Things Caesars made possible

[Voice of Reason]

During the Thanksgiving weekend as I drove to a non-Caesars casino, I considered some of the good things Caesars had offered over the years.

In the early gambling days, while visiting the local Harrah's 'boat, it never occurred that Harrah's would provide opportunities for me in many different areas.  In the early days, I did not have any idea, at all, that pay scales were different on VP machines.  So I was pretty happy to bang away on whatever Double Bonus machine I could find.  And bang away I did.  My mailbox provided things I never expected.  Used to get free buffets just for being Diamond level.  (I was introduced to the casino logic that manifested itself in reducing comps as a result of customer requests.)  One day an offer to stay at the Rio arrived, and it was overwhelming that there was a free room available in Las Vegas.

Since that visit to Las Vegas, I learned about 'frugal' gambling, and met many solid players on Las Vegas Advisor.  I met of lot of these LVA members at meets in LV.  I bought WinPoker and started playing FPDW.  After a couple of visits to the Rio, I started to walk to the Gold Coast, which was video poker heaven.  Hello Nicole LaBelle.  Stay at the Rio, play at the Gold Coast. 

So the play at Harrah's did not fit into the new 'frugal' style.  Once there was an offer for a free flight and stay in Laughlin, which still had some good VP left.  A different offer for a flight and stay in Tunica, whose best play was Aces & Face BP. 

There was some VP at Caesars Southern Indiana, and that did not require airfare.  (Zelvis promoted that location)

The Great Race promotion came up, and all of a sudden it made sense to visit a few properties within driving distance.  Metropolis Illinois, St. Louis, all got visits.  Still have plenty of comps because of that promotion.  (Got to drive through a beautiful part of Kentucky going from Caesars Southern Indiana to Metropolis.)

Visited Great Smoky Mountains National Park, and used a free room offer at Harrah's Cherokee.

Skiing while staying at Harrah's Reno, and several visits to Lake Tahoe.  You take hotels out of the trip budget, and it really helps out!  And Lake Tahoe is really pretty.

Anyhow, it was all thanks to Harrah's/Caesars.  Now if they'd just put in some VP I could play there (more than just to keep my Great Race points alive).

All of my other Vegas offers have dried up, but I can still get free rooms from the Linq to Caesars (except for fees that Rust Level players must pay).

I do not care for Caesars, just spending some time being thankful for the possibilities they have offered over the years.  Now if they just had some playable VP.....

[thermonuclear]

Many Harrah's properties had good VP in the past, although the immediate slot club rewards were usually not the greatest. Harrah's helped me learn that slot club benefits can be very tricky. Daily average was, and is, critically important.

Harrah's has rarely offered playable VP in Las Vegas. Some Vegas properties with good VP were downgraded after absorption by the Evil Empire. (I use that term affectionately. )

Here's a timeline (source: https://jobs.harrahs.com/corporate/media-company-history.html):

1997 - Total Gold launched, integrating all Harrah's casinos
1999 - Harrah's buys Rio
2000 - Total Gold rebranded as Total Rewards
2001 - Harrah's buys Harveys
2004 - Harrah's buys the WSOP
2004 - Harrah's buys Horseshoe Corp
2005 - Harrah's buys Caesars Entertainment
2005 - Harrah's buys Imperial Palace
2007 - Harrah's buys Barbary Coast/Bill's
2008 - Harrah's goes private
2010 - Harrah's buys Planet Hollywood
2010 - Harrah's Entertainment renamed to Caesars

[uknowme]

Many Harrah's properties had good VP in the past, although the immediate slot club rewards were usually not the greatest. Harrah's helped me learn that slot club benefits can be very tricky. Daily average was, and is, critically important.

Harrah's has rarely offered playable VP in Las Vegas. Some Vegas properties with good VP were downgraded after absorption by the Evil Empire. (I use that term affectionately. )

Here's a timeline (source: https://jobs.harrahs.com/corporate/media-company-history.html):

1997 - Total Gold launched, integrating all Harrah's casinos
1999 - Harrah's buys Rio
2000 - Total Gold rebranded as Total Rewards
2001 - Harrah's buys Harveys
2004 - Harrah's buys the WSOP
2004 - Harrah's buys Horseshoe Corp
2005 - Harrah's buys Caesars Entertainment
2005 - Harrah's buys Imperial Palace
2007 - Harrah's buys Barbary Coast/Bill's
2008 - Harrah's goes private
2010 - Harrah's buys Planet Hollywood
2010 - Harrah's Entertainment renamed to Caesars

2015 - Caesars Entertainment files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

[thermonuclear]

2015 - Caesars Entertainment files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

Indeed.

They left that one off the corporate timeline for some reason.

[lvfritz]

I was never a Harrah's fan.  Early in the game for me, I saw how they treated players.  Get the players to play to their max and then cut them off.  I watched as the pay tables deteriorated, never playing much.  The local Harrah's boats had nothing worth playing......Vegas had nothing.  And then they bought up Park Place.....Ceasar's, Bally's, Flamingo that I recall.  YES, in the olden days, Caesar's had quarter 9/6 Jacks or Better!
Then came the Great Race......LOL, even an empire hater, like myself, couldn't resist that promo.  And like many here, I'm still trying to figure out how to keep my points alive.  I can only wish that they'd repeat that one!

I read about the Diamond Lounges, trips and other freebies and wonder if the lousy pay tables support all that.

Reminds me that I need to make another trip to the boat to keep those points alive!

[thermonuclear]

I was never a Harrah's fan.  Early in the game for me, I saw how they treated players.  Get the players to play to their max and then cut them off.

That's true, but it may be exploitable with a "stop and go" playing strategy. If you haven't played in a long while, they'll typically reward you very well for meaningful action. Then you can burn out the offers, sit out a couple years, and later repeat the process.

And like many here, I'm still trying to figure out how to keep my points alive. 

There's a new online option called Say and Play. You earn points for completing surveys. You only need one to extend your points expiration. Thread from VMB:

https://www.vegasmessageboard.com/forums/index.php?threads/miss-social-rewards-meet-say-and-play.146349/

[bardolator]

Rust level- that's me. Haven't heard from Zelvis in a while.

I liked Caesar's the best at first, had stock for a number of years, and even went back after they got rude about my play level. Quit them cold turkey when they took out the last playable VP.

[StatFreak]

Before moving here I could always count on them for free rooms even though all I played was BJ, and not much at that. But like others, after staying away awhile, the room offer ship would come in. Laughlin has always been the bottom of the barrel so I'd often get as many as 5 free consecutive nights there. That worked for me as I have a friend in Bullhead. I'd also get a couple of nights in Vegas from time to time. Outside of the rooms, I never got much of anything from them. After moving here, the offers were worthless as they don't have different offers for locals and I don't need a cheap or free room, especially when free means $35.

I'm enjoying my diamond privileges from their tier match program but with the removal of use of the diamond lounges next year, all thoughts of playing enough to make diamond again went out the window, especially since my tier match terms only required 6200 or so points instead of the usual 15k. That puts the 25k requirement even further on the horizon for me than for most and I was having a tough time justifying even the 2500 (+2x match) play I'd have to do to remain in the program. Theo loss is bad enough on their best vp but the typical actual expected loss with no lounge privileges is a deal killer for me.

I did see Penn & Teller last night and am going to another show on Thursday.