I have been putting off writing this blog. Many of you know that in my writings about casinos I like to emphasize the positive rather than ranting and raving about the negative that I can’t change. I also stress that we players must remember that casinos are a for-profit business, not a charity.
However, the casino business – just like many other businesses we deal with in our everyday life, like banks, grocery stores, drug stores, restaurants, airlines – sometimes make changes that we just can’t understand. And that describes many players reactions to the brand new players club being introduced by Boyd Gaming.
Let’s think about what we need if a business changes its rules, regulations, or policy. First, we need a clear explanation of all the changes, especially the basic ones. This is where so many players are feeling frustrated about the new Boyd players club. I looked everywhere this last week to find the two basic facts someone needs to initially analyze any player club system: How much coin-in does it take to earn a point and then how much is a point worth for whatever benefits this casino offers – cash, free play, or comps. I went to the kick-off party and absolutely no specific facts were given. I checked online and looked for brochures and signs in the casino. Nothing!
I finally did find the facts of the second point on their website: You can redeem for FastPlay, for dining, shopping, or hotel stays. Save 40% on the dollar value of your B Connected Points when you redeem for food at 600 B Connected Points = $1.00. FastPlay and retail purchases are 1,000 B Connected Points = $1.00.
However, nowhere could I find in writing how much you had to play to earn a point, the other piece of information we needed. Finally, just yesterday I went to the players club at the Gold Coast and asked this question and I was given a little credit-card-size cardboard with a point-earning chart:
$1 of coin-in Reel, Video Reel, and Keno (must be all Keno box) = 1 Base B Connected Point
$2 of coin-in Poker and Multi-Games = 1 Base B Connected Point
Bonus B Connected Points are now earned based on type of game, average bet, and length of play
Table Games – B Connected Points are earned based on the type of game, average bet and length of play (Table Game Points are not earned in Las Vegas or Diamond Jo Worth)
For Race, Sports, and Bingo please see B Connected.
Although some of the details above aren’t very clear or complete, why wasn’t this basic information put somewhere in writing online so anyone could access it? Not everyone will be able to visit one of their casinos right away, and many won’t think about asking. I am wondering if this information I got was for Las Vegas only – and it will be different for properties in other areas of the country??? This means each player probably needs to research information for each specific casino where they plan to play. Although this club is supposed to be company-wide, I am thinking there might be individual property-specific details.
After I found the basic-point facts, I began to analyze the tier system. This has been an area of confusion for many, but it helps if you understand there are two different separate systems. The first system is the “point” system I discussed above. The other system is the tier one in which you earn “credits.” There are different earning charts for each of these systems with much different benefits! However, the two systems do “mix” with each other at times. For example, players in the lowest tier, Ruby, do not earn the above-mentioned points and thus earn no benefits. That chart does not kick in until you reach Sapphire.
Boyd was much more forthright in talking about the new tier system and the new luxury benefits they were offering to the top tiers – they talked about nothing but that at the launch party and they put a lot of hyped-up information about it on their website and in other written sources. On that same little credit-size cardboard I referred to above they gave this information about how to earn tier credits: Reel, video reel, and keno players would earn 1 tier credit for each $5 coin-in, Bingo players needed $6 buy-in for 1 tier credit. For video poker players it was to be “based on the game played, average bet, and time played.”
In this blog I have just touched on some of the basics of this new players club so far, but this information may have brought up more questions than answers for readers here. I will be talking about this subject in my blog probably for weeks, even months, tackling some of the problems these changes are causing. In the meantime, here are some online resources for you to check that will give more information although they certainly will not answer every question you might have since the details of many parts of the program are either missing or very confusing.
- An overall view of the program
- The rules and regulations:
- The details of the Vegas Young at Heart program
You can get more insight into these new major changes by reading posts in the forum at vpFREE. (Subscribe at [email protected] if you are not already a member). There has been a very lively – even fiery – discussion there for the last week or so, which could help both slot and video players decide what kind of a relationship – if any – they might have with Boyd properties in the future in light of all these new changes.
I have not yet been able to confirm every future ramification for Brad’s and my own play decisions. I know we are going to play at the Gold Coast tomorrow – Labor Day – because we can still play our favorite good-EV video poker machine at 11x points – a fairly okay play for us. That’s about as far we can plan right now.
