Florida Phil's Obsession with Me

[Vman96]

One more point I forgot to mention about M:

Whatever tier status you earn is only valid for six months. Yes, tier points reset every six months. Thus, another reason why it is nigh impossible for a non-local to earn Executive Producer or Icon levels.

Correct me if I am wrong here, but I believe that at all other casinos, your status is valid for a year. I understand that you can be "upgraded" along the way and earn a higher tier level before the year is up. But, no where else have I played where I would have to continuously "earn" my tier level every 6 months.

Penn Gaming generally is only January-July and July-December.

I'm planning on going to Hollywood STL this Thursday to make sure my comps stay active (need to earn a point every 6 mos.) Starting 12/15/15, retroactive to 6/15/15, MLife will also require one point per 6 months for the lowest tier, Sapphire. Such BS.

[BobDancer]

No, I didn't say I received upwards of $600 in free play. It is cash back. Semantics, okay, but it's not as if M hands us $600 in Free Play just by walking in their front door.
Yes I understood the $600 was earned at 0.3% (or 0.6% on double point days). And at that casino it may be taken in either cash or free play. There are advantages to both.If you download the $600 at the machine rather than collecting it in cash from the cage, M does not award points or tier credits while you play it off. Some casinos do. Some casinos don't.So, given you're going to play anyway, getting $600 from the cage is worth an additional $1.80 (or $3.60 on 2x point day) compared to downloading it at the machine. It also requires an additional 5 minutes or so at the cage and an extra minute or so to feed the six bills into the machine.At the South Point --- which also awards cash or free play but you receive full points when you play it off at the machine plus you need to make two stops (booth plus cage) to get the money rather than just one (at M booth and cage are same place)--- approximately 90% of the people take the money at the machine. (That was the number given by Michael Gaughan when he was a guest on my radio show.)  I'm sure the number of people downloading at the machine is much lower at the M, but different people are going to come up with different answers. Of course if "taking money home" is of particular value to you, getting cash at the cage on your way out the door has extra value. As a local, I much prefer to obtain the cash back (whether in the form of cash or free play) at the START of my next trip. This means I can carry $600 less in cash to the casino next time. That is more attractive to me than taking $600 more to the casino and carrying home an additional $600 when I leave. I don't earn interest on the casino storing that $600 for me, but if I get robbed or lose my wallet it's better than I don't have the money on me. There are places in the United States where cars are regularly stopped by the police for no reason who then confiscate all money they find. You may or may not end up getting your money back --- and lawyers don't work for free. While civil forfeiture isn't a problem within greater Las Vegas, many of you drive through places on your way to and from a casino where it IS a potential problem. (If you've never heard of this, go to youtube.com and look up 'civil forfeiture.' It's really scary.)Also, there are players on this site who brag that taking money home with them is a form of proof they are better gamblers than those who don't. To me that's a silly argument. It's the amount won or lost over time that's important, not how many extra miles the hundred dollar bills spend in my pocket.If I lived 2000 miles away I might come up with a different conclusion as to leaving the money in the casino for "next time" or not. Even though I may plan to return in a month or two, I can't know that for a fact. I might get sick or injured or dead which would prevent a return trip. Then having a zero balance would be better for my heirs.In my situation, Bonnie knows where my records are which would tell her which casinos I play at. She would not be good at extracting accumulated free play efficiently herself (she's not a competent player), but she knows several of my player friends who would be glad to assist her in case she outlives me and I have un-redeemed free play at one or more casinos. (Who knows? I may well have stopped all casino play by then for whatever reason.) If she's smart, she'll have the money extracted before I'm in the ground rather than going to each casino and presenting a death certificate and proof that she's an authorized agent for my estate. That strikes me as a tedious way to go about it.Somewhere earlier in this thread it was mentioned that it's difficult for non-locals to earn ICON status at the M. This is a matter of the stakes you play. I think it requires $1.2 million video poker coin-in over six months. There are customers at the M who play this much every trip. Whether the benefit package they receive would be attractive to me or you, it's attractive enough for them or they wouldn't play that much. Even for locals, averaging $200K per month at one place is out of the question for more than 99% of all players. If you play at more than one Penn National casino --- which may become a viable option for Las Vegans depending on what games they end up putting in the Tropicana when the sale goes through, it's "only" $200K monthly in total rather than $200K monthly per casino.Still they'll let you book a suite during any Carnival cruise once a year if you do. The suite on the 15-day Los Angeles to Hawaii and back cruise is more than $7500 retail (assuming two people, depending on the dates you choose). While this isn't the same at all as $7500 in cash, this is more than a quarter-percent add-on for $2.4 million per year worth of play. It's not a bad "perk."

[onemoretry]

   When your M player's card is inserted, your account may show, for example, 80,000 points. Great. You have $240 cash back, easily redeemed at the cashier (or just downloaded for free play, if you prefer). But, you do NOT have 80,000 tier points towards Executive Producer or Icon status. You have 20,000 points.

You are stating that tier points accumulate at one quarter the rate of cash back points. I thought that it was one third, i.e., three dollars coinin per tier credit point.

