This article will be about obtaining Harrah’s Diamond status for the rest of 2018. I won’t be addressing whether it is worthwhile to obtain Harrah’s Diamond status.
Diamond status requires 15,000 Tier Credits. 1 Tier credit is $5 coin in on slots and $10 coin in on video poker. Now, there are several video poker games that require $50 coin in for 1 TC (and at least 1 game that requires $80 coin in for 1 point). I won’t be talking about those games.
Now, let’s assume you can find a 99% video poker game that pays tier credits at the $10 coin in = 1 tier credit (no easy task). With no tier credit bonuses, this would require $150,000 coin in, an expected loss of $1500 and a lot of play.
If you take advantage of the tier credit bonuses, you can earn 5,000 tier credits in one day and get a 10,000 tier credit bonus. This will get you your diamond card with $50,000 coin in and an expected loss of $500. You could also each 2500 tier credits in one gaming day on two different occasions. This will get you a 5,000 tier credit bonus each day and get your diamond status for the same coin in. These are better options than the first option listed but still not great.
Harrah’s has recently send out a Diamond match offer. If you have an upper tier card from a number of different casinos, Harrah’s will give you diamond status for the rest of 2018 if you present your upper tier card to Harrahs. Here are the rules and a list of cards that are eligible.
https://www.caesars.com/content/cet-global/caesars-com/total-rewards/promotions/diamond-tier-upgrade.html?et_cid=424344&et_rid=3908547&utm_source=et&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=COR_TR_DIA_TIER_MATCH_TG_20180202&dtm_em=a92248a8ac538cd52f33cb7ead324d48.
Now, this is for Diamond status through January 31, 2019. If you upgraded in 2017 you are ineligible to do the same in 2018.
I decided to do this at a local casino. In order to get an eligible card, I need to run about $72,000 through (24,000 casino points) a game with a 0.15% house advantage. But my casino was running a double points promo so I only had to run $36,000 through. And there was a one day overlap with a promo that was worth 0.25%. So, on that one day, I earned 4000 points (8,000 once doubled). These points were earned at a 0.1% player advantage. The remaining 8,000 points (16,000 once doubled) were earned at a 0.15% house advantage. The overall cost to me was an expected $24 loss.
So, diamond at Harrah’s for the rest of 2018 cost me $24 in expected value (not including the mailers from my local casino). Now, the fact that I lost way more than that on the play doesn’t factor into the decision to play.
If you have one of the qualifying cards, it is very easy to earn Diamond for the rest of the year. If you need to play to get a local qualifying card, you need to evaluate that cost and see if it is worthwhile for your situation.
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Most of the time, you only get your base points counted toward tier advancement. The double points promo shouldn’t have made a difference in the amount of (base) points you had to earn. But you caught a break–CET casinos almost never let you count casino-specific promo double points in that fashion.
I can’t off the top of my head think of a game that has an 0.15% house advantage (slot club benefits/points disregarded), but whatever it was, it was a MUCH better game than one usually finds at a CET casino.
I have President status at Stations in Vegas, so I used that for the free Diamond upgrade last year. I got a free $100 dinner. Then I totally (as in, Total Lack of Rewards) stiffed them on play, as in Vegas at least, there’s absolutely no good reason to play at a CET property. I earned a few points playing live poker, which was enough to trigger seventeen emails a day from CET (OK, on some days, it’s only been sixteen).
I’m given to understand that, somewhat oddly, CET video poker offerings in non-Vegas casinos are better than the crud that you find in Vegas. I’d like to get a sense of where the best plays might be (without having to play high denoms), but understandably, no one shares that information. I’m also given to understand that they’re tightening things up, and that the gravy train is going to be derailed.
Kevin,
The local casino I was referring to is a non Harrah’s casino. I got my high level players card at the non Harrahs casino and now Harrahs will give me diamond status based on an upper level card from my local casino. Sorry that wasn’t clear.
Ah. OK, so I assume that whatever the area you live in/play in is, you have access to a CET casino, so the Diamond thing is worthwhile. Still wondering what your 99.85% game is though 🙂
We go to Las Vegas enough that getting the diamond card is worthwhile. At my local, non CET casino, there is NSUD with .11 cashback, so I rounded it up to 99.85% return.