Stayed tuned!
I think I mentioned this somewhere else; if so my apologies. It wouldn’t surprise me if Boyd comes up with a Boyd branded credit card, which would help the snow birds and others keep their points current. CET did it, as did MGM. Use the card exclusively to build up comps, or just make a few purchases with it now and then when the 6 month deadline looms. Truly I know nothing, have not heard or read a thing about Boyd doing this, but it seems like everybody else has done it. CET added incentives with theirs, such as granting automatic Platinum (?) tier status with sign up.
Jean,
Some ppl have reported a severe cut in tier score(credits) after the conversion. Have you been demoted to ruby ?
My Husband & Myself Are Both Sapphire Now Our Points Will Expire Unless We Play Once In 6 Months. This New Program Really Trashes The Loyalty Of Us Snow Birds. We Spent The Last 15 Years Jan-March In Vegas Playing Almost Exclusively At BOYDs…We Even Planned Our Driving Routes From East Coast To Vegas (2,500+ Miles) To Stop At Other Boyd Casinos….Now Our Loyalty Will Mean Nothing…There Are NO Boyd Properties Any Where Near WNY So There’s No Way We Can Stop Our Points From Expiring After We Return Home From The Winter..This Is A Big Slap In The Face To Snow Birds
I’e been an emerald card holder for several years. I live in Memphis, so I frequent Sams Town in Tunica for the majority of may play with a few trips to the IP in Biloxi, MS and various Casinos’ on Las Vegas on the the for or five trips out their a year.
I play mostly VP and Table Games. I went to Sams Town in Tunica and played 9/6 JB $1 game i earned 1 Tier Credit for for every $100.00 i put throughtthe machine.
I also tried a Slot machine and it gave me 1 Tier Credit for every $5.00.
I will try out the Table Games this weekend and see if I acquire any Tier Credits.
But from the looks of it they are making it clear they do not want Video Poker players they exclude us from all piont and tier multipliers. But even 9/6 JB without a promotion is a losing game over time.
Do they not realize people come with video poker players. I bring my mom who plays slots, my girlfriend plays Roulette, and friends that play table games and slots. You would think that marketing would at least realize this since it is their job to try and fill up the casino. Sams Town in Tunica is pretty empty most of the time and this can’t help it.
Boyd marketing seems to be “getting better” all the time at “helping its customers”…..first they were gonna make outa towners ineligible for YAW, as well as just making YAW worse for the average player, then changing the whole BConnected to make it harder for everyone (especially out of towners) to “earn” for anything as you lose points after 6 months….hopefully they change this “latest course” that “benefits “us again…before I, like others, “change course”!
Does anyone know what kind of “free” prize you can choose after earning one (1) tier credit? You used to get a BOGO buffet or other prize but with the new rules, I was wondering if this was still available to earn with slot play, and is it available with Ruby or just Sapphire and above. Hope someone knows.
.
I will probably continue to patronize Boyd for BJ as they still have a playable 3:2 double-deck game at all their casinos. But no more VP if I’m not getting any points, and I will go back to shopping around for deals on rooms. Honestly I never understood why Boyd was sending me comp room offers anyway, but I was glad to use them.
Most disturbing, the tier changes were activated in the middle of the ‘tier year.’ Who does that? Whether real or imagined, Boyd customers feel cheated. Once bitten…
“QOC” would it be wise for a out of state (Mn) player who plays vp to move away from Boyd? I visit Las Vegas about 4x’s a year. Under new system I have Sapphire status. Reading different message boards about the new B Connection the sky is falling. I booked a stay at a Boyd casino for October last July, now I’m wondering if the new program is as bad as many are saying. Looking forward to reading your feelings about the new program.
Just like many of you I am also done with Boyd. I am from Texas and travel to Vegas 4-8 times per year. A long time Sams Town customer until last year when they cut my comps, my room offers, lowered the payback on the bar video poker, and cut the meters on the progressives. My wife and I were both emerald. We then switched our play to Orleans and they did the same cut the 9/7 DB to 9/6 on the triple play progressives and downgraded the 8/5 bonus poker STP. We then moved our play to Palms which then downgraded the 9/6 jacks and removed the NSUD.
