VIP Status (advice wanted - any program, for less $$$)
 

Any advice on getting VIP status at the major casino loyalty programs (TR, MLife, etc.) without a big bankroll, say <$1500?

Full pay JoB video poker (9/6) has a house edge of under 0.5% (assuming no progressive). As I recall it is 1 point per $10 coin in on VP with total rewards and since you need 11k for diamond that is an expected loss of 110,000*0.005 = $550 with near perfect play, which is well worth being a diamond (at least it used to be now that you need I think 15k to enter the diamond lounge), again assuming no progressive (some of their properties have progressives on these machines which could reduce or even remove the house edge).

$110,000 on a $0.25 machine is 88,000 plays and you expect to get a royal roughly every 40,000 plays so you expect 2. You can play $1 machines to get to diamond faster but that gives you 22,000 plays which means you should be about 50-50 to hit a royal which can be a real problem. The bigger problem is that you will get a 1099 if you hit a royal on a $1 machine while you will rarely see a progressive over $1200 on on a full pay machine. In addition you can't apply loss carry forwards on big gambling wins so steer clear of any machine that pays over $1200.

JoB has the the lowest variance that I know of (as far as VP goes) but it has a very high skew which means that you probably need to hit your expected 2 royals to avoid a large loss ($0.25 machine).

Diamond in a Day (DIAD) might be your best choice for CET Total Rewards casinos. Essentially, if you just want to be Diamond, you can play VP (or a different game, but, VP will likely be the cheapest) a lot on a single day and earn the status in one day for less play than would be cumulatively required over the course of year (I think it generally requires earning 4k tier points during a 6am-5:59am single day). But, if you do go for it, make sure to talk to someone from Total Rewards (or a host) at that casino on that day about the applicable details as it can change and varies by casino (especially, tier points required, timing of a "day", how long the status will last). Also, IIRC, be careful about the day you choose - I think I may have seen that if you do DIAD before 3/31 of a year, it is only good through 3/31 of the next year instead of the following year - i.e., if you earned DIAD status on 1/26/2012, then your status would last through 3/31/2013; but, if you earned DIAD status on 4/1/2012, your DIAD status would last through 3/31/2014 - I've never done DIAD, so, someone please feel free to correct me.

A $1500 (or a much smaller) bankroll should be able to get you DIAD on VP.

Here's a thread from a couple of years ago on DIAD: Harrah's Diamond in a Day (DIAD)

Also, you can do Platinum in a Day (PIAD) for less (3k in a day, I think); but, Platinum status doesn't get you much more than Gold.

Here's a link to Caesars Total Rewards Tier Status Benefits.

This requirement depends on location - diamond status alone will get you into diamond lounges in LV & most other properties. AC is the main culprit for imposing higher requirements.

You're right. I mostly play in AC where they made this change (I was wondering why I was getting day passes to the diamond lounge when I was already a diamond). I was in LV last week and the people I spoke to had no idea about the AC changes. I suppose the AC casinos are more diamond heavy than LV.

I never heard of DIAD before but I'd be a bit careful since even playing $1 machines will be difficult to do it with. Assuming you need 4k in a day, that's $40k coin in or 32,000 plays on a single line quarter machine (<$200 expected loss) which is 1 play per 2.7 seconds over a 24 hour period on a quarter machine or 10.8 seconds on a $1 machine.

You can find larger demoniations but it's hard if not impossible to find full pay multiline machines in TR casinoes IME. You can find a 1 line $5 and maybe a $10 machine which would get you to 4k much faster but there is more volatility in your bankroll ($1,500 might not be sufficient) and even a SF would be a taxable event.

If I did my math right, perfect play has a $182 expected loss, and a $0.25 machine gives a 1 SD event of a $1,170 loss while a $1 machine has a 1 SD event of a $2,160 loss. And this does not take into account ruin (losing your bankroll before you get all your points).

Thanks. I think DIAD is a great strategy. I'll maybe polish up my strategy and give it a try. What about using reel slots where the expected payout is 95%+ for DIAD? Wouldn't spinning the slots be quicker than VP?

I play a lot at Cherokee, Harrah's Biloxi, and Harrah's New Orleans. Any suggestions for slots or VP machines at those locations?

Any suggestions for strategies on getting status with non-gaming activities i.e. booking hotel at casinos, retail purchases at properties (i.e. buying a $5k watch should get you something right?), using a branded credit card for tier points, etc?

I was at harrahs NO a few months ago and I think I saw a 10 line $1 full pay machine ... Not sure. $50 per spin and if you can get DIAD for 4k then that's just 800 spins on that machine. Best that you don't have a run of bad luck though since your bankroll is just 30 spins.

Spending with CET (casino restaurants, bars, gift shops, etc. and not Caesars Forum Shops, etc.) generally earns 1 bonus credit per $1 spent and 1 base reward credit (tier point) per $5 spent. And the TR Marketplace earns only bonus reward credits.

The branded credit card earns only bonus credits.

Also, before doing DIAD, carefully consider your objectives - just being diamond won't get you comp'd rooms in LV (for very long at least)...that has to do with ADT/THEO.