As far as maximizing comps, you're already doing one thing right --
going to Tunica. I don't have any research to back this up, but I
firmly believe that the Tunica casinos do better with comps than any
other casino locale I know of, and I've played in most of them.
If you play more than $2K per day (1,600 hands at quarter VP), you're
going to get room offers pretty regularly. The Shoe isn't a loose with
mail offers as they used to be pre-Harah's takeover, but the comps
once you get in the door are still great -- unfortunately, their VP
stinks. My comps there come from table play, where a $300 buy-in at
craps of BJ and a polite request will always get a comp to their
excellent buffet -- never been turned down.
Sheraton still has the best VP in town, though 9/6 Jacks are fairly
easy to find in Tunica now. Buffet is good -- not excellent, but good
-- and their mail offers are very nice. Their rooms are great, with
Jacuzzis in all rooms. Gold Strike has stepped up their mail offers,
or maybe I just play more there.
I hope that with Resorts as the new player in town, competition will
heat up even more. Resorts took over Harrah's and renamed it last
month; they also tok over Bally's but kept the name there. Resorts
mail offers aren't as good as what I got from Harrah's toward the end,
but I suspect Harrah's stepped up their bounce-back cash mailers
toward the end. (I cashed in the last one before they closed for the
ownership change.)
There are those who will tell you to concentrate your play in one or
two casinos so that you get better offers. I tend toward the opposite,
hitting all or almost all of Tunica's casinos. I think I get more cash
back overall that way, and I definitely get more free rooms -- I could
stay a week for free if I wanted. But it does involve more driving
around town. I don't mind, as I like to see what's changed at each
place since my last visit. (I travel there from Birmingham about 2-4
times a year.)
As for Vegas, things tend to be hit or miss. I used to go once a year
on business, and I generally stayed in the North Strip area. I've
gotten good mail offers from the Stardust and Riviera, and lesser ones
from the LV Hilton before Resorts bought them -- scored a great
three-night room comp just before the changeover last year. Comps in
Vegas are definitely tighter than Tunica, IMHO, especially around the
big-name resorts on the south end of The Strip. If you don't mind
off-strip places like Sam's Town, you can usually get better free-room
deals there.
Hope this helps.