The days of 99+% VP are going away along with comps.
I loose my money for the free rooms and free food. If casinos continue to change their buisness model to cut payback and comps trying to make an extra buck it will back fire. I really thought the casinos reducing comps would decrease the amount of customer and they would be forced to change their buisness model instead they are cutting more trying to make up the difference.
The board of directors for Boyd needs to be gone. To do this we all need to voice our opinion to Boyd why we are not going there any more. This will drive the stock price down and force change.
Good luck,
Scott
As I said how long do people have to be PISSED on before they realize it’s not raining? I play at Stations and M .
HEY BOYD,
Why did the Asians stop going to the Lucky Dragon ? STINGY COMPS!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hCktIJAYwGI go to 12:45
Lets talk GOLDCOAST , Asian central.
My fairwell party to Boyd – This friday night , GoldCoast, I’m getting an ice cream with my points and watching the loooooong lines at the Bconnected desk cashing out their points. Bwaaahaaahhaaa
As a Ruby member that was just dropped down from Sapphire, I went to Fremont to play in an attempt to regain Sapphire level. Played $2500 coin in on $.25 Deuces Wild VP over a few hour period as they advertise 2x tier points to level up faster … LOL … earned a grand total of 4 Tier Points! If it weren’t for hitting a royal after $300 invested … I’d have left extremely missed off! Guess that after 25 years they no longer want my business. In one swift move Boyd made its downtown competitors a better play.
Their whole new program is a disaster. All Player’s Club staff has been instructed to “tow the company line” and say “but you can move up so much faster!” “You now get a free stay when you buy 2 nights in the Bahamas.” These were the responses I got when I picked up my new Sapphire card on Sunday. I also let them know this new program is the worst loyalty program I’ve seen at any casino in the country.
On top of these issues, they issued bonus entries for their big company-wide property drawings on Labor Day. None of these entries showed up for me personally until I went to the player’s club and asked. After talking to 3 people and calling corporate, the entries finally showed. Additionally, 3 staff members couldn’t figure out how to execute the drawing properly under the new system.
It’s just a disaster across the board for them. I can’t imagine they will leave this in shambles for too much longer. That 2X Ruby Bonus promotion is a complete slap in the face.
I have been Emerald at Boyd casinos for the past 10 years. Their tier credits (formally card score) were accumulated on a rolling year. Emerald, the former the top tier was 250,000. In this past year I had 480,545 card score. When they converted my Emerald card score to the new tier credits I received only 7,515 tier credits. That is approximately $64 a tier point. I play only 99% quarter VP. In the new system you earn 1 tier point for $5 coin in only on slots. I asked a marketing manager how much coin in on VP to get a tier credit. This is her response: “On reels, $5 coin in equals 1 tier credit. On video poker and table games, it varies depending on the type of game played, average wager, and amount of time played. Emerald status is achieved by earning 15,000 tier credits, significantly lower than before – even when you factor in the earnings ratio change.” I responded by asking what the formula was for VP and this it what I received: “Unfortunately, I’m unable to communicate the exact ratio for video poker machines because it varies based on what you are playing. The more you are wagering (and willing to risk) and the longer you play, the more tier credits you earn. For example, if you are playing dollar video poker and wagering $5 per hand and play for 1 hour, you will receive roughly four times as many tier credits than if you are playing quarter video poker and wagering $1.25 per hand for one hour. An additional factor is the type of video poker game you are playing. If you are playing a full-pay machine versus a regular video poker machine, you will receive less tier credits.” So, as I can see they do not want you to know the formula. Part of the formula rewards the dollar and five dollar player much better than the quarter player. I do not plan on going over my quarter bankroll to achieve Emerald again. At my current $64 a tier credit (the way I play) it would take me $960,000 coin in a year to achieve Emerald. And Emerald is not the top tier, it is only the third out of five. All stations casinos have many 99% VP games to play. Their slot club requires only one dollar for one tier credit. Their clubs tier status is every six months. They have four tier levels and you can get to the third level by play $100,000 in six months. Even if you do it once every six months that is only $200,000 not $960,000 that Boyd wants. At my level of quarter VP play the choice is obvious. I personally think that Boyd does not like VP players especially quarter VP players and are hoping that you will not notice the difference.
