Maximizing my Comps, Is this Plan Solid?

I had a similar thread on another forum, but now that I've worked it out I wanted to make sure this plan made sense. To clearly state, I don't chase comps. I bet at the level that they're given to me at, so I want to maximize them. My average bet size on my last trip was about $60 or $65 if I recall correctly with below average slot play. My average bet size this trip will probably be smaller, maybe in the $40-50 range, with little or no slot play.

I'm currently an mlife and Boyd comp'd player. I'm booked on 2 separate offers, June 28/29 at Aria and July 3rd at Bellagio. Getting RC/FP on both. I'll be at the Orleans and a trip to Utah in between the 29th and 3rd on a comp, but I plan to not give Boyd any play at all. I'm moving on from them because I didn't like Orleans as much as I thought I would and I don't want to stay downtown or at GC. I want to have another comp

I also have some MyVegas buffets lined up. I'm going to use the Aria dinner buffet on the night I arrive on the 28th. I'll be playing mlife that night, as well. Probably 3-4 hours. The next day, I'll be eating Aria breakfast buffet and then having a late Bellagio lunch buffet just before 3pm. I would have used these up later in the trip, a bit more spread out, but there's a ton of blackout dates that weekend. I'll be putting in heavy play at the Aria/Bellagio and maybe MGM/NYNY this day. Probably 10-12 hours+

I check out from Aria on the morning of the 30th. I plan to put in no action that day nor will I spend any comps. I'll make sure I use up my FP/RC before the previous night is over.

On the 30th I want to generate some teaser offers. I got the TR Visa card so I have $100 in comps to spend and I can also get the free show tickets or buffet. I'll make sure I use those freebies on the 30th as well. For the 30th I'm going to play most of the day at CET properties, although I may also play some poker at CET. I'm wondering if I should also put in a few hours at the Wynn? I've heard they have some great teaser offers lately. On the 1st of July I'll probably put light play in at CET properties. On the 2nd of July I'll play nowhere and on the 3rd of July I'll play mlife since I'm checked into the Bellagio.

Is my plan ok? I'm wondering if I shouldn't even give them my card at all to CET on the 1st of July since my play will be light and mostly hit and run. I'll have some Vegas virgins with me that day so I won't get in any extended sessions. 15 minutes here, 30 minutes there, at best. Also I'm not sure whether it's worth chasing a Wynn teaser.

Any advice appreciated!

 

You're juggling some decent comps for a $60-65 average bet gambler.

You should be giving advice, not asking for it.

 

They weren't that amazing. $50 RC/FP for each offer and run of house rooms at both places, non-weekend only. The offers may go down a bit after my trip because of minimal or zero slot play but I'll be putting in twice the number of hours at 80-90% of the average table bets as my last trip so maybe not.

In any case, I'm more wondering about the CET/Wynn stuff. Completely clueless on pulling teaser offers and whatnot because I've never tried it before.

Thanks!

 

I'll chop this up and share some advise.

I check out from Aria on the morning of the 30th. I plan to put in no action that day nor will I spend any comps. I'll make sure I use up my FP/RC before the previous night is over.

You are staying at an MLife property on a comp. They count your checkout day. If you are trying to stay status quo with them, this will hurt you. Your check out day is a rated day. Your plan would have you no play them this day, cutting down your previously rated days for your "trip".

On the 30th I want to generate some teaser offers. I got the TR Visa card so I have $100 in comps to spend and I can also get the free show tickets or buffet. I'll make sure I use those freebies on the 30th as well. For the 30th I'm going to play most of the day at CET properties, although I may also play some poker at CET. I'm wondering if I should also put in a few hours at the Wynn? I've heard they have some great teaser offers lately.

If your intention is to generate better offers at both CET & Wynn, splitting your bankroll between the two of them will decrease your offers VS doing all of your gaming with one club that day. If your bankroll for the 30th is $1000. You no played Mlife so that day is $0.00. You split your bankroll between CET & Wynn 50-50 your will look like a $500 a day guy to both clubs. That will lower your offers at CET VS being a $1K per day guy and it might not even be enough to get you in at Wynn.

On the 1st of July I'll probably put light play in at CET properties. On the 2nd of July I'll play nowhere and on the 3rd of July I'll play mlife since I'm checked into the Bellagio.

Light play on this day will bring down your averages again. If you ran $1K through your Total Reward account the day before and now $200. You are rated at $1200 DIV 2 = $600 a day. Your offers will be lower.

