Harrah's now awarding Total Rewards TIER CREDITS for poker!

[LasVegasMichael]

Harrah's Las Vegas has become the first Las Vegas property to award Total Rewards Tier Credits to poker players.

Awarding Tier Credits to poker players, though new to Las Vegas, has been the standard protocol in other cities (including Atlantic City and Tunica) for quite some time.

Harrah's Las Vegas was fortunate enough to be the first property to get the new software and is currently the only room in Las Vegas to award Tier Credits to players.

Starting this past Wednesday, players at Harrah's Las Vegas earn 28 Tier Credits for each hour of cash game play.

A Summary of what Tier Credits are and how they are beneficial is listed below.


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Total Rewards is what Harrah's Entertainment calls its Player Loyalty tracking system. Using the Total Rewards card in slot, table game, and poker play, players earn Rewards Credits, which award at a simple one penny per point breakdown. Poker players at most Harrah's properties earn 100 points per hour (which translates into $1 per hour in comps).

These comps can be redeemed at ANY Harrah's property worldwide, and usually only require the card and a photo ID at the restaurant or retail location. Paper comps are rarely required (unlike most Strip competition which requires comps to be used in the property earned and require a paper comp generated from the poker room).

Previously, Slot and Pit players also earned Total Reward Tier Credits, but poker players did not.

Total Rewards offers 4 distinct Tiers of Players Cards, which each high level affording more benefits, discounts, and privelages.

The lowest Tier is Gold. All new signups and players with little to no tier score (i.e. little to no slot or pit gambling) are Gold Members.

Above Gold comes the high levels. All higher levels require that the points be earned in one calander year. Once earned, the Tier is awarded for one year. Players must re-earn their Tier every year.

After Gold is Platinum. Platinum requires a Tier score of 4000 earned within one calander year.

After Platinum is Diamond. Diamond requires a Tier Score of 11,000. Diamond status is where real benefits are noticed, including access to a private Diamond Lounge, priority check in and other services.

Above Diamond is Seven Stars. Seven Stars is the highest level available. It requires a year earned tier score of 100,000.

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My personal opinion is that this is a HUGE developement/improvement to an already great system.

The Total Rewards player loyalty program is arguably the best overall large corporation casino loyalty program available, due to its convenience, accessibility, and universal acceptance.

Poker comps earned at any Las Vegas harrah's owned property (excluding Bill's) can be used at any other Harrah's property, and do NOT require a paper comp from the poker room. Quick Rewards require only the card and a photo ID. They can be used at food and retail locations as well as all showrooms and toward hotel room bills.

It is expected that all Harrah's properties will begin awarding Tier Credits to poker players somtime in April. At this point, it is exclusive to Harrah's Las Vegas.

[minton]

wow....Kudos to Harrah's for doing this, I hope it is accepted across the board, I would like to earn some tier points, since I only use my card for poker I never get any tier points, I've been gold since 2002

[Cashewz]

Starting this past Wednesday, players at Harrah's Las Vegas earn 28 Tier Credits for each hour of cash game play.

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Above Gold comes the high levels. All higher levels require that the points be earned in one calander year. Once earned, the Tier is awarded for one year. Players must re-earn their Tier every year.

After Gold is Platinum. Platinum requires a Tier score of 4000 earned within one calander year.

After Platinum is Diamond. Diamond requires a Tier Score of 11,000. Diamond status is where real benefits are noticed, including access to a private Diamond Lounge, priority check in and other services.

Above Diamond is Seven Stars. Seven Stars is the highest level available. It requires a year earned tier score of 100,000.

It's a nice gesture, but it's not going to mean a whole lot to the average joe.

At 28 points per hour, it'll take almost 150 hours at the poker table to bump up from Gold to Platinum, 400 hours to get to Diamond, and 4000 hours to get to Seven Stars.

PLUS, you have to keep this up every calendar year.

If I came to Vegas three times a year for 4 days at a time, I'd have to log 12 hours EACH DAY just to get the bump to Platinum. Forget Diamond and Seven Stars ... even if I lived in Vegas and hit the poker room for 10 hours a day, 365 days a year, I wouldn't hit Seven Stars.

And what does the bump from Gold to Platinum get you in Vegas? A 'special birthday gift', Reward Credit multiplier days, 2-for-1 show tickets, another yearly 'gift', and free entry and stay during their SummerFest/WinterFest tourneys (the latter of which I got as a Gold member last year anyhow).

In short ... it may be a nice touch for the local grinders, but it'll have no real benefit for the out-of-town visitors.

[Tarpie]

Sweet! I had been toying with the idea with skipping Vegas for AC to get those precious, precious tier points. Now I can go to LV during the WSOP and earn points for Diamond.

I already made platinum in AC this year...get's you free parking and not much else. Since parking is $20 in the summer this is a decent benefit.

