Hello everyone.

Hopefully some of you pros can maybe shed some light on what seems to be a bit of a black box on earning points. I've read through other posts, other forums as well but didn't find something directly related.

I used to be a pearl level, and lost it after not coming back and spending any quality time here in Vegas (I'm here now visiting from Phoenix).

Last month, I came with my parents ie. not much gambling action. Still I put in some time at the slots, but we are talking 1 cent slots, over all it didn't feel like I gambled much. Still, i got myself back up to just under 25,000 tier credits, just shy of earning the Pearl level again. The hotel room was free for 2 nights, I think I paid $100 in total for the 3rd night. Didn't hand my card over for any food purchases. Basically I'm getting at I don't feel like i spent a lot to get that 25K tier credits..

Fast forward to the trip I'm on now. Goal: Get 50K more credits, get to gold level. I've been playing my heart out - probably put a few hundred through the slots, and I've put in a solid 10 hours of $10 roulette at 3 different properties. I know theres a delay in those points showing up, but still its just not adding up. I've accumulated 15K credits this trip in the last 48 hours, with a lot of that table gaming done yesterday (thought the points would be reflected by now), been handing my card over when eating on site (maybe $100 in food, not a ton), bought a show ticket for $70 as well, also handed my card over to get the tier credits. I guess I'm perplexed, I thought for sure I'd wake up today and see a good 25K in points earned in the last day +, but not even close.

Any insight? Is there possibly more of a delay on points for tables? And from my understanding, its time spent, so me winning/losing is irrelevant? Only reason i ask is I've done okay, pretty much made money at all the roulette tables.

Thanks for taking the time to read this, and any insight would be much appreciated. I really wanted the Gold level this trip. Still have 1 more day left, so figured I'd ask now before leaving.

mlife doesn't value table gaming play all that highly in terms of TCs. You are correct that TCs are calculated by time played, but there will always be variation based on how the pit boss rates you (average bet, hph, etc.). I have no experience with roulette so can't comment on that game specifically.

I usually play DD S17 BJ; I think I posted maybe around 2 years ago on this forum that I averaged out three play sessions I had, and assuming 60hph, I was looking at around 1 TC per $5 wagered. Roulette has a higher house advantage than BJ (esp. DD S17) so it is possible that mlife awards more TCs per $ wagered at roulette. But based on how much you were putting out there, you can see if that's in the right ballpark.

TCs for spend is an easy calculation; it's just 25 TCs per dollar. So $170 spend * 25 = 4250 TCs earned. If all you care about is getting a tier level, spend is how to do it. 75000 TCs for gold is just $3000 in spend. The irony is that tier through spend is harder to achieve if you're getting your room comped.

Also, I've always had TCs credited very quickly - sometimes even the same night I gambled.

Slots garner significantly higher tier credit than roulette on a table both in real terms and by ratio considering the house advantage. So if the tier is what you are after, you should concentrate on spending and playing slots. If you like playing roulette, there are some slot roulette machines in MGM and possibly elsewhere. If you are trying to get tier credit from playing roulette and must play at a table, I believe that at least at Bellagio, Aria, MGM and Mandalay Bay you need to bet at least $25 a spin to be rated (I assume you mean you are at a $10 min table but you do not state what your average bet is) and I think you have to be rated to be accruing tier credits.

I need to pick up my Mlife card (joined online) after showing my ID. Which mlife desk would you use to pick up your card? I take it, they are the same, just have the different hotel name on it.

Does anyone know the hours the desks are staffed and which one is least crowded.

Pick up the card at the place you're going to or staying at. I never had a long wait at Aria or Bellagio since they have several employees working the desk. However, I've had pretty long wait times at Monte Carlo since only one person was working..

Honestly, there's no big difference between Pearl and Gold to warrant the extra play just for status. The biggest benefit for both cards is the priority line at the buffet. Everything else is either useless or doesn't help that much.

But when there is a queue at Breaky having Priority line really is useful