July 30th, 2021

I’m still getting so many comments and questions about playing at a CZR property. However, I have a problem. So many of them are coming from video poker advantage players. Although I want to help that category of gamblers as much as I can, conditions for them at CZR casinos – in fact, at any casino – are getting more and more difficult by the day. The biggest category of my readers, and that includes many former advantage players, seems to be recreational players looking to play as smart as they can so they can make their bankroll and their casino entertainment time last longer. And to be truthful, I’m getting very close to that gray area between advantage and recreation.

Reduced casino benefits for all players is not a new problem I just decided I need to write about it, and it isn’t just the pandemic to blame, although that has speeded up the down-the-hill plunge. I did some searching in my past blogs and was surprised how far back I had to go to find a serious detailed discussion of this subject. In March 2015, I started a series called “When Casinos Cut VP Benefits” and continued it off and on through April of that year, with 3 more posts discussing how all kinds of players were coping with the downgrading of the casino environment.

Actually, today, new players probably are faring better emotionally than we old-timers are. We’re shackled by the memories of how good it used to be. But player moaning and groaning don’t change things in the casino world. Some players are leaving casino play completely, but for many it’s still a favorite recreational choice. So my goal here is to help you with the little details that can help you lose less and thus stretch your casino fun time. The key word there is “little.” People want 25-words-or-less magic bullets. Never was such a thing in smart gambling!

In my last post, I promised to talk about free play – and I will in the near future. However, I need to discuss it in general terms, about casinos everywhere, and not just specifically CZR properties. But now I need to help you understand how to navigate the CZR tier system.

First, I don’t want to scold any of you, but I’m getting questions that indicate that some of you don’t want to bother with learning even the basics of the CZR players club. Pleeeeeese go back to the links I gave you at the beginning of this series. Study the difference between Reward credits and Tier credits. Don’t ask me what it takes to earn one Reward credit or one Tier Credit. It’s right there on the Earn and Redeem website. It’s like any game: You need to know the rules before you can play it well.

In this post, I discuss the Tier half of the CZR benefit system, saving the other half, the Reward credits, for the next. I want to give you tips on how to apply some of the information given on the company websites. The more details you know and how to take advantage of them, the longer your bankroll can provide casino fun. I guarantee that!

First, study the benefits of the different tier levels; they’re listed right there on the website. Then decide what they’d be worth to you. Don’t go for a higher tier if you think you don’t want or wouldn’t use most of the benefits. And even if you’d like the benefits, be sure you don’t overplay your bankroll and lose more than they’re worth.

Slot players do earn tier credits faster than VP players. Just look at their much lower coin-in requirements – one-half as much as that for VP. Why the difference? Overall, casinos know that slot players will lose more money on the machines than will VP players, so they give them a quicker ride to the higher tiers and more benefits. However, the big problem VP players face so often is (a) all the VP games at their level of play have extremely low EV paytables or (b) the casino has put a little sign on the better-paying machines, increasing their coin-in requirements for earning credits, sometimes as much as 5 times the regular VP rate. You can see why some VP players feel they might as well play the slots, rather than crappy VP, so they’ll get to higher tiers and better benefits faster. (In my next post about Reward credits and free play, I’ll talk about this same slots-vs.-VP issue.)

However, whatever you play, you can boost your tier score faster by timing your daily play to take advantage of their Tier Credit Bonus promotion. Those details are explained in the same link I’ve given above.

Here’s an example: You want to do a 4-day trip to a CZR property, your first visit. Your gambling bankroll will support your earning 5,000 tier credits, whatever you decide to play – slots or video poker or a combination. Maybe your schedule would look like this:

Day 1 – Arriving late so you don’t play long, getting just over 500 tier credits. You’ll earn a bonus of 125 credits.

Day 2 – You put in some major playing time and get about 1,700 tier credits. You earn a 1,000-credit bonus.

Day 3 – You’re really ready to play a long time and you earn 2,600 credits. Hurrah! You get a max % bonus of 5,000.

Day 4 – You’re leaving in the afternoon, so you pack up in the morning and have time to earn only 200 credits before you go out the door. So you get no bonus credits that day, because the minimum number that qualify for a daily bonus is 500.

But you’re happy. Your bankroll lasted, albeit just barely. Adding up all your earned tier credits and the bonus ones, you have a total of just over 11,000, well over the 5,000 needed to reach the Platinum tier. That’s good progress!

But now, let’s see how this player could have earned the next level up, perhaps winning or losing the same amount but playing no more hours and risking no more of his bankroll.

Day 1 – He was tired after a long drive and decides not to play and instead to have a relaxing drink and leisurely dinner with his spouse that evening and an early bedtime.

Day 2 – Awake early and feeling rested, he plays two long sessions, getting just over 2,500 tier credits with that good % bonus of 5,000.

Day 3 – He does the same as he did on Day 2, again earning 2,500 tier credits with that good % bonus of 5,000.

Day 4 – He wakes up and packs, realizing that he now has, adding the earned credits and the bonus ones, a total of 15,000+. Double hurrah! He’s reached another level – to Diamond – and he didn’t have to play a minute more than his original schedule. He just had to organize his play!

Being organized is one of key factors that made Brad and me such successful gamblers over the years and it would help anyone, no matter their level of play, be able to achieve whatever tier goal they’re shooting for with the least bankroll risk.

You also need to watch for other ways to boost your tier credit balance. Sometimes a casino will run a promotion during which there is a tier-credit multiplier for play during that time. You also get credit for other gaming besides slots and video poker, including table games, live keno, bingo, and sports and race betting. And there are multiple ways you can earn tier credits when you’re in a casino without any play at all. You get credits for your spend at dining and entertainment venues; for paying hotel expenses, including resort fees; and for what you spend for leisure experiences like shopping, spa treatments and golf.

Again, I point you to the same website to get details, because not every CZR casino has the same amenities and there are sometimes limitations at certain outlets. Use the “Learn More” links for specific details and exceptions. Be sure to read all the fine print. CZR is known for lengthy footnotes in all of their verbiage.

In my next post, I’ll discuss the other half of the CZR benefits program, Reward Credits. In the meantime, here’s another link you might want to check to review the difference between Reward credits and Tier credits and the details of both programs, how they are are similar and how they are completely different. It’s complicated and you might need to go over all the information more than once. Stay tuned for more hints!