Very Misleading (imho) Car Giveaway Contest at Horseshoe Cleveland

I'm not sure who I am more disappointed with, the Horseshoe Cleveland Casino or the Ohio Casino Control Commission. Here are the rules for this particular contest, as disclosed on their website at the time (and I quote):

"About our 2nd Anniversary Car Giveaway

This is your chance to win a brand new Infinity Q50a. It all takes place on Saturday, May 17th.

Swipe your Total Rewards card between 5pm - 8:55pm for one free entry. The more you play the more chances you earn. Receive an additional entry for every 25 Tier Credits earned during this time.

Every hour between 6pm and 9pm, finalists will be drawn for a spot in the grand finale.

See Total Rewards for complete details. Must be present to win. Alternates will be drawn until finalist spot is claimed".

End quote.

So, simple enough, right ? A nice level playing field, and the more you play that day the more chances you have. WELL NOT EXACTLY ! What you cannot tell from their website description, and WHY THIS IS SO MISLEADING, is that:

1) Of the 10 finalist positions available, 3 of them are reserved for members of the top couple of tiers of their Players Club.

2) A select group of individuals ALSO receive extra bonus entries into the drawing and this next part is so outlandish I could not make it up, those individuals receive up to 5,000 additional entries, which makes the contest both unfair and mis-leading. I was part of the group that got 15 additional entries. Whoopee.

I learned about these special rules after several e-mails back and forth when I asked for the contest details. I don't care how they set-up the rules of their promotions, that's up to them. I do object to describing the rules one way on their website, and then having additional rules that completely change the nature of the contest.

It would be nice if there were a Commission in Ohio to prevent mis-leading practices like this, but apparently that is not the job of the Ohio Casino Control Commission, who I contacted. Twice. They responded that they will not take any action on this.

At best, I would characterize this contest as completely mis-leading, and at worst it was border-line fraudulent to Statistically Rig it to steer the prize to a member of a pool of people pre-selected by the Casino while mis-representing the rules on their own website.

Is this par for the course when dealing with Casinos ?

Is it acceptable ?

Sounds like the Rock should run for Sheriff and smash that place up.

Quote: JohnnyQ

Is this par for the course when dealing with Casinos ?

Well, its actually better than many such contests, but its pretty much par for the course. Yes.

The fine print should never radically alter the nature of the deal. Fine print is for things like employees, spouses, agents and contractors, model swapping, delivery arrangements, etc. This covers things like do you get the display model or an equivalent, do you have to drive it from the casino, can they force you to pose for photographs of you and a great big key and a pretty girl or two.

I like the way the M used to do things. They gave you The Bold Print,, The Medium Print and then The Fine Print.

What usually happens is the lines are humungously long on the Event Day, so there are alot who show up and get ONE electronic ticket as well as alot who show up and just get to wait on a slow moving and frustrating line. Also alot get extra electronic tickets based on prior play or prior something.... so your ONE entry competes with someone else's 25 entries. Ever hear of "ballot box stuffing"?

Often you get one entry per DAY of scanning your card so those who go to the casino can get up to 30 days of entries and often that merely means some retirement home bus driver sits there and scans the cards of everyone who missed the bus that day.

Must be present to win often translates to must be physically present and must properly respond within fifteen minutes of having their name called, such proper response including presenting oneself at the appropriate desk with both drivers license and valid casino card. If you miss the deadline, they draw the next "winner" and go on until someone fulfills the requirement.


Sometimes regulators step in for minor matters, such as the use of a young girl to spin a wheel ... must use an adult.
Sometimes regulators step in for more significant matters but most regulators consider day to day gaming to be their primary turf, not special events.

Frankly, full disclosure in casinos is a rarity. Much to their disgrace.

Tier level play also affect similar giveaways in Vegas. Not sure if I've seen one that tilted though. Don't know what the requirements are for posting rules, but have always been able to find them posted. Doesn't mean everyone reads them carefully.

This is why I initially thought the Ohio Casino Control Commission would at least issue an STD letter (Stop Doing That) to the manager of the Horseshoe Casino:

- "As regulators of the state's four casinos, our mission is to hold the casino operator and employees accountable to Ohio’s very high standards".

That is a quote from the OCCC website.

According to the HSC website, the Sr. Vice President & General Manager of HS-Cleveland has a Masters of Business Administration degree from Duke University's Fuqua School of Business, which depending on how you pronounce that, sums it all up.