So judging from what I am reading to build up your tier credits you have to camp out at the same machine with a lower percentage and play the same game till you pass out.
As a table games player, Boyd has always been known as a sleazy operation. I am told that the same is true in their sports books. These comments indicate that extends to machine players as well. Boyd seems to get respect in the main stream press, but I cannot fathom why.
Since on day one of the new system(some MIT grad with a statistics masters must have created such insane system, must figure video poker players are no longer wanted since they don’t lose fast enough) I questioned B connected personnel as a YAH qualified player. They admitted the poker tier rules were vague. So my wife played(we’re both Ruby with about 120 ties credits) just $5 into a reel slot(lost$4) and it’s 4 days later and the 1 tiercredit times 2 to “Help” us, has not been credited. I have 17 GC employees who basically can not explain it. Who at Boyd is in charge. The buck stops here!…
I went to Gold Coast today and did $10,000 coin in .25 8/5 bonus poker 5 play machine and received 180 tier credits. I earned 55,000 boyd points. I used my points to pay for a $17 meal and was charged 17,000 points, rather than 10,200 as before.
Just left the MSS. I played .25 video poker on a Game King that had bonus poker, double bonus, double double bonus and loose deuces. Staying on the same machine, I moved from one game, played awhile, switched to another game, played awhile, switched again, etc. I played long enough to put on 300 base points, but had zero tier credits accumulated.
The desk could not explain this so they called the manager. She said that as of a week ago, tier credits are determined by the game you are playing, the denomination, length of time on one game, and speed you play. So she looked at my play and told me because I switched from game to game on the same machine, the time counter kept resetting to zero, and we know what anything times zero is. Didn’t matter how many points were earned, I still ended up with zero tier points.
I am not changing the way I play, but I am changing where I play.
I notice the Young At Heart Rules don’t include The Orleans, Gold Coast or Sam’s Town, which is where I would play on Mystery Multiplier Wed when I’m in town. Guess I don’t have a need to shuttle from the strip to those casinos anymore.
Well the heck with Boyd casinos. I just need to figure out where to move my play for some descent comps. Anyone have a suggestion ?
You don’t have years to get to sapphire. If I understand the system every year we go back to ZERO and become ruby again. Locals have a fair chance of moving up. But non locals will have to either increase their play or move on.
There seems to be a lot of misunderstanding of what’s going on. First of all I’m not a Boyd defender but let’s stop all this wailing and gnashing of teeth of teeth about ruby not earning any “comp” points. In order to become Sapphire you have to earn 750 Tier credits in a year. At the $5 / Tier credit rate, this means $3750 of action which would earn you $3.75 in comps under both the new and old system. They’re offering a 2X tier credit multiplier for September reducing the amount of coin in necessary for Sapphire to $1,875 earning $1.88 in comps.
I question those numbers for VP to earn tier points. Boyd’s kiosks are notoriously slow (remember Jean’s comment in the post about the announcement party). Had they updated when you checked? Check again online.
Under Caesars Total Rewards system you need twice the coin in to earn 1 tier or reward credit when playing VP. Not saying that Total Rewards is a good program.
What is not good is the loss of the multiplier that Sapphire or Emerald used to get for “comp” points. Emerald players now earn 1/6 the points. Also, what is not good is not being able to get cash back for points.
We’re right to complain, but let’s complain about the bigger issues.
Thank You for all of your help and explinations. As a privious Legend card holder at Aliante, this has been a rather tramatic experience. I donot know if all of Boyd Casinos will be the same or each one will have different rules BUT, it is a mess at Aliante. They no longer show you your points or credits. They say the web site may not catch up for 2 to 3 months, they have cut out our SPA perks we had, cut down on most other perks. Our keno play at strictly keno machines used to be 2 tier pts per 1$, Video poker 1 per 1$.
