comp dollar and tier credit earning at Encore Boston Harbor (Wynn Rewards)

The following information is based on data gathered from my play today (4 January 2020) at Encore Boston Harbor (EBH).

1 comp dollar (earned through play) = 12.5 tier credits

Comp dollars are earned at a rate of 10% of theo/hold.

This will be more important to more of you once Wynn Rewards spreads to Wynn and Encore in Vegas in 2021. Wynn Rewards is now in place in Boston. Three tiers (annual earning period, aligned to the calendar year) -- Red (base), Platinum (7k TC), Black (70k TC). Points have no direct correlation to the earning of comp dollars or tier credits. In Boston, the point earning is different than it is in Vegas...

• slots: $5/pt (Vegas: $1.50/pt)
• VP: $10/pt (Vegas: $6/pt)
• bubble craps (only because I figured this out today): $20 resolved action / pt (Vegas: no clue)

What I put in bold above is definitely unpublished anywhere official by EBH. Additionally, it is possible to closely estimate the hold on any machine as long as you know exactly how much you earned in comp dollars for play on the machine in a given session and how many points were earned for the session.

Along those lines, it is possible to somewhat estimate how much machine play it takes to advance in tier. Examples below for slots and VP presume a 10% hold on slots as set by the casino (I was detecting machine hold smaller than this on a good number of slots today; thus, actual needed coin-in would likely be significantly higher, depending on what you play) and a 2% hold on video poker (quite accurate, in my observation)...

Platinum (7k TC) -- $560 of earned comp dollars

• slots: $56k
• VP: $280k

Black (70k TC) -- $5600 of earned comp dollars

• slots: $560k
• VP: $2.8m

More commentary to follow regarding how this compares to the competition.

 

The biggest competition for EBH is MGM Springfield. It is quite interesting to note that Wynn Rewards rolled out at EBH just a few months after all of the recent changes with Mlife regarding Express Comps. Both MGM Springfield and EBH have the exact same formula for determining the earning rate for self-comps (Express Comps with Mlife, COMPdollars with EBH) -- 10% of theo. Both trounce self-comp earning for Mlife in Vegas, which I have observed to be 2.8% of theo. If earned self-comps make their way to Wynncore in Vegas, I am guessing that they won't be as generous as 10% of theo -- but they would have to be at least 6% of theo to keep up with their neighbors V/P.

At MGM Springfield, base point earning is exactly the same as Mlife in Vegas -- $3/pt for non-specialty slots, $10/pt for video poker / video keno / specialty slots. However, one only gets 2 TCs per base point in Springfield, compared to 10 TC/pt in Vegas. This is important for comparing tiers between EBH and MGM Springfield. For the same coin-in as shown in the main post, here is how far one would get in Mlife tier starting from zero, with all play being in Springfield...

slots

• $56k = 18666.67 pts = 37333.33 TCs (just past Pearl)
• $560k = 186666.67 pts = 373333.33 TCs (well past Platinum)

VP

• $280k = 28000 pts = 56000 TCs (well past Pearl, but not quite Gold)
• $2.8m = 280000 pts = 560000 TCs (well past Platinum)

Looking at the perks for the Platinum and Black tiers of Wynn Rewards (still looking for a good link to a description...), the Wynn Rewards Tiers roughly map to Mlife Pearl and Platinum, respectively.

I have never been to Foxwoods or Mohegan Sun -- the other major regional competition for EBH -- so I am still figuring out how their respective loyalty programs compare to Wynn Rewards. The one major difference I see between the Connecticut casinos and EBH is the tier credit earning period -- 6-month earning periods in CT vs. annual at EBH.

 

JulianC thank you for this, very valuable. Sadly, for me, as someone who used to get addicted to any loyalty card, I now avoid them as much as possible. And one of the key features of Wynn Vegas for me, was that they did not have tiers. I liked Steve’s attitude to this, one level for all. This could force me away from making Wynn an easy option to choose, when I eventually get to Vegas, for while it is clearly a beautiful property it does seem to be becoming just like all the others. Might just stay in a non gambling hotel, self comp, and gamble where I like daily. Probably save me a lot of money.

Anyhow enough rambling, keep this sort of stuff coming JulianC, it really is valuable knowledge. Thank you.

One tier was a major brand selling point to me. Pity that is going.

 

Not much information out there about status point earning at Mohegan Sun. At best, we have some intel from URComped. Take the following with a proverbial grain of salt as I have not yet verified the Mohegan numbers for myself.

Annualizing Momentum at Mohegan Sun, the amount of slot play to make Platinum with Wynn Rewards would not even maintain Momentum Ignite -- and it would not even make Ignite for a six-month earning period. The VP play needed to make Wynn Rewards Platinum would easily maintain Momentum Ignite all year, and come close to making and maintaining Momentum Leap.

For purely slot players, Wynn Rewards Black would easily maintain Momentum Ascend across earning periods, but the annual minimum coin-in would not make Momentum Soar for a single six-month earning period. On the video poker side, someone who would make Wynn Rewards Black would have no problem making and maintaining Momentum Soar (highest level).

The extremely heavy VP player will always be better off just going to the airport and flying to Vegas for a quick weekend getaway (or perhaps even a week-long journey). However, if that type of player wants to keep their action in New England, Mohegan Sun is going to be the better play compared to EBH if tier status matters to you (and I hear the paytables are better at Mohegan compared to EBH). The slot player who cares about tier status would do better at EBH -- and this is likely the gaming audience EBH is trying to steal away from Mohegan (especially those who live closer to Boston).

 

Found what is hopefully accurate and current information about Foxwoods Rewards thanks to vpFREE2.

For the slot player, reaching the second-highest tier for the whole year at EBH is much easier than reaching/maintaining the second-highest tier at Foxwoods for a six-month earning period. For a bit more coin-in than reaching the highest tier for six months at Foxwoods, one can get the highest EBH tier for the whole year. Clearly, EBH is trying to entice the slot player with the promise of easier tier progression (lower threshold and maintenance spread out over a longer period of time).

The heavy-volume VP player would be better off going with EBH unless they plan to do at least $2 million of VP play for the year. (Still, I recommend taking some of the gaming budget and just hopping on a plane to Vegas if you love VP that much.)

 

I have also seen a report where one can earn $1 in comp dollars at EBH for each hour of play in the poker room. For 560 poker hours, one could make EBH Platinum. Poker players generally accept that they are not going to make higher tier anywhere unless they are regularly playing a ton of hours every week. At best, one can hope for good promotions in the poker room.

Don't quit your day job to chase tier at EBH playing poker.