Is my plan ok? I'm wondering if I shouldn't even give them my card at all to CET on the 1st of July since my play will be light and mostly hit and run. I'll have some Vegas virgins with me that day so I won't get in any extended sessions. 15 minutes here, 30 minutes there, at best. Also I'm not sure whether it's worth chasing a Wynn teaser.

My advise, don't look at Wynn unless you plan on getting invested there. Play one day at CET and not a short day. I'd play Mlife casinos on your checkout day, you will be on record anyway. And save your CET day for the next when you planned on low playing the,. If possible.

 

I'd concentrate your CET play in one day. If you hit and run the 1st, do it without the card.

 

Ok I think I'll put in Mlife play on checkout day if I don't go super heavy the first day and a half like I'm planning. I'm ok if they drop my future offers to MGM or Luxor/NYNY. Rooms aren't too big of a deal to me. I'll give the rest of checkout day to CET and I'll skip the Wynn.

Should I avoid giving CET my card on the day that I'll be doing very light gambling and mostly hit and run? I think that's probably the biggest unknown.

 

Yes. CET rating of table games for short sessions is all over the place and it may bring down your average.

 

I think I mostly agree with @Grid except about the checkout day thing.

If MLife counts checkout day in your ADT no matter what, then it shouldn't matter if you play or don't play on checkout day, what matters is that you play your normal overall level total over the amount of time you're there.

CET, I would absolutely either skip the "light" day and do all your play on a single day, or keep your card in your pocket on the "light" day. You only need to play on one day to trigger teasers, why dilute it with a 2nd, light day. If you opt to only play on your card a single day, I would make it the same day as you are going to be redeeming your comps from the TR credit card.

Wynn, no opinion, other than recommending that one day of activity should be enough to trigger teasers, but that on an ongoing basis Wynn is going to be a little tighter on comps for the same amount of play than MLife or CET.

I'd do CET one day and Wynn another.

Just as an example, this is my plan for my next trip:

• I'm taking MLife out of my rotation, I have 3 nights comped at MGM Grand the beginning of my trip, followed by 4 nights at Cosmo and 6 nights at PH.
• My normal average coin in per day is ~$4,000, everywhere.
• While I'm at MGM Grand, I'm only going to play video poker enough to renew Pearl status and preserve my Express Comps for a year. That's a minimal amount of play and I'm basically just writing it off.
• So that's going to give me an "excess" $12,000 coin in that I normally would have done at MGM Grand.
• On the middle day of my MGM Grand stay, I'm going up the other end of the strip and doing $1,000 coin in on slots at both TI and V/P to get teasers (in the case of V/P it's really to get back on their radar)
  
• That's going to leave me an excess of $10,000 coin in available to spread across my 10 nights at Cosmo and PH. It'll increase my coin average at those places from $4,000 to $5,000 a night for this trip, which I expect will boost the value of my next round of offers/availability from both. It's not sustainable, if/when I get those better offers, I'll go back to $4,000 a day, but I don't care.
  
• I'm only doing $1,000 coin in at TI and V/P because I think that's all that's necessary (and probably more than necessary), I only need a standard room offer from each of them.
• On the days you play at CET and Wynn, your choice whether to just play enough to get standard room teasers or to show them your real level and jump immediately to "real" offers that will reflect your usual level of play in terms of room type, throwins, etc. I don't have any experience doing that when I seed a place - I try to only play the minimal amount I think is necessary. I never know if I'll use them, so I don't want to invest heavily.

I will have a 3rd day at MGM Grand to kill, with minimal or no gaming. That won't be easy.

 

If Miami Dave usually stays with Mlife on his normal trips, and those trips include playing on checkout day and not bouncing around like he is suggesting, then deviating from that play will effect his current offers.

If Miami Dave doesn't play on checkout day, when he stays with Mlife, since he didn't know that checkout day counts (it does) then maybe his offers would be a little richer.

Either way it's best to play there if you are pulling a comp VS just moving your play to try and harvest elsewhere. It just works out better for the player. Especially on a short "trip".

If he used to stay 4 nights and left on the 5th day (checkout day) that zero play day after checking out (while being rated) just reduced his average by 20%. Looks like he is now staying just 2 days, so that check out day would reduce his average by a third.

Here is the easiest math using numbers I pulled from my butt. $1K per day, 4 nights of gambling = $4K of play on the trip. Add that check out and its 5 days at $800 of play per day. Same bankroll, 2 nights of gambling = $2K. Add that check out day and its 3 days at $666.00 per day. That's a bigger hit due to the short trip.

And that reduced theo might end up costing him his future offers with Mlife, or reducing them some. If he is looking for the most bang for his buck, it is best to play the system whenever possible.

