In my January blog about promotions I reported that my EI mailer was a “mystery.” Sad to say, for a lot of us there is now no real mystery at Ellis Island: The details may still be a mystery, but it is clear that a slash-and-burn benefits policy is now in place.
Video poker paytables have been cut, but that is not unusual for casinos these days – and it is not a “secret” to players who know to check VP schedules listed on the machine. However, they have changed their bounce-back system to a “mystery” one. We liked the old system because the details were very open and detailed, more so than most any other casino: You put in xxx amount of coin-in for a specific tier level and you routinely earned a known amount of free play. Now it has changed to the highly touted “Passport Perks” that they say you should look for in your mailbox. However, these will appear – or not –with no hints of why you get what or why you get nothing at all to encourage you to “bounce back” to their property instead of going somewhere else. You can’t find out the various factors that might influence the granting of these perks, but early reports seem to point out that you won’t get anything if you have the audacity to win!
Downgrading VP schedules and reducing bounce-back amounts in a closely-guarded secret system is not new in the casino world. We players constantly have to adjust to this. However, what IS disturbing at EI is the radical change in the basic slot club benefit system. Easy-to-understand coin-in requirements to earn points which you can redeem on a set schedule – like at almost any other casino in the United States – are gone. Instead, according to reports on Internet forums when a manager was questioned, he said that when a player accumulates a “certain amount of theoretical loss” the computer would automatically spit out a perks reward. Of course this “certain amount” is totally a mystery to any player.
The switch to mystery benefits is bad enough to make a player feel unwanted but being fooled by a highly misleading promotion just pours salt on the wound. The recent mailer boasts in large print “10x points available every day.” Oh, maybe that will make up for all the mystery benefits you might or might not get – until you find out that this promotion does not have the long-established meaning it had both here at EI in the past and routinely in almost all casinos everywhere. Here it now means you have to first earn 5000 points before the 10x kicks in. Before that point there is a graduated multiplier system:
0-999 daily base points get 1X
1,000 – 1,999 daily base points get 2X
2,000 – 4,999 daily base points get 4X
5,000+ daily base points get 10X
We were still reeling from all the cuts and downgrades with no benefits for the last couple months, when the final insult came: We get a postcard asking us to remember them in the Review-Journal’s “Best of Vegas” voting! I remembered them fine, but there is no category for Casino-That-Cut-Benefits-the-Most-and-Made-Their-System-Impossible-to-Figure-Out.
The point multipliers are not valid on any of the NSUD or 9/6 JoB machines. Since they took out the higher limit NSUDW games I haven’t been back much.
place was a dump anyway….
As you well know, El is not the first casino to go this direction. Harrah’s/Harvey’s Lake Tahoe has eliminated limo service for most players ($50 worth for Seven Stars); eliminated a host even for Diamond players; Casino Royale only awards “losses” (no more coupons or $50 free play). You/I could go on and on. For someone who is not a local, I find it hard to locate any good deals any more. My executive casino host in Vegas does his best for me, but even his hands are tied at times.
Wow just Wow! Let the players voice be heard by spending the mighty $$ else where. Not like there isn’t an alternative place to go to gamble. EI will hopefully realize their way to improve their bottom $$$ is causing an overall loss of customers. I mean really would you have rewards credit card A that says that your reward will be a mystery amount but only on items that are bought that are broken when rewards credit card B says they will give you 3% flat on everything purchased. Wake up EI! Thanks for keeping the casinos honest for us visitors.
after looking at vpfree2 i have concluded that ellis island is now a unprofitable place to stop at and play.
I am not really affected by all these changes because for me, EI has exactly two reasons for me to go there: the BBQ restaurant and the $8/9 steak dinner. VP options never were enticing, with NSUD and JOB being the best available games (I do play the 9/6 JOB Quick Quads for fun on occasion).
There is a comparison that can be made, which is when both Atlantis and Peppermill in Reno changed over to a don’t-ask-won’t-tell comp system. It’s infuriating to have to stand in line to find out if you’ve earned a comp, and then to add insult to injury, to NOT be told how much further play you need. This persisted for several years until there was enough infuriated feedback from players that both competing casinos quietly went back to a quantified comp system. I suspect that either a) EI has made the decision to just screw everybody over, period, without regard to the short- or long-term consequences, or b) this is an experiment, and the combination of howls of protest and/or people voting with their feet will make them modify their approach pronto.
Another comparison with the Atl/Pepp in Reno is that they also punish winners by no-mailing them, which is breathtakingly stupid. I can think of no better and faster way to alienate loyal customers than to penalize them when they, God forfend, WIN for a change. If EI is truly doing that, then they deserve to go out of business. In the meantime, everyone should avoid gambling there (I will still eat the chicken and ribs).
Oh yes: scene from “Bradheart”: “They may take our COMPS…but they’ll never take…our PIZZA!!”
Ellis has changed more than the players club benefits. Employees has been changed too in the players club, bar, pit, tables, karaoke bar, security. Free pizza and free play has been cut for penny players. I did not recognize the place last time. I actually thought I entered the Imperial Palace for a second. I miss many of the old employees, but glad the barbecue and Ellis beer is still the same, but wont be back as often.