One of your first chances to get rewarded by a casino is through the signing up of their Players Club program. Virtually every casino offers a players card of some sort, to track your play and reward you through various casino offers.
But by doing a little homework, you can not only put your best foot forward, but you can maximize your opportunities on your first visit, until you start to get your normal offers from the casino.
There are a few areas where you can garner additional benefits by paying attention.
The Tier Match
Many casinos offer tier matches, but some will focus on just new player sign-ups with their tier match. Others will only give additional perks to new players who tier match.
For instance, right now Caesars Rewards only tier matches new players, but if you do, you get guaranteed perks with a monetary value, such as the $100 Celebration Dinner given to Diamond players each year.
When Hard Rock in Atlantic City first opened, their tier matching program included free play and free night stays. When I first tier matched at Borgata, they were running a local program that included free play and other perks.
When you tier match, you generally need to have a valid card to present showing your current status. So be sure to check ahead of time so you can be sure you have the proper card(s) on hand.
The Loss Rebate Offer
Some casinos offer a loss rebate offer where if you lose money on your first visit, your first offer or offers to return will be free play in the form of free play or something equivalent.
It’s important to understand the circumstances of the offers. Some can be structured in a fairly clean way, while others are beyond complicated and likely to anger more than a few.
One of the more famous ones on the strip is at Casino Royale, where they promise the first $20 is on them, and every $100 in losses after that gets you $20 in free play. I got a card figuring what the heck a few years ago, and ended up winning $300. I didn’t get free play, even though clearly the cash was the better deal. I still don’t know if I have to lose that $300 before I get another crack at the free play, or if it resets at some point.
My first ever visit to Las Vegas, I was able to play at Tropicana under a loss rebate program that let you decide when to stop. When you redeemed the offer on the kiosk, half was immediately rebated back as free play. The other half could be claimed a minimum of 7 days later, but less than 365 days later.
I happened to be at a work conference that first visit, and when the conference came back around on year two, it happened to shift forward a week. I visited Tropicana a second time a couple of days before the free play expired, but I was able to claim it, which was awesome. They got me back because of that specific offer.
Knowing how much you can get back, and maximizing your opportunity, is one way to make the most of those initial rebates as part of joining that casino loyalty program, and likely a way to get offers off on the right foot too.
Play to Earn Promotions
Some casinos will offer the ability to earn escalating amounts of free play based on the amount you play. Some will let you earn it that day, while some have you come back for it. Unlike a loss rebate, which is connected to your actual loss, this is about your coin-in – you could be a winner and collect the offer.
With this, they’ll usually talk in lingo like “earn x points to get y free play” and that means learning a bit about the casino program – how much betting does it take to earn a point? Points were not created equal – at Plaza in Las Vegas you earn a point per $1 of slot machine wagers. At the casinos near me in Connecticut it’s over $150 a point (but those points mean very different things, of course).
So for planning purposes you’ll want to understand what you’ll need to budget for, but proper preparation will help you maximize what you can play to earn, and again put up a good showing to the casino for future offers at the same time.
What’s the best sign-up offer you’ve ever received as a player? Share in the comments!
can you explain the Wyndham points reverse to get Diamond card stautis
Hi Michael! I have a post that I wrote awhile back that speaks to how you can match one tier to the other, as well as a link to the Caesars website to go in either direction. Here’s a link to that:
https://www.knowyourslots.com/the-caesars-tier-match-merry-go-round-act-now/
If that doesn’t answer your question, let me know!