 

OK I absolutely agree with you that for a place that counts checkout day, that particular policy sucks worse the shorter your stay. And if he is used to playing on checkout day, decides not to, and doesn't reallocate checkout day's bankroll and play it earlier in the stay, he gets hurt. But not because he had a zero specifically on checkout day.

I wasn't taking length of stay into consideration. What I was getting at is more along the lines of, if you go for 4 nights and you know they count checkout day, then you know the ADT denominator is 5.

So on any given 4 night/5 day trip, it doesn't matter how you spread the play out, as long as the top line is the same.

1000-1000-1000-1000-0
is the same as
800-800-800-800-800
is the same as
4,000-0-0-0-0

 

Thanks for the feedback, guys.

Unless I get completely crushed, I'll be putting in at least 15-18 hours of total play between the first night and my first full day there. I figure my total THEO for those hours will be roughly $1200-1500 unless I'm not doing the math right. I figured that should be enough to at least give me decent future offers at the mid-tier MGM properties if not weekday Aria/Bellagio/MB/Delano offers again, like I got after my last trip. I didn't play for nearly as many hours my last trip, but I put in some slot play, so I figure I should be in a similar area.

If I don't play a lot with decent average bet size the first two days, I'll probably do a decent amount of play on day 3 to make sure I don't give up my mlife offers. Grid is correct in that I don't want to give up mlife. I just want to supplement it with another property, but retaining somewhat respectable mlife offers is still the first priority. However, if I get rated a little worse and drop from the top tier rooms to having to stay at Luxor or MGM next trip, I'm actually OK with that. I'm one of those types that consider my room to be just a bed. I like the convenience of staying at Aria/Bellagio though since that's where I do most of my play.

 

Good to hear you not chasing comps!

Of course I never understood why that would be bad. I want to drink but I don't want to get drunk cause that would be bad!

 

Love it! I like to consider myself as a maximizer of comps. And not a comp chaser. Chasing makes it seem like throwing money out that you really shouldn't. Maximizing is playing the system to your full benefit.

A Maximizer knows if they already have 950 tier credits on the day at a CET joint, will gamble $250 through on a slot to get to 1000 TC's which trigger another 1000 bonus TC's.

A Chaser has the bankroll to earn 600 TC's but they will over play, and over extend themselves, to get to the same 1000 TC's for the bonus.

A Maximizer knows if they can hit $8K of coin-in at Treasure Island, they can get their host to take off $100 from their tab at checkout and that would be enough to trigger a suite on their next stay. So they will track their play to make sure it stays where it should be

A Chaser will gamble through $1K until its gone at a new club hoping to get a comped room on their next stay. So they will purposely lose $1,000 hoping to get a $100 room free for 3 nights ($300 value).

 

Yeah there's a big difference between chasing comps and being efficient with your play.

I'm going to be putting all those hours in at those bet sizes regardless, so I want to map out my play as efficiently as possible. The last thing I want to do is open a random day of gambling with Mlife but only give them a few hours and then go spend the rest of the day elsewhere. I like to stay at two different places on a trip so I want to have two different 2-3 day comp offers.

 

Excellent, best way I've ever seen it simply said.

 

Not sure what you were looking at getting from Wynn, but I have played MINIMALLY (like an hour of slot play!) and consistently get offers for weekday nights for $109.
I am not a Wynn type person (MSS is my spot...lol), but just an FYI for you....

 

I understand that some places count checkout day. that is so wrong. SURELY they realize most people have an early flight, or at least head to the airport 2 hours or so early, and therefore not likely to do much if any gambling on that day. I made up my mind, I am not going to worry about, nothing much I can do about it. I could quickly cram a few hundred into a slot machine and kiss it goodbye, but is it worth it?

 

Sorry I am lost with this lot. I have been gambling at MGM resorts for 10 years. My host contacts me I stay for 14 nights of which I have 10 nights comped in a suite. I only pay for 4 nights. All my F&B has always been comped at the end.
It has been the same for me at the Palazzo. I wish I could suggest something but I dont get the juggling of the comps. I like to keep it simple.

 

David Blake, that's great that you give away $10,000+ per trip and get everything comp'd. Thanks for the.... contribution.

 

I gamble $10,000 - $15,000 per my 2 week vacation? Some nights I gamble and loose and some nights it sees me through a few more days.

I go there to enjoy and never have the expectation of winning but I stay in a very nice suite for the stay , never pay for my food and drink and also get free shows. As for giving away $10,000 I have never looked at it like that. I work hard and enjoy the Las Vegas life style for 2 weeks of the year...who wouldn't.