I just talked to the head of marketing, by phone for 30-40, after talking
with 2 slot club supervisors who had limited information but referred me up
the "chain of command." I will say that all 3 of these employees were
polite and tried to be as helpful as they could be, but I realized in the
long run there is proprietary information a casino can not share with their
customers.
But I did get a lot of helpful information:
1. The tier level you were given in your April mailing was based on your
play from Dec. 3 to March 3. Anybody qualifies for a Club Palms card. You
needed to earn 1000 points in that 90-day period to be an All Star; 50,000
points to be a MVP; 200,000 points to be a Hall of Famer. (I'm assuming
that is coin-in, not including bonus points, but I didn't verify that
today - I had already asked a thousand questions and figured that one
someone else could ask!)
2. Once you earn the # of points for a certain level, you can keep the card
and that level for one year. However, once you earn the # of required
points for a higher level, you can go to the club and get the better card at
any time. For example, I got a MVP card in the mail Monday, but I had
played enough already after the cut-off date to go get a Hall of Famer card
right away.
3. Now, before you get all excited about having specific tier requirements
spelled out, here is the bad news. Your Free Play and other coupons and
benefits have NOTHING to do with your tier level. If you look at the
brochure that comes with your mailing - and I suppose it is obtainable at
the slot club desk, your tier level has very few "automatic" benefits. The
best one is a routine discount on the buffet: 25% off for All Stars; 50%
off for MVP's; and 75% off for the top tier. (a la Stations) The All Star
level has no other automatic benefits. The top two levels have VIP parking
(which I don't think has been established yet - someone needs to report this
when it is operating), restaurant line passes, 1st available seating at
"selected restaurants," and VIP line passes to Rain on Thursdays. So other
than the buffet discount, most of the automatic benefits will be worth zilch
to most players. So this tier thing is nice psychologically but of little
benefit financially. (Actually being one of the old "Hot Shots" or "Super
Hot Shots" or "Big Shots" made me feel more important than being a Hall of
Famer - but then I'm not a sports fan, so maybe some of you will feel warm
and fuzzy with the new tier names.)
4. Now the tricky part. Do you think a check mark means "yes, you have
this benefit." Think again. Look at the bottom of the benefit chart and
you will see that a check mark under a tier means "based on play." So
actually this new system is more mysterious (if that is possible) than the
old one. Plus the chart made me mad - because when I initially looked at
it, I thought I could get a whole bunch of benefits by playing a lot to get
to the top two tiers because they had so many checkmarks. I was really let
down when I read more carefully and finally got to the bottom note and
realized that they had completely changed the usual meaning of a checkmark.
(There is a checkmark beside the VIP Window at Club Palms for the top two
tiers. We MVP'ers and Hall of Famer's stand in the VIP line and the clerk
looks up our play. Is the club rep going to tell us to go back and stand in
the long regular line because we didn't play enough yesterday?)
5. Okay, now how much play does it take to get the checkmarked benefit.
Think Harrah's - and that's about how much you can figure out what it takes
to get what. Of course, my main goal was to hopefully find out, at least
generally, what it took to get certain levels of Free Play. This is
probably impossible to EVER figure out because they have a "formula" based
on a "whole bunch" of factors. I did get the information that they do NOT
put in a win/loss figure as one of these factors. Thank goodness for small
blessings - they realize that winning or losing during one short period of
time really is no judge of whether a customer is good for their bottom line.
6. As to what factors they do put in this formula, they mentioned type of
machine (loose or not so loose), frequency of play, collecting of Free Play
and doing promotions and whether you play on those days or not, and DAILY
AVERAGE. I gave my opinion that I thought this last factor was hurting the
casino's bottom line, because many people would like to play a small amount
every time they come in rather than a long time on just a few days. The
Palms feels STRONGLY that using daily average HELPS their bottom line rather
than hurting it. Reading between the lines, I got the idea that the people
who don't like daily averages are more knowledgeable players anyway and,
although they are generally welcomed at the Palms, they are not "courted."
As much as this impacts me personally, I have to agree that their position
is proper for a company which is NOT a not-for-profit organization.
7. There are other factors, I am sure, that go into this "formula," but the
ones I have discussed are the major ones, I think. I got no information as
to what it would take to get the spa/salon and free movie coupons which were
coupons we really liked - or special food coupons. I also did not get the
information as to what triggers a "trip," meaning what should you not do on
one day at the Palms when you aren't going to play, a day that will figure
into your daily average and bring it down FAST. Collecting Free Play is
probably a definite "day" - although maybe you are allowed some % of those
that don't count against you if you don't play - I'm just guessing there
although I got that faint impression. I'm think it definitely (probably?)
includes an "extra" mailed promotion, like the postcard days (i.e.,
yesterday) where you pick an envelope that contains cash or pick up a gift.
It probably includes days you play in their free tournament or swipe your
card for some promotions - but again you may be allowed some % of no-play
days. I did get the information that you can play high enough that some of
these other factors don't matter. But how high is that? I don't have the
foggiest.
8. And that is about all I know - or don't know. And if you are more
confused now than before you started reading this post, here's something
else to put you around the bend. They "fiddle" with these factors often -
perhaps every quarter or even every month. Plus human beings look over some
of their customers play records and can adjust their benefits "manually."
This works both ways - they can adjust your benefits upward as well as
downward.
9. So, anecdotal information posted here is really not going to be very
helpful unless you have done a big digging campaign. I could tell you that
I got $300 in Free Play for April and Brad got NONE - and we play the same
machines the same amount of coin-in the same number of times per month.
With HOURS of investigating I found out that this was primarily caused by a
mistake I made about FOUR or FIVE months ago - played in the last half of a
month instead of the first half as was my usual custom. That decreased my
benefits considerably for THREE months (and I whined and cried the whole
time) but - fancy this - it gave me that good mailing for April because I
had fewer TOTAL Free Play days and therefore I had fewer Free Play days on
which I didn't play. Let me say that I have been trying to figure out
casino policies for 20 years and I thought I knew most every curve they
could throw at me - but I didn't figure that one out until I had done about
everything but chain George Maloof to a chair until he explained this!!!!!
Now - I have just spend another two hours writing this post, 2 hours that
was supposed to be spent working on my next book. PLEEEEEEESE, don't
bombard me with questions. You can discuss this subject among yourselves
until everyone is sick of the subject. I have told you all I know and all I
have surmised, guessed, and estimated. Hopefully someone else can find out
some more "facts" - but don't think it is an easy job!!!!!
(And, yes, I know I said I wasn't ever going to write another one book - but
I can't help myself. Brad says I am beyond ALL help!)
···
________________________________________
Jean $�ott - Go to http://www.FrugalGambler.biz
for VP software and strategy cards; "frugal" books;
and the NEW "Tax Help for the Frugal Gambler."