I'm visiting Vegas in August on an offer from Aria. The offer itself seems pretty good based on my level of play - 3 free nights, $150 in FP, 2 free buffets, 2-for-1 Zarkana tickets. During my last visit I lost about $1200 between Bellagio/Aria (exclusively on slots), but only about $230 of that was lost at Aria. :confused2: Maybe my coin-in was way better or something, not real sure, but Aria has been sending me better offers than Bellagio so that's fine with me... Anyway, knowing my level of play probably isn't up-to-par for places such as the Bellagio or Aria, I'm thinking either these offers won't continue or I could be getting better offers at a mid-tier place. Would it be a good idea to split my play up and play some at MGM Grand to try and start getting offers from them? Do MGM properties ever look at your entire play versus just the play at that one casino when sending offers? Any other advice? Thanks!
If you can figure out the rationale behind what offers MGM properties send to whom, you should write a doctoral thesis on it and get it published. I don't think anyone really knows. Here's what I know for sure: if you call a host and ask, he'll look at your entire play from all properties and make you an offer based on that. As far as what they use to generate corporate offers...my feeling is that they base it on machines more than tables. I only guess that because I play tables and get no corporate offers.
I'm just worried that if I split my play I might be shooting myself in the foot and screwing up potentially nice future offers from Aria or Bellagio in hopes of getting more stuff from a lower-tier property. Am I being too greedy?
All I can tell you is what I'm getting -- and right now, what I'm getting is offers from the two properties where I have concentrated my play in the last 18 months and nothing from the other properties. However, I had no play with Mirage when I called them about my most recent trip, and they set me up, no questions. So if your play is good enough to generate an offer from Aria, it's good enough for you to call and talk to a host at a mid tier property and see what they'll offer you. If you don't like it, you can always go back to your offers that you already have. But if you want to keep getting your offers from Aria/B, I'd play at those properties.
For MGM/Mlife, your comps on any given trip are based on total play at all properties... and a host from any one property sees your current and historical play from all properties. As for the big data algorithms that determine who gets what marketing offer, that is a mystery.
When I log into my MLife account online. I have offers from all the MGM properties that are pretty similar. Most of my play has been at Aria for two years except for 2 days at MGM. I do get a few mail offers from Aria that are higher end but limiting your play to there is not going to hurt you.
Any offers are based on coin in. Not losses. Not wins. There seems to be some discussion about play at other casinos within a chain. Some think that a host only cares about what you play at THEIR casino. Sort of make sense.
because the HA on slots is 5-20x as high as the low-HA table games most people play. so the slot player is going to get 5-20x better offers for the exact same amount of money bet.
Agreed and understood. But the ability and willingness to sustain large losses should be considered as well. While a casino will theoretically make more money off of a slot player gambling $3K versus a table player gambling $3K, the table player may be more likely to lose more. Sometimes on trips where my real losses are much higher than my theoretical loss, I have lost $20K-$25K. Based on my willingness to risk higher losses, I think that I should be comped better than the slot player who plays off of a $5K bankroll, but refuses to risk anything more, even though the theoretical loss on the slot player's $5K may be higher than the theoretical loss on the table player's $20K.
Indeed. Given the likelihood of commission style payment and bonuses, the Host would be more inclined to bend into their discretionary zone to a guest who is consistently playing at their home casino due to the personal benefit. It's an unfortunate part of MGM segregating each property. I suppose that they probably consider the fact that people who don't casino hop are also at the games longer simply due to the lack in travel time from place to place.
if you're losing that fast with no theo, you're playing too high for your bankroll. most slot players get a lot of coin-in because they play an amount per spin that they can sustain for hours on end. if you do the same thing at the tables, you'll be able to play longer and therefore get a higher theo.
You got me on that one. I am the world's worst at bankroll management and betting to account for variance. I still remember a trip to the Wynn where I lost my entire five figure trip bankroll in the first two hours and then proceeded (on that same first day of the trip) to lose my entire bankroll for a future trip that I had planned. I lost two trips worth of bankrolls before the rest of my party even arrived in Vegas. That was an embarrassing story.