In the early days of the site, I wrote at length about apps with perks – play, and you’ll earn the ability to claim rewards.
One of the most valuable assets of playing myVEGAS games is the ability to trade in your Loyalty Points (LP) for rewards. One of the most concrete values out of the options is to trade for freeplay, primarily in markets like Las Vegas.
Many players get confused as to when and how they can leverage free play vouchers. Not all freeplay vouchers are available in all situations, and depending on the number of Premium Rewards that are allowed on your account, you can make the decision of what makes the most sense for you.
First Things First: Understanding Rewards (Including Premium vs. Non-Premium)
Before you can begin to evaluate your freeplay options, it helps to understand how Premium Rewards work. Back in 2019, myVEGAS broke MGM-based rewards into Premium and Non-Premium buckets. Effectively, items that were totally free, such as freeplay, count as a Premium Rewards, whereas rewards where spending is involved, such as BOGOs and discounts, tend to be considered Non-Premium.
Players get at least 3 Premium Rewards every 30 days, but can get up to 6 depending on their purchase history within the various games/apps. More Premium Rewards mean you can purchase more freebies and redeem them within your trip.
The other thing to be aware of is that each reward can only be bought once per offer cycle (which are reset periodically, a couple of times a year). So for most Vegas visitors, because of those offer cycles, you’ll have to pick unique rewards, vs. being able to buy a few of the same offer. Fortunately, there’s plenty to pick from.
Paid Stay Freeplay (Better Value)
If you have a paid stay of two or more nights, your first stop should be the free play for the hotel you are staying at. Traditionally each MGM property has three standard free play awards available:
- $25 freeplay, requires 2 night paid stay
- $50 freeplay, requires 2 night paid stay
- $100 freeplay, requires 3 night paid stay
You might notice that both the $25 and the $50 require a 2 night paid stay. That means you could redeem both, and get a total of $75, if you are staying for two paid nights. And if you are staying for three paid nights, you can redeem a total of $175 in free play. However, redeeming 2-3 vouchers means redeeming 2-3 premiums, so you’ll have to decide whether you want to use that many premium rewards on freeplay vs. free show tickets or other perks available at MGM properties.
You’ll note that this mentions paid stays. That’s because you can’t double dip if you’ve booked a comped offer for that hotel. If your stay is a mix of comped and paid nights, I’ve seen mixed results coming from players who attempt to redeem these freeplay vouchers, but the best advice is to attempt while you’re staying on your paid nights.
You also can only redeem the freeplay offers at the casino you are staying at, and not any others. If your booking is at Park MGM, you’d have to buy the Park MGM freeplay rewards, and not for another casino in the MGM Resorts group.
Comp Stay Freeplay: myKONAMI $25 Offers
Despite the game’s longevity, many players still don’t realize there’s a second option for those booking on comp offers, shorter stays, or even if you’re not staying at an MGM property. That is the set of $25 myKONAMI freeplay offers that can only be found in the myKONAMI app. The rewards have red backgrounds in the images, vs. the predominantly white backgrounds for the standard freeplay offers.
In the beginning, you used to be told you had to play those free play offers on a bank of Konami machines found near the MGM Rewards desks, but that direction has long since been discontinued. More recently, a new rule was implemented that you must play the myKONAMI free play at the casino in which it was redeemed. You used to be able to pool it all up and then play at once, but that is no longer allowed.
Unlike the paid stay freeplay, you can buy different myKONAMI $25 freeplay offers (one for each casino) up to the number of Premium Rewards you qualify for. I reached six Premium Rewards last year, so I can now redeem $150 worth of offers as long as I’m willing to go to six players club desks, one at each casino, and redeem the $25.
The myKONAMI freeplay can be redeemed regardless of whether your room is comp or not; if you’re not staying at MGM Resorts properties, that’s fine too. The trade-off is these rewards cost more LPs than the standard freeplay rewards, so you’ll just need to account for that in your plans.
Match Play Option for Table Players
There’s one last option for gamblers who prefer table games instead. There are two free play options for $15 Match Play and $25 Match Play for table games at Park MGM only. Like the myKONAMI freeplay, it does not require a stay, but from an LP perspective is more affordable than the myKONAMI freeplay.
However, it’s valid on a single bet, and it’s match play so you’re betting $15 or $25 plus the match play on a single wager, so you’re putting your own money at stake on an even money wager, whereas with slot play it can be spread out over multiple wagers without requiring your own money. Table game players are used to these sorts of scenarios, so that may not be a huge deal, but it helps to know the difference.
Conclusion
myVEGAS players literally have something around free gambling play for everyone, whether you’re a paid guest, comped guest or non-MGM visitors to Las Vegas. If you don’t find anything else you want, or would rather have gambling offers, you can get concrete value from every Las Vegas visit just by maximizing your freeplay or match play opportunities.
