How Cheap is Caesar’s? I mean, really?

I was in Vegas for the past few nights; my friend got a room at Caesar’s and so I stayed there for free. The other night, I was playing blackjack at a $15 table. After several hours, the pit supervisor made a comment about how long I’d been playing. I asked him how long and he told me for about three hours. I then asked him if I could get a meal; he looked me up real quick and said that he has me down for three hours of play at $30 a hand. He was unable to give comps, but that I should be able to get something through the total rewards center. Cool.

The next morning I go to the Total Rewards and they won’t give me anything. The first lady I talked to actually told me that the computer will “randomly assign” a value. I called B.S. on that one. Then her supervisor came over and said that there was nothing they could do, end of story.

Am I expecting too much? Has Vegas changed that much? Can a person playing $30 balckjack for three hours not get anything?

Quote: FortyDuce

Am I expecting too much? Has Vegas changed that much? Can a person playing $30 balckjack for three hours not get anything?

Yes. Welcome to Caesars. Next time play at a casino chain that isn't broke.

If you're playing $30 a hand, walk next door to the Mirage, play at a $25 table and you should be able to get a sandwich at Carnegie Deli after 3 hours.

Quote: FortyDuce

I was in Vegas for the past few nights; my friend got a room at Caesar’s and so I stayed there for free. The other night, I was playing blackjack at a $15 table. After several hours, the pit supervisor made a comment about how long I’d been playing. I asked him how long and he told me for about three hours. I then asked him if I could get a meal; he looked me up real quick and said that he has me down for three hours of play at $30 a hand. He was unable to give comps, but that I should be able to get something through the total rewards center. Cool.

The next morning I go to the Total Rewards and they won’t give me anything. The first lady I talked to actually told me that the computer will “randomly assign” a value. I called B.S. on that one. Then her supervisor came over and said that there was nothing they could do, end of story.

Am I expecting too much? Has Vegas changed that much? Can a person playing $30 balckjack for three hours not get anything?

yet another complaint about sleazars...
i guess when a company goes 19billion into debt
there is no depth of cheapness they won't probe.

If the blackjack game you were playing has a house edge of 0.5%, your theoretical loss was $31.50 (assuming 70 hands per hour). Harrah's Caesars properties tend to be stingy on table game comps compared to MGM and other properties. It wouldn't be unrealistic - and might even be generous - to say that they give back 10% of your theoretical loss. In this case, that would be $3.15 - which probably wouldn't even get you a stick of gum at Caesars Palace.

When the Wizard himself played at Harrah's, they only gave him back 2% of his theoretical loss in comps. If they did that for you, your comp amount would be 63¢.

So, unfortunately, your experience sounds like something typical for a Harrah's Caesars property.

The 2% seems about right. 'I recently played ay Showboat AC for 3 hrs at tiles for $20 a hand. Theoretical loss - 29.70 Actual 'comps' - .67. Works out to 2.2% of theo. I get marketing offers based on the play, but I usually play VP for at least an hr too on my trips. Caesar's wants the slots/VP player, not the table player. As a comparison, I played $15 tiles at resorts for 10 hands (not winning any) and I got .40 in comps. I view it as the table game player has to find which companies value him/her more and play there . I don't play for comps, but I want to maximize what they're going to give me.

-B

Quote: FortyDuce

Can a person playing $30 balckjack for three hours not get anything?

You would qualify for a free or discounted room. This is what I'm doing next weekend; I booked my "Caesar's" comp at Showboat in Atlantic City and will be staying there. The whole weekend, I will be playing at the new Revel casino next door. When Caesar's starts hemorrhaging customers to other casinos even though they're fully booked, they may learn a lesson (but I'm not holding my breath).

Caesars is cheap, everybody knows that. To ask for a comp at Caesars, Harrah's, Rio, Paris, Showboat, etc. is like asking for a leprechaun to give you a pot of gold: it's not going to happen.

BUT TO EVERYBODY WHO LIKES TO DOG ON CET (and I do have problems with CET), PLAY AT A FRICKIN' HORSESHOE!!! This exact scenario at Horseshoe Tunica, Horseshoe Southern Indiana and Horseshoe Council Bluffs (and maybe even Harrah's CB) will get you two free buffets, or at least two comps to a deli. You get all the benefits of Total Rewards (including free rooms, bounceback offers and flexibility to play anywhere in the country).