No more free movies, free buffets, for the top cards. Just a plan sad day, Looks like it is going to be very good for Station casinos. 🙁
Here’s a link to the Young at Heart rules for the downtown Las Vegas Boyd properties.
https://static.boydgaming.net/boydgaming/media/downloads/2018-YAH-DTR-RULES-REVISED-vf080718.pdf
The real question is: will all this massive indignation, which is surely not confined to LVA members, have any effect whatsoever? Or will they just say “good riddance” to those people who care about players’ club benefits and only play the better games?
I’m not sure what our collective impact is or could be, but I have the sinking feeling that if each and every one of us never again darkened the doorstep of a Boyd casino, that they wouldn’t care or even notice.
WAIT THERE’S MORE – according to ( https://www.bconnectedonline.com/b-connected-online ) it says ” Tier Credits expire on December 31 each year.” So the lowly 110 tier credits I have now go to 0 in December. Why even try to build on that. I’ll never make it. I stopped going to Boyd properties on 50 + day when they took away our free buffet for 50 pts. I am a recreational player with a small budget. They lost me and thousands like me I’m sure.
I’ve been Sapphire for quite a while (> past 5 yrs) and fairly young (YAH) in my 50s. I’ve enjoyed all of the various promos Boyd properties have offered, but have noticed a decrease in room (comp) offers the past few years, especially (Orleans – 1st as a higher end property, from room price comparison), then Sam’s Town (former core/main play property), and even GC and downtown (Cal/MSS/Fremont). I always qualified for discounted offers, next best option – and lately have opted for GC Tournament pkg stays (in which I have placed in prize pools, you have about 1:4 to 1:3 chance for the lowest $25 or $50 in freeplay each time).. My Tier pts recently adjusted at a rate of about $35 to 1 tier pt (with 80-90% play on NSUD). the rest of the play varies (Bonus DW, Bonus Pkr Deluxe, Bonus Pkr/prog ST, with some Bingo thrown in). This is probably a bit high, as I’ve read results as bad as $100-180 per tier pt on the better paying vp games of (9/6 JB – like at MSS with the 4Kind bonus promo scratchcards, and NSUD). Only time will tell how this will all turn out, or if anything else reveals itself in the future. ECannery – I play there as well, and online info seems inaccurate – still old system ($2/pt VP, $1/pt for slots and no info about this “Tier” level stuff). Will be ‘testing’ the new “Tier” conversion system next visit in Sept and Dec (before end of year) – still planning to maintain Sapphire, but not sure what ‘benefits’ it will yield. As others have stated, if not satisfied, one may always just cash out and move on to other places. MM San Diego
I’ll echo what everyone is saying. I visit a few times/year. I switched to pure Boyd loyalty (mostly Fremont) many years back due to liking the Boyd points system and the reasonable (NSUD) VP machine pay tables. Now, shocker, as a Ruby player I get NOTHING, not even Young At Heart multipliers. After being here/playing Deuces Wild for several days, I am not even at 75 “tier points” – and you need *750* tier points to qualify as Sapphire. (At $5/VP = 1 tier point, that’s $3750!) It will take years to reach that. I have no more reason to stick with Boyd – this is so sad. Is there ANY chance they will revise this???
I went to Sam’s Town and put in $400 in a $.25 FPDW machine and earned 0 Tier Credits. I will never get out of Ruby. I guess I will be going to Stations.
I visit annually and stay usually at the Orleans for part of my trip with 3 nights comped. I sometimes pay for an additional night. This is based on my annual play while there. With the new system, I will no longer be offered rooms. Without room offers, there is no incentive to stay and play at a Boyd casino. I can increase by offers at Total Rewards, or get better offers at Station . I will focus my gaming dollars on a casino who will reward my play. I don’t believe this change will last, it can’t! They will lose too many players, and unfortunately, some of those players will never return. G!amblers have long memories of mistreatment!
I visit annually and stay usually at the Orleans for part of my trip with 3 nights comped. I sometimes pay for an additional night. This is based on my annual play while there. With the new system, I will no longer be offered rooms. Without room offers, there is no incentive to stay and play at a Boyd casino. I can increase my offers at Total Rewards, or get better offers at Station . I will focus my gaming dollars on a casino who will reward my play. I don’t believe this change will last, it can’t! They will lose too many players, and unfortunately, some of those players will never return. G!amblers have long memories of mistreatment!
