We are back home from vacation and I am processing more casino information I found piled up in our mailbox and my computer Inbox, plus what I gleaned from chatting with fellow casino players who have had a week or so to check out June offers in person. This last-mentioned technique can often be a valuable source of useful and accurate casino information.
This is a good time to mention another technique that I may not have talked about recently but one that is becoming a very valuable instrument in my promotion toolbox. I’m talking about giving an e-mail address to all casinos where I have a card and regularly play or even might want to play in the future. Some may refrain from doing this to reduce the junk mail that clogs our Inboxes. However, I quickly scan all casino e-mails and delete those that are just ads for activities and entertainment options that don’t appeal to me but lately I have been finding some real gems among the “trash.” Maybe they are offering me extra free play that wasn’t scheduled in my regular mailer. Or there is a by-invitation-only bonus point multiplier for one day or even a designated day once a week.
I see a trend of casinos using e-mails to encourage players to come in on extra days with these mid-month or last-minute surprises – perhaps free show tickets or an extra nice gift for those in the higher club tiers. Brad and I play almost exclusively at Vegas locals casinos these days, not on the Strip, so my experience with these e-mails has been limited to those casinos. But I would not be surprised if in other areas casinos that cater to locals would not be doing the same thing. Feel free to use the “Comment” section below to share this information.
Now to some specific details.
CAESARS ENTERTAINMENT
From a press release: Wyndham Rewards, recently unveiled a new loyalty partnership with Caesars Entertainment and its award-winning Total Rewards program with more than 50 million members, upping the ante for members of both programs with a host of industry-leading perks. The move brings the immediate benefit of complimentary status match to members of both programs—a first for any Total Rewards hotel partner—with additional perks slated to come online later this summer. Once complete, Wyndham Rewards members will have the ability to book Total Rewards destinations across the U.S. and Canada directly through Wyndham Hotel Group and Wyndham Rewards channels; earn and redeem Wyndham Rewards points for qualified stays at those destinations; bid on one-of-a-kind hotel, restaurant and entertainment experiences; and transfer points between the two programs.
BORGATA (Atlantic City)
Borgata has finally dropped their rewards club which was established when MGM and Boyd Properties were co-owners. Now that MGM has assumed full ownership of the casino, on June 7 they put into place the M life players club which is the rewards program in their other properties. And overview of that program gives copious amounts of details.
*****Warning: I must tell you about a danger area in the MGM players club AND in any players club in a casino that is part of a larger company that includes more than one property. This is especially true when that “mother company” has many properties and/or is in more than one part of the country, i.e. Caesars Entertainment and Boyd Gaming. But it can be the same tricky situation even when fewer “sibling casinos” are involved. Here is what you need to know: Although the programs will have some organizational details that are the same across the board, at all properties, there may be many crucial differences in other areas. Earning points and/or comps may be at different rates; redeeming points may be done in different ways, and there may even be a different number of tiers. A wise player will need to research each of the “children casinos” individually, not assuming what you do at one will necessarily be the right thing at another. As is true with all casino information – the devil is in the details!
BOYD PROPERTIES (The Orleans, Gold Coast, Suncoast, Sam’s Town, California, Fremont, and Main Street Station)
And that same devil needed to be watched in a promotion that took place at the Orleans and Gold Coast last month and is continuing into this one. He even caught me, someone everyone knows who constantly says, “Read the fine print.” They ran and continue to run a promotion called “Double Your Royal.” That title is in big print on all the promotional literature. But what did I – and many other players – miss? In smaller print “up to” and “a chance to…” If you happen to get lucky and hit a royal, you get to pick from a container that contains slips of paper with various “prizes.” Who knows what your chances are to get the doubler prize! Knowing the usual odds for casino drawings – not much chance for the top prize, players don’t expect much. Getting a small bonus for hitting a royal is always nice, of course, but this is not what experienced players expect on usual “double-royal” promotions. It was our bad, of course, for not reading the fine print closely, but is the sort of thing that makes many players feel the casino is out to trick them to get more of their money.
SLS Las Vegas (former the Sahara)
From a press release: SLS Las Vegas® will celebrate the launch of its new player rewards program, Club 52, with $52,000 Summer Extravaganza Drawings, $2,500 weekly slot drawings and more throughout the month of June. Promotion details here.
DOWNTOWN GRAND
This downtown casino is running summer deals on Tuesday for their senior players 50+. Check out the details here.
PALMS
I’ve talked to low-level employees and managers trying to find information about future developments here. There seems to be a lot of “I’ve heard” but hard facts seem impossible to pin down. First, at the cashier everyone is sure that they have no idea when their computer system will be integrated with the one in place at all the Stations – so that means that dinky check-cashing wheel will disappoint me probably for a long time.
About the food establishments, here is what I have heard but I don’t guarantee any of this information. The new coffee shop will be in the same place as the previous 24/7 and will be called the Lucky Penny Café. Supposedly it will open around the end of June/first of July. The buffet will close about the same time for a 6-month remodel, expanding to the Mint which will disappear. I’ve gotten a couple of different “facts” about the closed Hooter’s area. One person said there would be a temporary buffet set up there while the main one is closed. Another said it would become a new food outlet called the “Social Table.” No verification of any of this or any time schedule revealed.
We live near the Palms and go there frequently to play, eat, and watch movies. So Brad and I will be your “boots on the ground” there and I will report on the changes as we see them.
heard Orleans buffet will take 4 months to complete
Yes, it is true that the Orleans Buffet is being remodeled. For more details, try their official website as to how long it will take. Until then, only breakfast and lunch will be served in the temporary location. Ports O’ Call at the Gold Coast is a good substitute. Also, Ping Pang Pong has expanded and moved to a slightly different and larger location at The Gold Coast.
The Boyd royal promo is deception, pure and simple. It’s inaccurate for them to call it a “double royal” promotion. What it actually is is a “royal bonus” promotion. Boyd is becoming more and more player-unfriendly, and worse, more confusing and (it seems) deliberately deceptive in their promos. It’s a shame, after they were so good of a place to play for so long.
Re emails: yes, I’ve had the same experience. I had resisted giving out my email address if my mailing address was already on file; I was often told I had to present a physical coupon to redeem an offer (meaning I would have had to print out the email anyway). So I saw no benefit. Then I perceived that there was usually some small spiff associated with giving them your email address–$5 free play, stuff like that. Then I noticed that I was getting offers in my email that hadn’t been coming in from those same casinos via snail mail. I’ve never received LESS when I’ve told them to switch from snail mail to email altogether. But the difference now is that I get a lot of short-term offers, like free rooms for specific dates 7-14 days in the future or single-day-specific free play. This makes sense, when they only send out physical mailers once a month but email blasts can be done anytime. If they perceive that two weekends from now, there are a lot of vacant rooms, they can send out an email blast to “you, our valued customer.”
No advance notice that this post (6/9) was up. Trying to (re)sign up tells me that I “already am.”
Yes..the orleans buffet is undergoing remodeling.
I was just at Orleans wed 6/7 and their original buffet location is boarded up and a temporary buffet is set up just across the casino floor. Many of the same dishes offered but not as much as before. Remodeling ?