Harrah's Comps

Quote: Wizard

Quote: Aussie

For anyone ever at Crown Casino in Melbourne Australia they have what I think (I may be wrong) are very good deals for interstate and international players. A buy in of $5k will get you on a program that returns 0.3% of betting turnover returned in comps. A $10k buyin with turnover less than $100k get 0.4% and over $100k gets 0.5%.

Are you saying the Crown in Melbourne has a "promotional chip" program, where they add 0.3% to 0.5% to your chip purchases? These programs are common in Macau, as I explain at Wizard of Macau. If not, how would they know what the turnover was?

They use promotional chips at Crown for "junket" players I believe. That is, those who get flown in in groups specifically to gamble. I'm not exactly sure how they work though.

The type of comp you get depends on the type of program you are on. For me I'm just on a cash program and use cash chips throughout the casino. I simply get 0.5% of my turnover returned in comps to be used on my hotel room, meals or a refund on my air tickets.

If you buy in for more (probably at least $25k each time) you can go on a CP (commission play) program. These players use special CP chips and will have a percentage of their turnover returned to them in cash.

Turnover is just estimated for the average program player. Estimated average bet multiplied by the games predetermined number of hands per hour etc. I believe the turnover for a CP player is tracked more accurately though. Supervisor will physically record each resolved bet.

Thanks. 0.5% would be quite generous for blackjack and pontoon.

I wonder what were the factors that allowed K.M., who described generous comps by sister property Paris, in her review. Her two hours of $210/hand average Pai Gow play got her $74 in comps, and later, a mailed offer to return for two free nights and $300 in CASH.

Her play was in 2009. Have things changed radically since then?

Wizard, K.M.'s review mentioned that you also played the two hours with her. Did you get the same two nights+$300 offer as a result? If not, maybe the credit for both of your play went on her card?... Just guessing.

So basically, Harrahs gives back a little more to slots players than table games playing with the same bankroll? (i.e. $500 played at slots or $500 played at BJ)

Quote: IAchance5

So basically, Harrahs gives back a little more to slots players than table games playing with the same bankroll? (i.e. $500 played at slots or $500 played at BJ)

Harrah's will calculate theo on table games, based on your perceived "average bet" x your time spent at the table, and that theo will always be much lower than the calculated theo for a slot. Even a craps player who makes nothing but hardway bets will be playing at less of a disadvantage than a slot player. Even that turista at the 6:5 BJ game who hits hard 16 vs. a 5 and doubles on hard 12 will be worth less to the casino than his wife who is feeding the dollar slots.

So the slots player is a big, juicy steak to Harrah's, while the table games player is Rice Krispies. They'll eat either one, but the slot player is much tastier. That's why they'll give more goodies to the former, to keep him on Harrah's dinner plate that much longer.

I've noticed Harrah's gives a lot better comps to carny table games players, much more so than Craps and Blackjack (and Pai Gow) players. You can play Spanish 21 with a house edge of 0.40% and get pretty good comps. (Not as good as slot comps, but decent).

Quote: teddys

I've noticed Harrah's gives a lot better comps to carny table games players, much more so than Craps and Blackjack (and Pai Gow) players. You can play Spanish 21 with a house edge of 0.40% and get pretty good comps. (Not as good as slot comps, but decent).

Harrah's appears to actively discourage table play. I have avoided Harrah's properties like the plague for many reasons, but I read somewhere on here about some properties bumping players up to Diamond status after making some large bets at the BJ tables. To try this out, I recently went to a Harrah's property and bought in with $5,000, got on a run, and wound up with a net win of $15,500 after about an hour playing blackjack at an average bet of $1K. For this, I earned 1,292 points and 646 tier credits. That's $12.92 in comps, and I'm still nowhere close to being a diamond. In fact, I would have to repeat this exercise 20 times to become a diamond at the rate I was awarded tier credits. As far as comps, after playing $1K/hand for an hour on a BJ game with a 0.43% house edge (the wizard's calculator shows realistic results of 0.57% HE), I literally didn't have enough comps to go to the buffet, much less get a room. No host came to introduce themselves, no comps were offered by the pit, and my request for them to raise the table limit was flatly rejected by the shift boss. After that last bit, I simply got up and left with my winnings.

My guess is that I could have been improperly rated, since the pit critters were nowhere to be found until the very end when the shift boss showed up, and the dealers never called "checks play" or anything of that nature. Every once in a while there was a glance, but for the most part they were running around and not even looking at the game. If this really is their system, then there is no point to ever playing at a Harrah's property. Needless to say, after less than 24 hours as a member, Total Rewards was a Total Failure for me, and I won't ever be returning to a Harrah's/Caesars/Whatever-they-call-themselves-this-week property. At least I beat them out of some money :) .

Edit: This was at Harrah's Reno - I happened to need to be in San Francisco for business, so I went over the hill to Reno for a couple of days.

Which property were you at? I don't have time to post a full response now, but check back later... I may have some insight on what happened.

Quote: thefish2010

Needless to say, after less than 24 hours as a member, Total Rewards was a Total Failure for me, and I won't ever be returning to a Harrah's/Caesars/Whatever-they-call-themselves-this-week property. At least I beat them out of some money :) .

With the end of the boxmen and boxwomen, the situation is even screwier. Places like Harrah's Resorts (AC) seem to actively discourage playing craps. And the revision last week of the Total Rewards Web site was amateur, to say the least.

I have been a Total Rewards member for four years, all diamond. Harrah's program rewards the player over the long term. If someone is looking to come in for a night or even a weekend, it is not the right hotel for you. Your comps will be negligible and so will the points you earn. However, over the long haul you will get better and better deals. For example, my wife and I stayed at the new Orleans downtown Marriott on two different trips in the same year, both free through total rewards retail about $350 a night plus all taxes. We have gone to Vegas twice a year including new Years Eve the last four years 100% free. Spent five nights in Tahoe totally free. Now they have gotten stingier and tighter with comps recently but they take a long term view of rewards. Also, the more you get to know the pit bosses at certain casinos the faster you rack up points.....