Those were the days, my friend. :-)
Yes, marketing departments can be shockingly bad at estimating the actual cost of a promotion. And, sometimes, a loophole is an out-and-out mistake.
I won't bore you with casino war stories but I will just in sum state that what I learned about sharing information is this: You have to give to get but it's a fine line. Share too much, and the promotions shut down before you have maximized their value. Share too little, and you have no "cred" with anyone, and you do not learn of other opportunities.
Back in the day, I had my share of hard words cast in my direction for "killing" various promotions, especially some 2 to 1s that we shut down in one day. But, a, we made more money in less time by playing flat out, and
b) because we became known for finding good games, we also became part of a circle that shared information on good games, allowing us to find more opportunities that the general public never glommed onto.
I suspect it will be the same with miles. One just has to use one's best judgment about sharing offers...but if you never share, you cannot realistically expect to be shared with.
OK, enough pontificating out of me for one day.
Originally Posted by scruffy
Sometimes it's a "gray area", but sometimes it's just the offeror misjudging the true cost of a promotion.
Once the casino in Alton, Illinois offered a 2-to-1 (rather than 3-to-2) blackjack bonus for a limited time, giving the player a roughly 2% advantage over the house. This had been done before--the Horseshoe used to do it every Christmastime. The Horseshoe strictly limited the maximum bet for the bonus, but the Alton boat didn't limit the max bet. So west coast players with huge bankrolls (they communicated with each other, but they did NOT communicate with each other in public forums) came to Alton, took all the available spots at the tables, bet $1,000 per hand, and played all day.
The Alton management never dreamed this would happen. They probably thought they would be giving a little something extra to their regulars. They misjudged the true cost of their offer.
The LatinPass offer was a similar case. When they made the offer, they misjudged what it would cost them. When word of the offer filtered down to the mass media, they shut the door.