Harrah's AC switched to giving 30 tier credits/hour on March 1st...before it was 25/hour. Heading to AC tonight to continue getting my 150 hours in by the end of the month for their WSOP freeroll.

Any ideas when other properties might add it? Also, since Harrah's has comps for tournaments, are they crediting any tier points for tournament time?

Thanks for the info.

[joshuatree78]

Do you get the 28 tier credits in addition to the $1 per hour comp that they have been giving? If not, this is a huge decrease (72%) in comps for the poker player.

[LasVegasMichael]

Do you get the 28 tier credits in addition to the $1 per hour comp that they have been giving?

Yes. You get both. It is actually a huge increase in comps for the poker player.

Reward Credits and Tier Credits are completely different things.

[LasVegasMichael]

In short ... it may be a nice touch for the local grinders, but it'll have no real benefit for the out-of-town visitors.

The Tier Credit program has always ONLY benefitted gamblers, not poker players. Giving anything is a benefit to all players.

It appears you are viewing it through the eyes of someone who only plays poker. You are worth little to nothing to the casino.

However, many people playing poker at Harrah's are tourists. They are the reason that Tier Credits are being awarded now. HET is not doing this so a bunch of grimy poker players become Diamond. That is more of a necessarily evil than a "benefit".

They are doing this for their loyal tourist customers who occasionally play poker.

Previously, every single game offered at the casino gave tier credits (slot, table games, and sports betting). Poker was the only game offered at the casino that awarded nothing to the Tier Score, and thus, their loyal customers (the average of which plays a lot more than just poker) were getting the shaft on one of their many games offered.

This is a big deal to poker players, since they went from getting nothing to something, but was not added for them in mind. It was added specifically for the out of towners to equalize the system, not to reward the grinders.

[fatb]

how do u get tier credit while sports betting?? just show them your rewards card before betting??

[LasVegasMichael]

Yes. Points are awarded on a dollar for dollar basis in sports betting. I am more familiar with Horse racing then traditional sports betting, but I know more then a couple guys who have earned Diamond status almost exclusively from the books.

[Cashewz]

In short ... it may be a nice touch for the local grinders, but it'll have no real benefit for the out-of-town visitors.

The Tier Credit program has always ONLY benefitted gamblers, not poker players. Giving anything is a benefit to all players.

It appears you are viewing it through the eyes of someone who only plays poker. You are worth little to nothing to the casino.

However, many people playing poker at Harrah's are tourists. They are the reason that Tier Credits are being awarded now. HET is not doing this so a bunch of grimy poker players become Diamond. That is more of a necessarily evil than a "benefit".

They are doing this for their loyal tourist customers who occasionally play poker.

Previously, every single game offered at the casino gave tier credits (slot, table games, and sports betting). Poker was the only game offered at the casino that awarded nothing to the Tier Score, and thus, their loyal customers (the average of which plays a lot more than just poker) were getting the shaft on one of their many games offered.

This is a big deal to poker players, since they went from getting nothing to something, but was not added for them in mind. It was added specifically for the out of towners to equalize the system, not to reward the grinders.

I've made an annual trip to Vegas every year since 1996 or so. Typically, I'm there for four days. Until 2004, I exclusively played pai gow and black jack for an average of $25-$40 per hand, splitting my time between those two tables almost exclusively. Since 2004, I've been playing less blackjack, more poker and about the same amount of pai gow; I have only ever stayed and gambled at Harrah's-owned properties. For the last few years until they switched to the Total Rewards program, I always had my room and my meals totally comped. I would accomplish this by meeting with a host on the morning that I was leaving, and they would review my play.

For the first year that I went after TR was instituted, I tried the same thing, to no avail. I had my rewards credits (which weren't bad), but they were no longer willing to comp rooms and meals the way they did before.

I learned my lesson: I book my room ahead of time online, after logging in with my TR account. If I book this way, I usually get my room mostly or completely comped. I'm booking a Friday/Saturday in June at the Rio for no cost, and four days over a weekend in October at Paris for no cost.

So I am looking at it from not just a 'poker player' perspective, but also a 'gambling tourist' perspective. It's nice of them to make the offer, make no mistake about it, but all I'm saying is that this change is unlikely to impact the regular tourist. It's great for the local grinder who can rack up 150 hours in a year, every year, make no mistake about it. But the regular tourists who play the table games regularly and poker occasionally aren't going to be put over the top/into the next TR level because of this change.

The change does reward the grinders, and all the power to them for that. And I do understand your point about 'equalizing' things for the gamblers who occasionally play player. And above all, I realize that the casinos aren't making their real profits off of the poker player's backs. All I'm saying is that this change will have minimal actually impact for ANY tourists or casual poker players.

[smudger]

Well, 400 hundred hours a year is "doable" for an LV local. But also for those living near a Harrah's/Horsehoe riverboat. In those markets (other than Tunica) a player will only have 2, maybe 3 boats nearby to chose from. I think with fewer rooms available, it becomes easier to concentrate play at one casino. And in some markets, Harrah's does have the best poker room.