Quote: rxwine

Tier level play also affect similar giveaways in Vegas. Not sure if I've seen one that tilted though. Don't know what the requirements are for posting rules, but have always been able to find them posted. Doesn't mean everyone reads them carefully.

As far as I could tell, the "special" rules were NOT posted on the Horseshoecleveland.com website and were NOT posted anywhere in the Casino. I e-mailed the "contact us" person from the website, and only after several e-mails was able to get the complete story on it.

Q: If they can give away 5,000 extra entries to a number of people, what's to stop them from upping that to a high enough amount of extra entries to have a 95 % statistical chance that their secretly pre-selected Diamond or 7 Stars member(s) will win the prize ?

A: According to the Ohio Casino Control Commission, nothing. And they don't have to be up-front about disclosing the rules either. I wonder what it is they do all day at the OCCC.

Disappointing, but not terribly surprising. Setting aside 3 of the prizes for Diamond+ seems unnecessary. They are going to win the majority of the prizes anyway.

But also keep in mind, Horseshoe Cincy gave away two $1M prizes when the real winner wasn't present, but some dude with the same name was present for the drawing. I'm still shocked that CET did that.

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/casino-mix-up-awards-men-1-million-article-1.1425322

Yes but that is life.

happens all the time, and honestly why complain- your equity in that drawing even without the tiers could not have been more then a dollar or two to be honest-
i used to take advantage of some great promotions for cars but the days of the isle of pompano having great promotions are gone
one of the best ever was the top point earner for each hour from 12-9 got an entry into the final round where they drew 1 of ten names for the car- there were so few people there in the afternoon tht I was 6- 10 names for the final
1000 each for the finalist winner got the car- i didnt win the car- but I cut a sweat deal before it was drawn

It's a shame when a casino draw isn't what it seems to be. In my local it nearly always seemed to be the Chinese who won the prizes! Although I did win £100 once.

When advertising was banned, they used to have them in some UK casinos and new bingo halls - though normally for cars or holidays not $1m. Strangely since the rules have been relaxed, I haven't seen so many draws, I guess other marketing methods and advertising are more successful.

but I cut a sweat deal before it was drawn
What kind of deal??? I am nosey. Sorry.......

3000 each to other finalists I took cash prize so cost me 12 k to get 48500

Quote: strictlyAP

3000 each to other finalists I took cash prize so cost me 12 k to get 48500

You are one smart asssssssssss

Quote: strictlyAP

why complain- your equity in that drawing even without the tiers could not have been more then a dollar or two to be honest

Yeah, maybe. But I like I said, they can set-up their contest anyway they want, afterall it's their contest. But they shouldn't be able to lie about it on the website.

Quote: JohnnyQ

Yeah, maybe. But I like I said, they can set-up their contest anyway they want, afterall it's their contest. But they shouldn't be able to lie about it on the website.

Make a formal complaint perhaps.

Quote: JohnnyQ

Yeah, maybe. But I like I said, they can set-up their contest anyway they want, afterall it's their contest. But they shouldn't be able to lie about it on the website.

Did they actually lie about it on their website or just omit information? There is a huge difference between the two. Was there any type of disclaimer on the website about the actual rules available at the casino?

In either case you should write a letter to the gaming commission.

Quote: JohnnyQ

See Total Rewards for complete details.

Thanks to all for listening and offering suggestions.

In my original post, I quoted the description on the website verbatim. It is up to a "reasonable" person to decide if it is misleading or not.

Yes, they did indeed have a disclaimer and used that to OMIT KEY details from the description on the website. In my mind, that makes it misleading. Certainly there is a fine line between intentionally misleading and lieing. But as a "respected" corporation, shouldn't they be standing clearly on the ethical side of the line ?

Yes, I contacted the Casino Commission. I was very surprised that the Ohio Gaming Commission didn't give a sh** about it, and decided that they COULD and therefore should do nothing. To quote Gomer Pyle, "Shame, shame, shame !".

So, what's left for me to do ?

Write a letter to the Casino Mgr ?

WWWD ?

Write a letter to the local Investigative journalist ?

Stop going there ?

Look at it like a prize-fight and give round #2 to the casino and try to come out in Round #3 swinging ?

And life goes on and on and on.....