In 2022 I took three trips to Las Vegas. Each trip I had a few goals… and among them was what I wanted for the next trip.
You see, when it comes to Las Vegas, your comps for a given trip are based on your activity for the last or previous trips. As such, if you’re interested in staying at a property, putting in a good showing on your initial visit can be a good thing.
For instance, when I went to G2E in October, I didn’t initially intend on playing at the Venetian/Palazzo. I actually hung out with Vegas Introvert and Matrix2021 after one of my sessions, and simply watched them play, because I was saving my budget for other properties to which I wanted to get on or stay on their radar, like Westgate.
I had also always believed that Venetian would want too much for the play to get offers. (I thought this of Cosmopolitan too, but lo and behold I’m now getting steady offers from them, and have even stayed with them twice now.)
But then I found myself around the casino a lot more during that week. They had a person walking around signing people up instantly (that will be a separate post coming up as that was interesting). So I decided since I was still hanging around, and wanted to play, to give it a go. They offered two new player incentives: One, a wheel spin, when you earned 100 points, and a free play offering based on how much you played in the first couple of days you were there.
A friend of mine (Andree from Over 50 Slots), who had spent time and money at Venetian in the past, said 1,000 points there should be enough to get on their radar. Venetian’s tier system is based on theoretical loss, and as I started to play I decided I could make it happen. 1,000 points is also their second tier, and it felt achievable.
In the end I actually did closer to 1,600 points, and sure enough the welcome offers began to flow. I’ve had trouble accessing their website due to some sort of a glitch on my account, but the offers have begun to show up via email and mail and I can still book over the phone. So now on my next trip I can add staying at Venetian to my list of firsts.
I did the same thing in July when I visited the Palms, and put in enough play to ensure I could get an offer to stay on my September/October trip. My play based on that visit has now improved my offer for my next visit.
Being strategic as to where you play, when and how much can help line up what you want for a future trip. Conversely, you never want to spread your play too thin, which is why I didn’t focus in on the Cosmopolitan until a few trips ago, Palms two trips ago or Venetian this trip. I’ve tended to have one casino that’s a focus casino for offers, both so I can diversify my choices on any given trip but to also ensure that I’m not spreading myself too thin.
Like at home, where I tend to have casinos where I will play harder at and ones I don’t care much about maintaining an offer so they can be a drop-in visit, I have the same for Las Vegas. And when I plot out a trip I always consider what I hope will happen next time.
For instance, I don’t tend to have an interest at staying at The D, but I have free play offers there and will tend to budget a certain amount to go there and play. And while Plaza is my primary casino to play at downtown, if I need a break, a change of scenery or just feel like I’m getting beaten up at Plaza, The D is generally my next stop, and I play enough there to ensure there’ll be free play waiting next time, and keep going if I’m doing well and having a good time.
It’s always important to strike a balance, because you don’t play solely to build up comps, but if you are going to play, you can play the game and be strategic about where you want to build up comps. And part of that will be where you want to stay on a future trip.
