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Mlife Casino Rankings and help picking which is best for me

Discussion in 'LV Strip Hotels' started by gpenguins67, Dec 23, 2012.

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  1. gpenguins67

    gpenguins67 High-Roller

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    Trying to plan a future trip and I really don't know if it is gonna help to step down to a lower level casino with the way Mlife comps have been recently but here is my predicament. I used to stay at Excalibur and had a host there(who didnt really do too much for me but thats besides the point). Then the last three trips I've been staying at MGM and noticed a major degeneration of offers. MGM started off decent (3 nights comp, $50-100 food and ~$200 fp) then dropped off where my current spring offer of 1 night comp with nothing else or 1 night plus 2 concert tickets.. which are for shows i dont relly want to see.

    I really don't understand this comp downgrade since i have more than doubled my gambling budget from ~$2k a trip when I stayed at excalibur to ~$4-5k the past couple trips at MGM. I'm wondering if MGM is a slightly higher class than i belong in, in order get the most bang for my buck. So here is the list of casino's the way I see it starting from the most expensive (i'll lump together groups in the same range. I'd appreciate any input you guys think whether my list is correct and where i belong on the food chain to optimize my comps.

    1 Aria
    2 Bellagio
    3 Mandalay

    4 MGM
    5 Mirage
    6 NYNY

    7 Monte Carlo
    8 Luxor

    9 Excalibur.

    Now I feel I have graduated from Excalibur and would like to stay somewhere nicer (even though they still give me 3 nights plus fb and fp) and I've never been a fan of Luxor for some reason. I like the rooms at MGM and the dining options there but I'd rather use the $300-600 I'm gonna spend on the room for the extra nights toward food, entertainment and gambling if another property will give me the rooms for free.
    Here is my other question, would I have to talk to a host to see if they would match my other offers or would a host not even consider my play as significant enough?
    Side note: I never really played at CET properties and I might consider switching to one of their casino's next trip... but it would be nice to know that they are gonna comp me for rooms up front. Any suggestions. Oh and to give you guys an idea, I'm 30 years old and my friends that come out with me are all around the same age. We like to drink pretty heavily, and dine at decent places.... we don't go out to vegas to eat at Mcdonalds... we can do that at home so it would be nice to have a place with some nice dining options on site or neighboring properties.
    (Please no comments about chasing comps... thats not my intention... my gambling budget is gonna be the same no matter where I stay, I just want to make sure I'm getting the most for it)
     
  2. KingBBInLV

    KingBBInLV High-Roller

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    This is the order I would put them in:

    Group A
    Bellagio + Aria

    Group B
    Mandalay, MGM + Mirage

    Group C

    Monte Carlo + NYNY

    Group D

    Excalibur + Luxor

    It really doesn't matter if you doubled your gambling budget, it's all about the points/tier credits you earn and time you spend playing.
    Basically, you'll get a lot more offers if you play 4 hours a day at penny machines while racking up tier credits as opposed to sitting at a BJ table, playing $25 a hand for an hour or 2 and dropping $2,000. At least that has been my experiences with MGM Resorts.
     
  3. gpenguins67

    gpenguins67 High-Roller

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    I'm at the slots 50% of the time (Max bet penny video slots or max $1 and $5 reels), 40% tables (craps, let it ride, 3 card, some BJ)bets vary from $10-50 a hand , 10% Video poker. I'm a gold level and usually range 45k-65k in tier point on a 4 day trip.... dont know what it translates to in coin-in.
     
    Last edited: Dec 23, 2012
  4. Auggie

    Auggie Dovahkiin

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    This is the way I think they rank themselves:

    Bellagio
    Aria, Mirage
    Monte Carlo
    MGM Grand
    Mandalay Bay, NYNY
    Luxor
    Excalibur


    For the OP:
    With MLife and offers its really hard to say: in 2010 and 2011 they tried out a company-wide comp policy based on your play versus quality of the resort...