So is the Wednesday mystery multiplier is gone? Can you still turn in your points for cash? This was one of the better benefits of their program?
I played the 99.8% machines at gold coast last week . 2 dollars in = 1 bonus point . After earning 2250 points I went to the kiosk and found I had earned 27 tier points . Also last week I played the triple play quarters at orleans . After playing 2 hours ( about 4800 dollars played ) I found I had earned 8 tier credits . Oh the triple play was progressive . Don’t know if that makes a difference . At this rate ill never be able to keep my emerald card . very sad
They slashed the base rate for VP from 0.1% to 0.05%. This means that $1000 of coin-in now gets you…fifty cents in comps. Dump in $10,000 and you can almost pay for half a buffet!!!!
No matter what hyperbole they use (and there’s been a lot), what obfuscation they employ (and there’s been a mountain of it), and whatever misleading tactics they employ (and they are masters at that), the bottom line, and the only thing that matters, is that they just made the player’s club 50% worse. Does anyone think that they couldn’t have continued to pay one-tenth of one percent in VP comps/cashback when most of their games return 99% or less? Giving back 5 or 10 percent of the take as a player incentive was just too generous?
The Vegas casinos–Boyd and all the rest–seem to be proceeding on the assumption that the sheep will continue to stampede in the front door no matter what, no matter how much they gouge, no matter how much they cut benefits. And the sad thing is: I think they’re absolutely correct about that.
Going to re-post something here that I posted on VPFREE a few days ago, and more and more reports seem to confirm.
It appears Boyd is trying to get 50c of theo per tier credit.
So that 90% slots get the published 0.50 / (1-90%) = $5 coin-in per tier point.
99.17% BP = 0.50 / (1-99.17%) = $60 coin-in per tier point
99.54% jacks = 0.50 / (1-99.54%) = $109 coin-in per tier point
99.73% NSUD = 0.50 / (1-99.73%) = $185 coin-in per tier point
There are lots of reports confirming this is very close.
There was also a report that partial tier credits earned on one machine aren’t carried over but are forfeited. This hasn’t been confirmed.
The casinos are offering Ruby members rewards for earning tier credits because they can’t earn the B-conned points. A reward that used to be for earning 200 old points ($100 coin-in on slots or $200 coin-in on VP) is now offered for 20 tier credits (still $100 coin-in for slots, but near $2200 coin-in for a game like 9/6 jacks)
Haven’t had any reports if they are giving players more tier credits if they are found to play less than perfect. This could be determined by experiment, but maybe not worth it.
If 9/6 jacks were played at less than max coins, I believe it would have about 99.54%-1.4%=98.14% theo, so it should earn at a rate of 0.50 / (1-98.14%) = $26.88 per tier point. If someone can burn 50c in EV, it would be interesting to run $30 through a 9/6 jacks at less than full coin to see if a tier credit is earned or not.
I am in the same situation as Larry. We visit Vegas four times a year. If I start at zero then my first visit of 2019 will be working to get out of ruby. And that might not be possible if I play the higher percentage games. I will earn no points towards meals and will not be able to participate in the young at heart multiplier. Is it cost effective to stay with Boyd. No !
After checking into Southpoint and Station casinos I see better opportunities to earn points towards food comps etc with out the hassle of trying to advance from a tier that offers nothing (ruby)to a mediocre tier(sapphire) I also lose buffet discounts that were available to me as an Emerald player.
B Connected also are deleting negative posts on social media from patrons regarding their program changes.
I cancelled a 3 day stay with Boyd in October. I went from Sapphire to Ruby and to get back to Sapphire I would have to have a coin in of almost 15.000. I also got burnt because my last trip was short and I introduced 5 new customers to Boyd properties, so my play time was much shorter as I gave them tours of their properties. You were running a decent profit, but it was not enough.
I have just canceled my trip to Las Vegas due to Boyd changes. I had 150,000 points when the card change occurred. Now I found out that my video poker play at both Paradice and Blue Chip only resulted in 500 tier point for a thousand dollar loss. At least at Total Rewards properties my point earning is fair and transparent. My Diamond plus lounge access is achieved for the year so Boyd will not be getting any more of my money.
