yeah the problem is there are very few (any?) people that really know the figures. they just don't teach them that.
I truly believe I'll find out the meaning of life and share a goose-n-soda with God long before this Mystery of the Universe defining MGM comps calculations is revealed.
BeeJay, Please keep us posted of any further answer or clarification that Bellagio representative (of Facebook account) will provide to you. According to MLife's website, Program Rewards, FAQs Section, it states "For slot play in Las Vegas M life casinos, you receive 10 Tier Credits for every $2 of coin-in on reel and video slot machines or $10 of coin-in on video poker and specialty games." https://www.mlife.com/booking/faq It doesn't mention anything about a Platinum player can earn 10 tier credits with his/her $7.50 coin-in on VP. :confused2:
I'm more interested in the point play accrual rates to be honest. Although the full clarification on the coin-in to retain platinum would be cool as well.
Ok I was finally able to get some pretty definitive answers to my questions between a Jean Scott article and VPfree2. For the platinum card holder: $200,000 coin in each year to maintain platinum (tier pts accrual not effected by current tier) Express Comps: 0.266% of coin-in. $532 if you played the $200,000 coin in required. Point Play: 0.133% of coin-in. $266 if you played the $200,000 coin in required. $200,000 coin-in on $1 VP paytables where we play at Aria/Bellagio should be a theoretical loss of around $5,000. This should yield total comps of about $1,500-$2,000. If you subtract out the defined automatic comps above of approx. $800, one would expect to receive an additional $700-$1,200 worth of freebies. On our latest Bellagio trip my offer came with $300 freeplay, a room at current rates valued at $1,100, and show tickets face value around $380. I was clearly over-comped on this trip using the unusually generous corporate offer on a high-cost weekend. I'm not sure what internal cost they assign for the room, but I suspect its lower than what they went for that weekend. Normally Bellagio has been giving me just the room with maybe $50 freeplay twice per year. I value the room at $200 per night. So that is $1,200 room + $100 freeplay + $266 point play + $532 express comps = $2,100 total comps. Almost exactly what I should hope for on $5,000 theoretical loss. Anyway, I am happy to know the exact details of Mlife's system rather than just going on "feel" or guessing. I feel like I am getting treated fairly and receiving competitive comp value for my play in comparison with Caesars properties where I would be getting a Caesars room at best, but certainly no freeplay or pointplay. Also I am able to use the Bellagio offers on busy weekends, but could only get Caesars during Sun-Thur. Overall I believe it still makes sense for me to stick with Mlife at the platinum level as the express comps are enough to cover my buffet and coffee shop tasts, and the line pass scoots me by those huge crowds on the May trip. I could probably suffice with Gold given the similar benefits if variance caused my bankroll to be insufficient for platinum. My calculation is for 6 days in Vegas per year, playing 4 hrs per day at 500 hands per hour split between $2 and $5 denom would get me to 200,000 pts. At $15,000 total bankroll set aside per year, expected loss of $5,000 and results varying from $5,000 win to $15,000 loss each year. That bankroll might be too small and require more play at lower level to even out variance.
The web site talks about accelerated point and express comp earning, not tier credit earnings. I believe for points and express comps, it is 1.75 for gold and 1.50 for platinum. It doesn't say that tier credits are based on points, they are based on dollars spent, at least at the Las Vegas casinos. So even though you would earn a point at $1.50, it would still take you $2 to earn the 10 tier credits or $10 playing VP.
agreed. this is why i changed my assumption of coin in from $150K to $200K for earning the platinum tier.
Thanks for the clarification. Now, for table games how does it work for EC's and Tier Points? If I play 3 hrs at $400/hand, 2 other players, basic strategy, 6 deck shoe shuffled, and 5 beers.. what are my EC's and Tier Points? Does Noir get more earned EC's than Platinum?
Cant wait until you get the answer to this thread, drop all the money, gain Platinum status...... .....And get your first $21 offer to stay at the Excalibur.
For those of you not on Facebook, the poster asked how much coin in on VP to reach, and maintain Plat. The answer was: "Dear Barton, thank you for being a member of M life and for maintaining your Platinum status! Our Casino Marketing Department can answer your questions regarding your play and overall status. Please contact them at 888.987.7887." Why they continue to make this program so complex is beyond me.
My guess is that they make it complex, just so they can keep it fluid. If they publish exact rates, it could get them into a shitstorm with angry customers if they decide to change it at some point in the future. But I'm particularly annoyed with the vagueness of how they value table play. I got about 80,000 tier points this past trip playing $50/hand BJ for just short of 14 hours over 3 days. Not at all sure how they came to that. Also... a little more cluelessness... I jumped from Gold to Platinum on this trip. I noticed that one of my perks is a special check-in line and priority taxi service. I asked which check-in line that was (like... is it the 'invited guests' line? or something else?). The players club desk clerks had no idea. I asked about how to get priority taxi service (I don't see a special platinum card line at the taxi stand), and they also had no idea. Also... Aria has recently installed sensors on their BJ tables to track how many hands you're dealt. I asked the host how that worked, and she said she had no idea -- she only learned about the sensors 2 days before, even though they've apparently been installed for a couple of months. and a big FYI -- apparently these sensors are coming to all MGM proprties' blackjack tables... prepare for even fewer comps!
all based on theo yes, invited guests you just walk up to the front of the line and show them your card. that's how most of the platinum/Noir perks work, there is no special line. depends on how fast you play. if you play alone and very fast, could be more comps.
They have to figure out how it works, though. There are small lights shining through the felt. One dealer said the light sensed when there was a card on top of it and counted it as a hand. One of my dealers wasn't dealing on top of the lights. I wanted to make sure my play was getting tracked, so I asked him about it as well. He said it didn't matter if it was directly on top of the sensor. The sensor could sense if a card was "in the area", which, again... doesn't make much sense if the sensor is a light. They all swore that the cards were't RFID tagged or anything, so the 'in the area' story isn't so plausible. So I'm guessing that a good percentage of my hands weren't actually tracked at the session. This system also doesn't track doubles or splits, which raise your average bet.
doubles and splits are never counted towards your rating. that's because this is an advantage play, so it actually has negative HA. the theoretical HA on BJ with a $X/hand bet already has calculated the effect of doubles and splits. so if they included this in your average bet, they'd be overcomping you.
Granted, I dont love MGM from a comp standpoint, but it must be even worse to be a pit critter there. I would drown in the amount of sweat they appear to be shedding right now. Hell, I cant wait until there is a suit with a clicker at the Big-6 wheel to track the "spins per hour". No wait, this is MGM. They would create a $25,000,000 robot with no artificial intelligence to track that. It would be down for maintenance every 9 hours.