Mgm tier levels

Fellow LVA'ers, always good to ask your advice.  I thought I read somewhere you could take $1000.00 to say the roulette wheel or the craps table.  The pit boss would enter in your stake.  Then perhaps you play for 5-10 minutes or so at a low level and cash out.  Does that give you a decent amount of tier credits.  Seems the only way to really increase your level to platnium or NOIR(gold currently) is to pay for hotel rooms, buy shows and food at MGM properties.  I didnt know if that $1000.00 trick works to boost your level or not.  anyone else have a strategy or play for this one?  Its nice to have those gold cards, no standing in the long lines, valet is free and gives you a bit more credibility.

thanks as always.

dave miller

I can't imagine playing anything for 5-10 minutes at a low level would boost your score.  But I don't play roulette or craps. 

What is good, and has just hit my mailbox, is that mLife (MGM) is extending the earning period for 2021 another month, through January of 2022.  You'll probably get this notice as well.  And whatever tier you earn is extended through January of 2023.  If you are close to Gold (or whatever) this may help. 

Also, look for some multiplier days.  Like you would swipe your card at an mLife kiosk and earn 2x -100x points for play that day.  Sometimes this is limited to certain games, i.e. not on video poker, so pay attention to that.  Of course most of us 'pick' the symbol with 2x points, but better than nothing.  Where I play this is normally on Sundays (Biloxi), advertised in their brochure.  Rarely if ever in Las Vegas casinos.

Good luck.

Candy

I saw that, I've got the MLife Mastercard as well.  But that 2x-100x the points is a great idea.  I'm also on the mgm virginia sports book.  Seems like it takes at least two full trips to a resort with hotel, gambling, shows dining to keep up your tier credits.  Thanks for the advice.

dave

Here's the way I got to MGM gold without gambling. I've mentioned it before around these parts.

Qualify for a Wyndham Earner BUSINESS card from Barclays Bank ($95 a year). You automatically get Diamond status with Caesars  - which is way better than MGM Gold. Then take your Caesars Diamond to an MGM casino and they will match it with...Gold! 

And as long as they don't change their present policies, it's eternal. None of that messy gambling required.

Incidentally, at one time or another, I've sold stuff on eBay, so yeah, I'm a business, sort of. On the application for the card I put that my time in business was one year and when they wanted a phone conversation and asked about my business revenue, I said it was under $10,000. It turns out WAY under.

Dave, insofar as how your play is rated, both for specific things like tier levels and for comps in general, your buyin amount never matters. What gets you rated is (your average bet) x (the duration of your play) x (the house advantage of the game). So if you make modest bets, or you don't play very long, you don't get a good rating (or don't earn very many tier credits). Insofar as house advantage is concerned, you don't get a good rating if most or all of your bets are low -EV (like only pass line + full odds at craps or playing good BJ games with perfect Basic Strategy).

Probably the least painful way to rack up the credits is to find a good VP game and run that $1000 through (over and over). Sometimes, you get rated as if you were a money-burning slot player. However, many casinos slash the points you earn on their best machines. Also, "good video poker" and "MGM" are rarely said in the same sentence, so you might have to fire up VPfree2 to search games at your favorite casino.

It's a cat-and-mouse game, but I do know some people who have played moderately lousy multi-line VP games (98%) and were rewarded waaaaay out of proportion to what their play was worth to the casino. Ultimately, you have to use trial and error--play for a while and see what comps, tier points, blah blah that generates. One thing I can guarantee is that it's all much, much tighter than it used to be, even since last year.

I don't know if they will do it again this year, but last year Wynn did a short term tier match promo for having Harrah's Diamond Elite, qualifying the holder for their highest tier, "Black".  I just happened to see it somewhere and told my friend who had made Diamond Elite in 2020, so she got elevated to Wynn's Black tier for the remainder of 2021 and all of 2022.  It wasn't automatic, and if I hadn't seen it and told her about it she would have missed it (she had to present her Elite card at the players club desk and all that). 

This promotion came out in the middle of 2021 and had to be done by August 31, 2021.  We happened to be going in July so she made it happen (even the people at Wynn seemed to not be that familiar with the process).   

