I have long been told that HET has a complex and incomprehensible cash-back policy. When I went to Vegas and stayed and played at Harrah's early in March, it was explained to me in terms I could completely understand. You need to earn 4600 base points in a day before they start to give you any cash back. Even though I played enough to renew my diamond status for 2007 (I already had some play in for the year elsewhere), it was nowhere near enough to get a penny.
My interpretation is that except for very high coin-in players (4600 points is $46,000 coin in as I understood it), there is NO cash back.
Comps were generous, but the game is not beatable without consideration of comps. My plan is to keep and use my diamond status for the year, with not much more play, and then decide whether it's worth doing that again next year.
Incidentally, thanks to those who told me where the two remaining under-$5 9/6 Jacks or better machines were -- remarkably (or maybe not, considering they are still negative return), they were usually available for play, even though many other worse-paytable machines were busy. The machine next to mine, the ten-play, was being played by a whale at $2 (=$100 per hand) and he was dealt four Aces with a deuce kicker on one of the bonus games I don't play (some of you will know exactly which one it is) that pays the same as a royal for that hand -- an $80,000 jackpot! Pretty neat to see; that was the highest jackpot at ANY slot machine that I've personally witnessed, and the suits certainly flock around when it happens.
Has anyone else heard differently on the cash back? Did I miss an opportunity to get some cash back?
--BG
···
==============