How long do the Boyd players have to be pissed on to not play at their Casino’s? As for me and many others I have reached the limit. On a sidenote . If u think the Casino’s are not doing well one of the Fertitas (STATIONS OWNERS) daughters had her wedding at RR Casino and the cost was (Yes that’s the #) $25 MILLION!
Anthony, I’m just trying to help people to crawl before they are experienced enough to toddle. 🙂 Today’s blog was to help people understand the basic system before they start blowing up about how crazy it sounds, not just from a skilled player point of view but from a smart marketing angle!!! The discussion on vpFREE this last week or so has described umpteen points that seem to be from a book called “How to See How Many of Your Customers You Can P**s Off So They Will Go to Another Casino.” I promised more blogs on this issue – I am just waiting right now for my brain swelling to go down after my head exploded and my blood pressure has gone down. Don’t know how long it will take for me to achieve some semblance of calmness so I can write without using any !!!!!!!!!!
You DO get tier credits (just not base “points”) in Ruby for this month – and Ruby’s get 2x credits (up to a 100 tier credit Bonus – is this limit for one day or for the whole month, who knows) the rest of September IF you swipe at a kiosk to “register” for this promo. In today’s newspaper they say this is to “earn your way to Sapphire even quicker.”
So how many points does it take to get out Ruby? If we don’t get credits in Ruby, there must be a Point level to attain, to get out of Ruby?
OK, points and credits. But I still don’t see how they expect to get away with no comp-point accumulation at the lowest level. That’s always been the way players clubs got people to start. Larry’s comment speaks to that. Do they expect them to do a two-part process to first advance a level? Then what’s the point of the entry level?
OK, “base” and “tier.” Video poker playing negatives aside, still wondering how they’ll get away with no comp earning at the lowest level. That’s always been a key to getting people started. Larry’s comment hits on that.
Anthony, you – like others – are mixing up the names of the two systems and that confuses people big-time: In the base system you earn “points” which you can redeem for free play, comps, etc. In the tier system you earn tier “credits.” These “credits” are the ones that allow you to go up to a higher tier and it looks like the tier credits will be used for participating in promotions, like drawings, tournaments, and who knows what else. This is why this hits video poker players hard since it takes much more coin-in to earn tier “credits” than for slot players. And that’s on top of $2 = 1 base point, double of what slot players must earn for 1 base point that can be used for free play and comp benefits.
I haven’t had time to look at this closely, but it seems that a big issue is “credit” points vs. “tier” points. If the lowest level (Ruby) doesn’t earn credit points, that’s gonna be a tough sell. Are they gonna exclude thousands of beginning or lower-level players from earning points toward comps or participating in promotions that require credit points? I assume that won’t happen and that tier points will become both the level-advancement and comp-earning qualifier. In fact I see that in a current promotion for the Gold Coast video poker tournament:
“Players can earn 10 same-day tier credits for one entry and an additional 30 tier credits for a second entry.”
Qualifying is done with tier points. But does that mean credit points become a perk for additional benefits at higher club levels only? Yeah, I know — I’m supposed to be answering, not asking. But as you indicate, these answers haven’t been revealed yet.
I am a non-local who visits LV once or twice a year and had adopted the Boyd casinos. I recently hit 50+ and it was a nice perk to be there on YAH bonus point day, and in fact this was the only reason I started playing VP a bit, as it got me a free buffet here and there, or a couple dollars off. Small potatoes to be sure, but it doesn’t take much to make me happy. They also sent me occasional comp room offers in the mail, quite consistently for several years.
But starting about a year ago, the mailer offers started getting worse. First they excluded the downtown casinos, then they cut it back to just Sams Town, then the comp rooms turned into an insulting “50% off rack rate” which was often inferior to other ordinary promo rates.
At my level of play, I’d have to visit 8 to 10 times a year to get enough “tier points” to get out of Ruby level, and that’s never going to happen. With the changes, Ruby players don’t get point multipliers, and they can’t redeem points.
I’m feeling very small and unappreciated by all this. Curious to know how others feel. I will go read vpfree as Jean suggested.