If the player does any other gambling at all---even an hour of VP at the bar while having a drink---that earns tier points, and decreases the needed poker hours. I can definitely see some people in KC or St Louis hitting Diamond playing primarily poker.

[apollo]

All I'm saying is that this change will have minimal actually impact for ANY tourists or casual poker players.

I've already seen it in action. Visited Harrah's this weekend and when it was mentioned at the table the guy to my left perked up and asked for a repeat and he was positively bubbly. He was pretty sure this would make the difference between him being "almost platinum" and hitting it. He just wanted to skip the buffet lines (though as I recall there's no platinum entrance at the Paris buffet--gotta be Diamond to skip the long line). Another guy was claiming he does monthly week-long trips to Vegas and mostly does poker in the evenings but gives enough action in the pits to score some major tier points that some years did and some didn't get him a Diamond card. He was thinking this would tip him into the diamond league, what with doing like 10-15 hours a month of poker. And I can just see this kinda guy come November sitting at 8000 points and thinking "just 3000 more..." and spending some extra time at the BJ tables.

So there will be a few. And it costs Harrah's effectively nothing to do it. Gosh... the local grinders may eat an extra 50 pounds of Nathan's franks from the Diamond Lounge every year. Seems like a smart move. 'Course if the locals start hanging out every evening in the Diamond Lounge, scaring off the real gamblers, they may rethink it.

[Jinx]

As a tourist who goes three times a year and doesn't play much if any poker while I'm there, this is definitely a big deal. Is it going to get me to Plat or Diamond, absolutely not. But in taking an evening and switching to poker in trying to do some bankroll preservation or for a change of pace, this is good news. If I play 4 hours a day/night for 3 days out of a 6 night trip, it's about 400 points, that's 10% of my diamond, that I would have gotten nothing on if I decided to play poker. While 400 points may seem insignificant, go play vp or slots for some time and see what coin in your actual is for 400 points, depending on the day it could be brutal.

Count me in as one of the tourists that's excited about the change. I was already planning on playing some poker in July due to a 9 night trip, but this cinches it.

[loganki]

I'm sorry I'm confused, is this being expanded to other Harrah's properties? Has it already?

[mauihaole]

Its currently just at Harrah's but it will eventually expand to most other Harrahs properties

[jjmaximum]

This will matter to some/others it won't. For me, it is huge. I love to play poker, but also play table games quite a bit. When I go on a trip to Vegas (or wherever), everything is comped, but you are also expected to earn 500 tier points a day to keep getting the limo/upgraded rooms/etc. So earning 168 points during a 6 hour poker session will really help.

[LasVegasMichael]

As of today, I have officially achieved Platinum status from playing poker at Harrah's.

By my watch, I should hit Diamond within about 3 months.

Being the test site for the new software has been a real headache from what I have been able to see. There have been some issues that have caused big delays in comps hitting the cards, sometimes up to a week or more, but this was expected due to the test phase process.

No other properties award this bonus yet due to the testing. Eventually the rollout is expected, but it may still be a while.

The nice thing is that Leo at Harrah's is utilizing the new system as best he can, including offering some special structures, like double Tier and Comps for playing 2/5 or 4/8. This has helped in getting both games off the ground.

[HLV Poker Guy]

As of today, I have officially achieved Platinum status from playing poker at Harrah's.

By my watch, I should hit Diamond within about 3 months.

Being the test site for the new software has been a real headache from what I have been able to see. There have been some issues that have caused big delays in comps hitting the cards, sometimes up to a week or more, but this was expected due to the test phase process.

No other properties award this bonus yet due to the testing. Eventually the rollout is expected, but it may still be a while.

The nice thing is that Leo at Harrah's is utilizing the new system as best he can, including offering some special structures, like double Tier and Comps for playing 2/5 or 4/8. This has helped in getting both games off the ground.

Being an "alpha" site is always an adventure....

We were having problems with poker ratings getting credited to Total Rewards, but have now determined the source of the porblem, and we're banging awayo to get caught up. We hope to be completely up to date by the Monday night. While the software is being worked on, we're actually entering the rewards information manually, so there is abit of a lag. We hope this will be resolved with the next software update, expected to be the first week of May.

[loganki]

Can someone please tell me what the accumulation period is for tier credits? Is it Jan 1st-Dec 31st, or is it just any period in which you earn 4000? Once you do get it, is the status valid for a year from that date?

[LasVegasMichael]

Accumulation is from Jan 1st through the 31st. Everyone resets to Zero on January first.

Once you earn it, you keep the status until December of the following year. If you do not re-earn the status the year after earning it, it expires in march of the following year.

People that earned Plantinum or Diamond in 2009 will keep their status until at least Dec 31st, 2010.