nrr

Who is eligible to participate?

o All Total Rewards Members are eligible

o Remember, you may not allow any other person to use your Total Rewards card.

o As a reminder, the benefits of this promotion are intended for the use of the person listed on the Total Rewards account. Caesars may disqualify any participant for any prize based upon fraud, dishonesty, violation of Terms and Conditions or other misconduct whether or not related to this offer

- How do I opt in?

o There are two ways to opt in to the Great Race Promotion

§ Play the online game at www.playtotalrewards.com

§ Visit a Total Rewards property and swipe your card at the Total Rewards Center/Promotional Kiosk

o To participate, you must opt in only once between July 1, 2011 - October 3, 2011

These are part of the rules for the promo--note the text I have bolded, they probably won't detect swapping of cards, but I personally would not take the chance.

calwatch

The other reason you wouldn't want to do the swap, if you were a frequent layer, would that it would drop you Average Daily Theoretical to a level below where they stop giving you free rooms. Even at a moderate level of play (300-400 rewards credits per visit, mostly on 50 cent and dollar video poker) I got (and used) free rooms during CES and the NCAA tournament, and more offers to the local Harrah's than I could deal with. Now if you don't enjoy gambling, then just dropping $5 in a slot machine 6 times may work for you, but be warned if you like the free rooms and other goodies.

nrr

I think if you played $5 = 1 base reward credit, at just one casino (locale), and your general play at your usual casinos is high, that would not cause room offers to dry up.

boucharda

There are two kinds of Harrah's comps. Reward points and tier level points

The one the promo relates to is reward points...100 of which equal $1 (15k = $150). These can be used for for items from Harrah's or at the casino properties (restaurants, coffee shops etc.) These points are accrued through play at the casinos. Point usage is deducted from your balance.

Tier level points are also accrued during play and determine your comp OFFERS (rooms, tournaments, bonus play coupons etc.) $5 in play = 1 tier level point. Promo does not affect these points.

Gold level (1-4000 tier points) would get certain offers which actually are pretty good and include free mid week rooms and free play offers

Platinum level (4000-10,000) would get better offers, priority check in, some w/e rooms etc.

Diamond level (10k-100k) obviously get better offers

Seven stars (over 100k) get a dedicated lounge and obviously better comps

The point of all this is to say that playing one point at any (or a few) casinos will do ziltch to affect your total overall player rating. It is the accumulation of tier level points that determine that and that alone. Once you are Platinum you are Platinum and will get the same offers for a year (tier level resets at the beginning of every year and Reward points ONLY expire with lack of activity for 6 months)

A little long winded but I think I covered it....

rtpflyer

I see the pdf of official rules has the promo ending on Friday, October 3. This is obviously a typo since October 3 is NOT a Friday. Does anyone know when the promo ACTUALLY ends? (I have a trip to Las Vegas arriving Saturday, Oct. 1, after already hitting Reno and Tahoe on a previous trip, so I am concerned, especially since I was to hit Laughlin too while I'm in Vegas).

boucharda

I noticed that Friday misprint and I really hope it meant the 3rd and not Friday. I have a trip planned for 10/3

baccarat_king

This is NOT true. Yes, there are Platinum benefits that you get for the qualification year (i.e. Platinum lines etc.); your offers are always based on your theoretical with the property (market).

It is possible for a Platinum to receive better offers than a Diamond; if their theoretical is higher.

Just being Platinum, gets you very little. (Diamond, a bit more, with use of the Diamond Lounges and Diamond check-in; and a few other 'priority' perks).

boucharda

I would appreciate it if you can reference your statement for me. I have read the rules and I do not see any mention of "theoretical" anywhere.It seems to be pretty cut and dry with the only variance being table games which are subject to human observation.

nrr

The rules for the Harrahs (now Ceasars Ent.) system, only discuss how you earn the various levels (Plat. Diamond, Seven Stars) and the associated "general" perks. But room offers, comped food and beverage (outside of the reward system) and other offers (like free play), invites to tournaments etc. is where the "theoretical" kicks in.

FFMilesJunkie

You won't see anything "official" discussing theoretical. This is based on years of observation/experience and discussions with hosts. While the benefits of Platinum/Diamond/Seven Stars are clearly published, these benefits have very little to do with your promotional offerings. Your promotional offerings such as free rooms, food specials, tournaments, etc are based almost exclusively on your Theoretical number (which is how much you will theoretically lose per day). The calculation of how Harrah's comes up with this number was leaked years ago on another site. Since that time, it is safe to assume that Caesars has tweaked this calculation and now takes many more factors into account such as actual loss/gains.

A simple way to think about theoretical is to take you total "Coin In" on slots on a particular day and multiply that by what a casino's average profit is on slots. Let's say you put in $5000 per day in a slot machine which is 1000 total rewards tier points. On average, the casino will keep about 10-15% of this money. So, to a casino, you are worth $500 - $750 worth of profit per day on slots. Your comps will be a reflection of this number. Of course this is a very simplistic look at it. There are countless other considerations that are calculated into your "worth" to a casino. Table play Theoretical calculation is much more complex which Baccarat King can speak to.

Hope this helps.

nrr

Since the slot machines are programmed to pay a fixed percentage (varies from machine to machine), "they" know on the average what you should be winning (and consequently losing); with table games, they don't. Hence slot players will in general get much more lucrative offers than table game players (for an equivalent amount of play).

sonofzeus

Just spoke with the nice lady at Horseshoe Hammond. She said, "You only have to swipe once or play the online game once during the promotion for your visits to count toward the bonus points."

There isn't a game kiosk @ the Horseshoe.

EOS

anbhc

I can do the Atlantic City Harrahs for anyone interested.

boucharda

That is correct but you will find many trying to complicate a simple task by saying that a swipe is needed at each casino played....not true...read the rules...as you said EITHER a swipe or an online opt in and you are done...then you just have to play a point in each area to get credit

boucharda

Well....I will say that it is pointless to discuss what you or I believe in regards to play amounts and theoretical W/L stats since there is no confirmation of what is really fact or who is correct.

I will add that I am "just Platinum" getting 4003 points last year and I had no problem getting a comped 5 night w/e stay a couple of weeks ago at Paris LV (and upgraded at check in ) and a 3 night w/e stay in a Bally's Premium tower room in AC 3 weeks from now. I was in AC once last year and play .25/.50 VP. My daily stake is around $200-300 MAX. I chose AC over New Orleans where I was offered a 4 night w/e stay at the Hilton Riverside or Marriott for the same w/e (I can drive to AC). I did NOT play in N.O. last year.