$15 a hand won't even get you rated at Bellagio, and at MGM my $25-50 of play at tiles for about 3-4 hours got me $8 in comps. Most Vegas Strip properties don't comp like they used to and it's a shame really. Buffets are fixed costs for the casino and they should be wiling to give them out for free. However, it's unlikely any of the casinos will do anything for you as a table game player; it's sad but true.

But again, try a Horseshoe property before you condemn CET to the ground....

Weird. At my local casino (in the midwest) I've been surprised at HOW MUCH comp I get. I've only played at most two dozen sessions, with a session lasting less than 3 hours. Usually only an hour or so. I play craps mainly, but play $10 or less on average on other shooters, and at most $60 on myself during a roll. I played a dozen or so sessions of blackjack and ZERO slots.

For June I got coupons worth $40 of blackjack play and a free room. I'm not sure if I can get multiple free rooms, because there are several days available for a free rate, but I don't know if I can take ALL of them. I've also gotten $35 in meal comps. I don't consider myself a big enough player to warrant that kind of attention.

I've had pretty good luck at Rincon lately with comps, FWIW. I think cultivating a relationship with a floorman is very helpful.

Every month Valley View sends me a free buffet, $10 in Blackjack match play and another $10 in freeplay. And the only time I show up there is to get my free stuff and eat.
At the same time Rincon (another Caesar's property and just a short drive from Valley View) sends me about $100 a month in free play along with dining credits and free rooms, plus a dozen other promotions each month. I usually end up there after I use my Valley View offers. I find it kind of stunning the disparity between what one casino is willing to do over another within the same chain. I would think that Las Vegas is a much more competitive market and as a result they would tend to be more generous; but it seems that my local casinos are much more willing to compete for one's business.

Quote: FortyDuce

At the same time Rincon (another Caesar's property and just a short drive from Valley View) sends me about $100 a month in free play along with dining credits and free rooms, plus a dozen other promotions each month. I usually end up there after I use my Valley View offers. I find it kind of stunning the disparity between what one casino is willing to do over another within the same chain. I would think that Las Vegas is a much more competitive market and as a result they would tend to be more generous; but it seems that my local casinos are much more willing to compete for one's business.

That's the funny thing about Caesars... you would think, logically, that with all the competition in Vegas that they would have to offer better to stay competitive. However, they know that they build loyalty to the brand in their "off-properties," so the assumption is those who are loyal will play a lot at the Vegas properties, regardless of odds. The remaining clients are people who don't care about odds (which is actually most gamblers, loyal or not) and want a fun environment. Since the service level at their Vegas properties are better than nearly all the other Strip properties (except Cosmopolitan) and ESPECIALLY better than MGM properties, the casual gambler doesn't really care.

It amazes me that no Strip property has tried to up the ante, so to speak, by offering better games, better comps and cheaper hotel rooms... you know, the way it used to be. It works for downtown, so why couldn't it work for a lone property on the Strip? Giving free buffets goes a long way to get people in the door, but why fix what isn't broken (especially when you don't think it's broken)?

Quote: Tiltpoul

It amazes me that no Strip property has tried to up the ante, so to speak, by offering better games, better comps and cheaper hotel rooms... you know, the way it used to be. It works for downtown, so why couldn't it work for a lone property on the Strip? Giving free buffets goes a long way to get people in the door, but why fix what isn't broken (especially when you don't think it's broken)?

It doesn't work downtown. Historically those casinos do not provide a very good return on investment to their owners.

State lotteries, particularly their scratch tickets, prove why their business model works. Scratch tickets have atrocious odds, worse than any table game or slot machine. There are very few "special offers" (best I have seen is some States doing buy 5 get 1 free on a certain game), no comps, nothing, whether you spend 1 dollar or tens of thousands over your lifetime. But look how many people (myself included) buy these pieces of paper. There is a sucker born every day, and many of those suckers like to vacation in Las Vegas.