When did they change it?

[onemoretry]

It takes 125,000 tier points ($125k coin in on Video Poker and/or slots) over a 6 month span to reach there and 400,000 tier points to reach the highest level which is ICON.
For video poker, I am pretty sure that it takes $3 coinin to earn a tier point. This means play of $375,000 is needed to get 125,000 tier points.

[alpax]

[QUOTE=alpax]
It takes 125,000 tier points ($125k coin in on Video Poker and/or slots) over a 6 month span to reach there and 400,000 tier points to reach the highest level which is ICON.
For video poker, I am pretty sure that it takes $3 coinin to earn a tier point. This means play of $375,000 is needed to get 125,000 tier points. [/QUOTE]

I was not aware that the tier point system was at a different rate than the cashback points. I was totally focused on getting 3000 points to get a buffet pass and a gift of the day.

If you and Mr. Dancer says it is $3 for a point, yes it will take $375,000 coin in to get to that Executive Producer.

I was wondering if you make the most out of Executive Producer or ICON.

[alpax]

Penn Gaming generally is only January-July and July-December.

I'm planning on going to Hollywood STL this Thursday to make sure my comps stay active (need to earn a point every 6 mos.) Starting 12/15/15, retroactive to 6/15/15, MLife will also require one point per 6 months for the lowest tier, Sapphire. Such BS.

Did not know about this until now, I suppose they want to weed out people who do not make return visits. While Luxor and Excalibur carry decent games at the denomination I could afford to play at, I did not go back this year and diverted my play to Boyd Gaming / Palms.

With this I suppose if I ever do go back to mLife, I would now have to do a minimum $25k coin in on a 3 day trip to get into Pearl once a year to get RFB. I still have myVEGAS LP credits to use up.

[onemoretry]

I was wondering if you make the most out of Executive Producer or ICON.
Normally, we are only periodic visitors to Las Vegas (and the M).

For what we play at the M, those card levels are way beyond our reach.

[DougJ]

Here is the point earning system at M:

You earn one point per dollar in. So, when I play a dollar VP machine, Max Bet, I earn FIVE points for my five dollars coin-in.
On the five days out of seven that M will double my VP points, I am essentially getting TEN points for my five dollars coin-in. If your account shows 40,000 points at the end of the gaming day, the points double overnight, so that your account will show 80,000 points by around 10 a.m. on the next day.
That 80,000 points is $240. You can either download all, or some of it, for free play. Or, you can go to the cashier and get it in cash back.

However, it is four points needed for every ONE tier credit towards player's card status, but only for VP players. Slot players do not get dinged like this in earning tier credits.

We always redeem our points for cash back at the cashier on our last day of each trip. For us, it's just common sense, because even though we assume we will return in two months, you just don't know. We'd rather just clean out our accounts every trip.
If you are a local, I suppose you might do it differently than us.

[DougJ]

   . . .
I was not aware that the tier point system was at a different rate than the cashback points. I was totally focused on getting 3000 points to get a buffet pass and a gift of the day.

I was wondering if you make the most out of Executive Producer or ICON.

Yes, it is at a different earning rate. However, ALL of M's Video Poker machines will earn points. It is my understanding that at some casinos, some VP machines are not point-earning machines.

Also, I'm sure you know that it is far less than 3000 points for a free buffet and gift of the day.
You can earn a free buffet for as little as 500 points, for weekday lunch. **And, of course, you keep your points.

You can earn up to 3 free gifts per day, AND M still does not "take" your points. The points are "held" and then "released" back into your account at the end of the gaming day. You just need to earn enough points, as you said, to cover both the free buffet and the free gift(s) for that day.
FYI, M has a gift giveaway approximately 200 days/year.

Whether players make the most of their higher status cards . . . I guess that depends on if you like cruises. Otherwise, there is no VIP lounge to speak of. Before Penn Gaming took over from the Marnell family, the lounge used to have light snacks and soda.
Today, you will find bottled water. Oh, and coffee/tea, but only on the weekends. NO food at all.

[DougJ]

in this thread it was mentioned that it's difficult for non-locals to earn ICON status at the M. This is a matter of the stakes you play. I think it requires $1.2 million video poker coin-in over six months. There are customers at the M who play this much every trip. Whether the benefit package they receive would be attractive to me or you, it's attractive enough for them or they wouldn't play that much. Even for locals, averaging $200K per month at one place is out of the question for more than 99% of all players. If you play at more than one Penn National casino --- which may become a viable option for Las Vegans depending on what games they end up putting in the Tropicana when the sale goes through, it's "only" $200K monthly in total rather than $200K monthly per casino.Still they'll let you book a suite during any Carnival cruise once a year if you do. The suite on the 15-day Los Angeles to Hawaii and back cruise is more than $7500 retail (assuming two people, depending on the dates you choose). While this isn't the same at all as $7500 in cash, this is more than a quarter-percent add-on for $2.4 million per year worth of play. It's not a bad "perk."

Bob, I didn't intend to hijack the thread you started and turn this into a discussion about the M.
Sorry!!