Candy

Kevin,

I thnk your right about the cat and mouse game.  rated is (your average bet) x (the duration of your play) x (the house advantage of the game).  And i'm playing craps, passline, sometimes don't pass if feel the shooter is going to roll a 7 after a point is made.  making the free odds bet and placing bets on 6,8,9,10 and sometimes buying the 4.  I really have not done well at BlackJack as you really have to memorize basic stragety, not that hard, but understanding card counting as well.  Most casinos on the strip are playing 6 to 5 which is terrible odds.

have you ladies and gentlemen seen this. I've seen at mandaly bay and new york, new york where the casino has added a third set of zeros(000) to the roulettee wheel, which i'm guessing takes the game from a house advantage of 5.2% to probably double that.  My last trip to vegas in Dec 13-17 2021, I could run $100 through a slot machine and not have a single payoff.  Seems like in order to be successful you really have to keep that discipline up(walking away when you are ahead), playing craps, blackjack or barracat or video poker using the strategy cards. 

well said Kevin, "cat and mouse" game it is.  I look foward to more conversations going into 2022 and would love to meet up sometime to chat with my fellow LVA'ers.  My next trip to vegas is in May 2022.

Dave

Hi Dave, here's some bonus tips for your next trip:

Play 3:2 BJ and use perfect Basic Strategy. It's not that hard to find good games, though you might have to leave the Strip. You don't need to understand or employ card counting at all. You can keep the house advantage down to about 0.5% that way.

When playing craps, always take full odds, and rather than making place bets, if you want additional action, make Come bets and take full odds when those bets are moved to a number. If you do make place bets, DON'T bet the 4/5/9/10; the house advantage on those bets is too high. Buying numbers is also usually too -EV, though buying the 4/10 can be OK if the house takes the vig from your payoff, not your initial bet (rare).

Triple zero roulette is a farce. They took one of the worst table games in existence and...made it even worse. I think the actual house edge is 7.89% or something like that...I didn't bother to look it up. Horrible!

So if you want to have a good time on your next trip and not get pounded through the floor in the process:

1. Don't gamble on the Strip. At all. Just off the Strip are several casinos that will give you a much better bang for your buck: Gold Coast, Orleans, Palace Station, Palms if it ever reopens, etc.

2. Don't play for comps. They've all got it figured out--you're going to get back about 20% of your losses. Obviously, you're better off just reducing those losses. That said, you'll find that the casinos I mentioned above will reward your play much more than the Strip joints, where anyone who isn't betting black chips is considered to be pocket lint.

3. When playing craps, restrict yourself to ONLY the best bets on the table: Pass, Don't Pass, Come, Don't Come (all with full odds), place the 6 and 8. Period. Nothing else.

4. Find 3:2 BJ games, and remember that the fewer the number of decks, the better. Learn PERFECT Basic Strategy and NEVER deviate from it.

5. Treat slot machines like they're radioactive. Which they are.

Just a final note: "walking away while you're ahead" doesn't really have much meaning if you'll be back in an hour, a day, a week...in reality, it's all one long gambling session--until you die (which is the only way you can truly walk away ahead). What you need to do is set a gambling budget and stick to it. Gamble in short sessions and do other things in between. Keep track of your wins and losses.

Divide your time into X gambling sessions. Allocate X amount of money for each session. If you play the whole session without losing your session stake, put what you have in your pocket and make that money off limits for the rest of the trip. If you lose your session stake, walk away and don't play again until your next scheduled session. If you double your session stake, walk away and make that money off limits as above.

As you recognize, you need to exercise thought and discipline to not get slaughtered in Vegas. Especially now.

Here is another trick:  Wash out a big glass jar, maybe a pickle jar, set it on top of your fridge, and each day put some ones or fives or tens or whatever is left over from the day or the week (coins too!).  Don't touch any of it until your trip.  Voila...more money for the trip!  (That was a stop smoking strategy my husband used and it helped...watching what he would have spent to buy lung cancer instead increase daily for something he wanted.)  A visual to keep you goal-minded.

Put money left from any "session" or day (winnings or break even) in the safe in your room.  Don't touch it until time to depart.  How fun to cash those at the ATM right before leaving!  Same with chips:  keep them in the safe until time to leave, cash them before you go.

You can always 'swipe' your card at any mLife Players Club kiosk and see how close you are to making your tier.  If all you need to get there is to pay for a meal, a show, or a room, it will be a bargain compared to what it costs you to gamble for it.

It soon will be a new year.  It is worth it to study each casino's web site regarding earning of points for games.  They don't all do it the same even within the company.  Some may give fewer points for certain games.  It is in the fine print often at the tail end of the web site, but can make a difference, a list of "rules" regarding this and that which can change from one year to the next.  For example, at Beau Rivage in Biloxi you may earn tier points at tables slower than at Vegas, or earn Express Comps and not tier points.  I recall some craziness about that some years ago.  

Candy

Candy, I think at Beau, Gold Strike, and other "regional" mLife casinos, the rate of earning tier credits is 8 credits per dollar (non-gaming), vs. 25 credits per dollar (non-gaming) in Vegas.