Opportunities at new casinos

20 October 2018

By Eric Rosenthal

Anytime new casinos open up, there are typically a lot of opportunities for players to find more yield for their gambling dollars. As new properties open, they typically have promotions and offers that are above and beyond what a gambler would normally expect, and which, if played right, can be used at other properties as well.

Tier matching and sometimes tier upgrades as well as free play and additional benefits offered are typically extended to existing players of competing properties. These competing properties may have sister properties around the country, and regional offers might be parlayed to other destinations as well.

In Atlantic City, currently there are two new properties that have just opened: Ocean Resort (formerly Revel) and Hard Rock Atlantic City(formerly Taj Mahal). Both properties came in aggressively with tier match, free play, comp dollars and free room offers for existing players. In response most of the other properties also offered some form of tier match or upgrade.

Many of these properties are part of a national network or share a parent company with a large gaming corporation. This new status is generally recognized by sister properties which can make one appear more valuable to the competition in other destinations as well.

Signing up for tier matches at two new properties has allowed my wife and I to book eight free nights collectively at brand new properties without any play history or verification. Summer Friday and Saturdays on the boardwalk are in high demand, and standard rooms sell for $300-$400 per night. Additionally, by looking at other destinations, we were able to book two more trips with up-front comps to competitors of sister properties that recognize these matches.

Caesars Entertainment and MGM Resorts International have properties all around the country and both are offering tier match currently in the Atlantic City market. Golden Nugget was actually upgrading player status to a level higher than one had at a competitor. The local cards were marked as a trade up, but the Landry’s system recognized the new tier nationally. With the ability to claim elite status in Biloxi, Laughlin, or many other locations there was no shortage of opportunities to parlay this into a few more comp trips at Golden Nugget’s competitors.

The one place I’ve found this technique to be less effective is Las Vegas. It must be through experience and likely more opportunity, they typically expect confirmed rated play before extending front end comps in my experience. So much so, that with Caesars, MGM and Golden Nugget present, I did not even attempt a competitor in Las Vegas.

In any event, two new casinos in my local market turned into over $500 in free play, a couple thousand dollars (retail) in room comps, and two additional vacations later in the year. This opportunity was admittedly richer than standard offers, but these opportunities become available with some regularity. Keeping an eye out for new properties and their promotions, as well as parlaying those promotions elsewhere can really add up in terms of value.

I encourage you to provide action to these casinos and not burn them on a comp offer, but it is nice knowing that the deal or offer was made on the front end.