Liked the column but can never find any machines at Caesars Entertainment (Harrah’s) properties that pays the 99% video poker game with tier credits at the $10. I play mostly at Harrah’s So Cal Resort, Laughlin and Paris or Planet Hollywood. Maybe you could enlighten us. Thanks
So, Jimmy, you can’t use the tier match two years in a row, am I understanding this correctly? If you earned Diamond one year, could you do the tier match the next year?
Jean, that is the way the rules are written for the promo. It states that earning a Diamond match in 2017 means you can’t do the same in 2018. I have heard that at least one person did the Diamond match for 2017 and 2018 so like most things with Harrah’s, different people get different results.
Sheldon, the point of the article is to show what a good deal the Diamond match is, not to list all the 99% Harrahs plays. I just picked that number as the best you would probably do at a Harrah’s property. If you play at Harrah’s Laughlin, there are Ugly Ducks in $0.25 – $1.00 3, 5 and 10 play. Those are 98.8% plus 0.1 in points so that is pretty close to 99%
You can get 9/6 Jacks or Better at the $1 level at CET Atlantic City properties, which is a 99.54 game. It’s $20 per tier point, so I think that works out to the same expected loss as a 99 percent game at $10 per tier credit. Unless you want to become an expert on exotic games, that seems to be the best overall CRT
deal I can find. Nothing like it in Vegas except in High denominations. Always helpful to use CET promos like tier bonuses for play in a day, year end bonuses that carry over to next year and the badge promo for play at multiple CET casinos.
Robert,
I was trying to show a method to avoid having to play a bunch at Harrah’s in order to get Diamond status. The list of qualifying cards in order to get diamond is pretty big. I’m a little surprised they are trying to add so many Daimond members. They seem to be flipping back and forth on whether to make it easy to obtain diamond or difficult to obtain diamond.
I believe Harrahs may have full pay JoB for full points in the Reno Tahoe area.
Does Harrahs (Total Rewards) have a way to check if your status at the other property is still active? Like if you have a gold Identity card from last year, but aren’t going to make gold this year lost that status, can you still use that card to get Diamond with Harrahs?
I don’t know for sure what Harrah’s will check to prove you have the appropriate status at a qualifying casino but I can’t believe that even Harrah’s would be dumb enough not to check.
Now, the card I have from my local casino does not have an expiration date on it ( that’s another story). I will try on 3/16 or 3/17 and see what Horseshoe Hammond will do. I plan to have a copy of my player history showing the high level card status as a back up. I will report back on what happens.
You can buy the Founder’s Card for $200 and get the Diamond Card, plus a whole lot more.
But, with the 25,000 point threshold for comped Diamond Lounge admission, is Diamond still worth anything?
$200 is a pretty low price for a Founder’s card. I’ve been offered a discounted price but never that low. One thing to keep in mind is that obtaining Diamond Status for essentially no play will do nothing for your mailers and room offers. Those are based on your play.
To me the biggest benefit of Diamond now is free parking and Diamond lounge access. Yes, they will ding your account but the lounges are mostly nice and I’m sure you can get $10 of value out of those. I wonder what happens if you are a diamond member but only have $9 in your comp account? Will they turn you away at the door?
I have noticed that they are giving more bonuses out. It seems they want to make it easier to reach Diamond but not give out any benefits. People like the idea of thinking they are a Diamond. Caesars is just to play a psychological game with its members and I am sure it will soon backfire. I have been a Diamond since DAY 1 of the program (well over 20 years). I have seen this coming for a while. My brother finally made Diamond this year after 5 years at Platinum. Other than no resort fees he is not getting any extra benefits.
No issues with getting the Diamond card at Harrah’s. I have diamond status until January 2019, including the $100 diamond dinner.
i cant get founders card you have to be ceo or something?jerry
founders card seems like a scam.i told them i’d pay up to $500.00 for one but they still will not approve one.i’m just a 30 yr. retired veteran with pension and ss.
Jerry,
What is the issue with getting a founder’s card? I’d be interested in hearing what problems you are having. They aggressively market for new customers.