    This is similar to the idea you are going with here: if your play was worth maybe only a basic room at MGM it might be worth more at a lesser resort. So you might only warrant a basic room at MGM Grand, but you get an upgraded room at NYNY, an upgraded tower room at Luxor or a suite at Excalibur.

    But what likely happened was people were taking the upgraded rooms at one property, but going back to playing at the property where they originally played at. IE: the guy who gets the basic MGM Grand room takes the suite at Excalibur, but then still goes to MGM to play and spend all their money.

    In the fall of 2011 they changed their program to make it more property centric: the overall generic "corporate offers" were greatly downgraded, but the property specific offers went up... IF you played at the property.

    So as it is now, if you want offers from MGM Grand you have to play at MGM Grand... if you want offers from Monte Carlo you have to play at Monte Carlo.

    The problem you might be encountering is the one big hole in that system: if you are a player who spreads his/her play around then the offers you get will reflect that in the new system: your play might go up, but your offers go down because you are spreading play around.
     
  5. Gregsmt

    Gregsmt Low-Roller

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    You rank Monte Carlo above MGM grand? Why is that? Way higher table limits at MGM than MC. I like to play at MC, but when I get on a roll at the craps table I attract way way way more attention at NYNY and MC than MGM. I would Rank MC the same as NYNY as far as table play. I agree with the rest of your list.
     
  6. Travel Fanatic

    Travel Fanatic The Arbiter of Taste Caviar Kid

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    I think King's rankings is how MGM views their properties. In terms of moving up from Excalibur, you may want to move up one tier instead of two. NYNY or Monte Carlo are both decent and may still give you the free room.
     
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  7. BeeeJay

    BeeeJay President of The Red Lobster Hostess Satisfaction

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    I would break this down into a couple key facts you stated.

    #1 Currently MGM Resorts Intl is offering you two options: 2 comp nights at MGM or 3 nights/FP/FB at Excalibur.

    #2 You have a $5,000 3-night trip budget, spent half on penny slots.

    It sounds like you enjoyed MGM enough when they offered you a decent shake with more nights and perhaps more FP and FB, now that is gone and you are looking at option.

    If I understand correctly I would recommend the following based on my experience:

    MGM Resorts Int'l is lowering your comps as your play increases because they are catagorizing you as an earned loyal customer whom they are betting they can keep while offering less. You simply need to let them know they are wrong by not playing there so they can increase your offers. I firmly believe you are a customer they will want to get back.

    At CET properties, I player giving just that amount of slot play is desired. You should see across the board comp offers, but only rooms, not usually any freeplay or much FB, besides what you earn on points. You may not get Caesars, but Planet Hollywood is a very viable option to MGM, and in the vicinity of where you seem to like to party.

    I would take 1 trip completely off from MGM and concentrate your play at Planet Hollywood, being careful to search out the better machines and better tables games (ie 3/2 blackjack amongst the 6/5 tables.)

    Additionally, as a 30-yr old on that type of budget, you might really like Cosmopolitan. If you are going with other guys and can split room costs after backing out backend comps, it can work. They are quite stingy with upfront offers, but you earn points at a better clip than MGM which you can use at checkout for room costs. You are also able to meet with a host or have someone from VIP desk evaluate your play at trip end to get your room cost reduced. They do send out mailers with free rooms, just not as regularly as MGM/CET. Cosmopolitan is the kind of place some people love, some people hate. It up to your personality.

    I would definitely recommend putting MGM on the backburner as they are screwing you with that budget and mix of games, and take a look at P.Ho and/or Cosmo.
     
  8. Auggie

    Auggie Dovahkiin

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    As I said: I think thats how they rate themselves, which is why Monte Carlo is so high and Mandalay Bay is so low on that list... actually in talking to a few hosts at Monte Carlo last year they might even put themselves up on the same rung as Aria and Mirage.

    Personally, how I would rank them would be something more like:
    Bellagio
    Aria
    Mirage, Mandalay Bay
    MGM Grand
    Monte Carlo, NYNY
    Luxor
    Excalibur
     
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