For whatever it is worth:
I am less experienced on the river than some of you who post more
regularly and more frequent. I thank you for all your efforts.
A little over a year ago I just stumbled upon the Full RFB at the
Belle. I believe I mentioned my strategy and its results in an
earlier post. I had accepted an invitation to their 2006 Super Bowl
Party. Even though it was a 3 day offer, I only played on one of
those invited days. I knew that I needed to play during my stay in
order to continue receiving similar offers, but it did not seem
logical to spread out my play over 3 days. I have always apply this
same strategy at EVERY casino. Since that time, I have been doing
about 3,000 to 4,000 points each trip to the Belle. I have a feeling
that this is a little more play than is necessary for full RFB. I
get a standard 5 night offers with some sort of promotion. As
mentioned, upon checking I get two food and beverage cards. I now
would ask for a card if for some reason they did not hand me one. I
think the threshold for a card might be lower than my play. Maybe
a 2,000 consistent amount would eventually get you what you want.
Just keep your play within their 24 hour casino day and see if
things consistently improve. My experiences, that I will mention
later, seem to attest that they use some sort of moving trip average.
If I need to gamble on an off day, I can always put my wife's
card in and still receive some credit as a family unit. I do not
worry about her average. If there is no other card to use, my choice
would be to go play that day to another casino In addition
to not hurting your daily average, you might get new offers from
that other casino. I am also careful about not using my card for
little drawings, small promotional items or small cash amounts.
This appears to be a very valuable approach at Harrah's.
I cannot say for sure, but I believe my trip averages reflect this
philosophy and I am constantly receiving better treatment at any
Harrah's and other casinos.
I will not let them know I am in their casino, especially my host,
unless I am receiving something significant for this information.
I do leave some value behind, but I put more value my room suites,
golf, gift baskets and meals which appear to be getting better on
almost every trip. I will often skip booking with a host in order
to appear a little invisible. I certainly do not know all the
answers, but this philosophy is working well for me. I think your
chances are always better for a suite to book through a host. Since
a suite is most important to my wife, I will usually use my host
only if my wife is going to be with me on the trip. I am now
getting some suites at Harrah's when booking on line. The computer
obviously sees my trip averages, but it is hit or miss with suites.
It appears my host will simply make sure I am treated special.
Now back to the initial Super Bowl Party weekend: On my first
trip after that weekend, I was asked if I wanted 2 cards or one.
I did not even no what they were talking about, but I answered 2.
Two of most things seem to be more valuable than one. What they
were asking was if I wanted two names on one card or two cards, one
with my wife's name on her own card. Obviously we really like The
full RFB. We also like the fact that it includes all the food and
drink on the day you check out. We might check out of the room and
hang around until late afternoon when some of the better restaurants
open for that day. My play is done and we might be at a different
casino for most of that day. We come back to eat before heading
home!
I think the threshold for full RFB is lower than my level of play.
One reason is that since that time, I have always gotten a better
room each stay. I started with a river view and gift basket in a
tower. Each new stay came with a better room. The river view in a
tower was improved to a suite on the main boat. Each trip had me
moving up a floor on the boat. I eventually got to the top floor (G
Level I think). My first room on that level was a suite facing the
street and now I am usually facing the river. I do have a host who
first contacted me. I ask for here when booking an offer, but often
go through someone else.
I am a little confused about the color coding of the cards.
I thought that the I first received a gold card and now I get what
I would think is silver. What is confusing is that I know I have
always eaten in the Orleans Room with what ever card I received.
to pay more attention to the color next time, or maybe ask some
questions. Another nice thing about the food and drink cards is
that you do not have to show a picture ID. That is all I will say
about that point!
I only play video poker, but I follow 5 important rules. I am
very careful of where I play, when I play, how much I play, what
I play and how I play (try to play error free). I believe all of
these rules are important.
Thanks,
Bob
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From my memory, both cards listed all main restaurants. I will need