times, and extra drawings – seemingly all just for locals.  (Actually I had an unexpected extra dining offer when I swiped on March 30.)  There was also a new wrinkle in this “locals” mailing.  Main Street Station, usually considered a “destination” casino as are the other downtown casinos, was added in this mailer to the four casinos that are usually considered “local”:  The Orleans, Gold Coast, Suncoast, and Sam’s Town.

Keeping up with these changes is giving me a headache!

But in the good-news department:  To take the place of the hot dog cart that we miss at the Suncoast, you can still get 75-cent dogs at the deli – but only until 5 p.m.

 

STATION CASINOS

I just learned they have changed their way of figuring slot club points although they haven’t changed the basic values.  I need to get more information about how/if this affects other parts of the slot club program and then I will share it with you in an upcoming blog.

 

EL CORTEZ

This casino continues to tempt me with their unusual  mouth-watering bonuses:  They serve free Klondike bars to players who hit a jackpot of $25 or more every Wednesday.   Then from noon until 6 p.m. on Saturday, April 5,  they will serve free slices of fresh Marie Callender’s strawberry pie to all Club Cortez members who are playing slots and table games.

Now for the clincher:  All of April, Club Cortez players winning a jackpot of $200 or more on a slot machine, a $200 or more jackpot on a video poker five-cent or lower denomination machine, a $300 or more jackpot on a video poker ten-cent or high denomination machine or a $200 or more jackpot on live keno will receive a complimentary box of Russell Stover’s Candies. Players earning two tickets will receive a complimentary box of See’s Candies. Details at the players club desk.

Sweet!