I have no "friends" and have not purchased any playing chips. I have been keeping track of points since March and have earned about 115,00 loyalty points - these are the points that get you Vegas prizes.
I am going to Vegas in July and turned in these points for 1 ticket to Love, 1 Dinner Buffet at Mandalay Bay and 1 dinner buffet at Mirage (this one was overpriced but I figured I was going to Mirage to see Love and it would be convenient). They used to offer 2 ticket, 2 buffet options prior to my starting to build points to get those but they either don't offer the 2fers at all anymore or raised the price prohibitedly. But free is free so I'm happy getting what I have gotten.
I gain, play, lose, gain etc playing points and have not kept track of how many I have earned.
I have advanced more than 30 levels since March - you start picking up 1,000 LP per level after level 39, less per level prior to that but you advance levels must faster before level 40.
They often have double XP point days and you can rack up XP points quickly on those days and advance levels quicker.
I enjoy playing and do play probably an hour or two (or three) on the days I play but I often don't play for days at a time. The trick is to log on often and pick up points (both loyalty and playing) from the hotels so that when you do play you can play at higher levels and hopefully generate even more points. Also if you log on at least daily there is a daily wheel spin that has a multiplier dependent on how many days you have logged on in a row.
Additionally watch your e-mail and face book postings. They generally give out free points on both by just clicking on links. There is another link that shows up daily that wants you to like and share, I don't do that one.
Lastly, the more hotels you build the more points you pick up on a daily basis. I found when building hotels that the Bet the Farm game seemed to generate the most V's. I just played the heck out of that one at low wagers 85/170 on auto spins and the hotels get built in a few days. I personally enjoy playing the Around the World and Lost in Time games the most although they are cheap with the bonuses.
One of the message boards posted an analysis that says playing either 200 or 1000 points is the most
efficient way to earn 10 loyalty points.
Good luck
