Earning Tier Points

I received an e-mail from a reader who wanted to know how he could earn “X” tier credits in one day, so that he would be eligible for Platinum status for 2008. Since he asked me privately, I won’t post his name, just a few details that are slightly modified. We’ll call him Mark.

Mark has 2000 tier credits for 2007, and says he earns about 400 tier credits per day. He wants to be Platinum, so he would need another 2000 tier credits, and he will be visiting in November.

Many people are confused about tier score versus ADT, thinking that a high tier level (say Diamond) automatically gets you better offers and comps. This is NOT true. Diamond and Platinum just get you a few “automatic” benefits, such as restaurant line skipping, access to show discounts, and valet parking (depending on the property). Just being a certain level does NOT get you special comps. Your ADT is more important than your tier level.

Nonetheless, to answer Mark’s question, getting to Platinum for him in one day has some unique aspects:

1. He is 2000 tier credits shy of Platinum. If he earns 2000 tier credits in a day, he will get to Platinum, but Harrahs also offers a program called Platinum-in-a-Day (PIAD) that a player earns automatically just by playing 2000 tier credits in a day. If you earn 3000 tier credits in a day, you get Diamond instantly.

2. Be aware that “one day of play” varies from property to property. Some properties end their day at Midnight, others end it at 6am. Please let me know where you’re playing, and I will try to update my property list with their play days.

3. Tier credits are earned at a rate of 1 Tier Credit for every $10 wagered on a VP machine. If you play slots, tier credits are earned at a rate of 1 Tier Credit for every $5 wagered. Note that slots generally have a higher house edge than VP, so you may lose your bankroll faster. There is no rhyme or reason for how table games earn tier credits, sorry. My experience is that you generally earn the amount of tier credits as your average wager per hour, but you don’t know how they are rating your average wager.

Let’s say that Mark plays VP primarily ($10 = 1 Tier Credit), and needs 2000 Tier Credits more for Platinum. This means that he needs to coin-in $20,000 in one play day.

$20,000 coin-in means how many dollars are cycled through the machine. Putting $20,000 into a machine and ticketing out is $0 coin-in. Putting $100 into a machine and playing for many hours MIGHT get you $20,000 coin-in. Example:

1. You are playing $0.25 VP, playing all 5 credits. This is $1.25 per wager. If you play 500 hands per hour, you’re coining-in $625 per hour, or 62 Tier Credits per hour. To reach $20,000 coin-in, you’d have to play 32 hours to reach 2000 Tier Points — this is NOT possible in one day.

2. You are playing $1.00 VP, playing all 5 credits. This is $5 per wager. If you play 500 hands per hour, you’re coining in $2500 per hour, or 250 Tier Credits per hour. To reach 2000 Tier Points, you’d have to play 8 hours. Be sure to have enough bankroll to last 8 hours on a dollar machine!

3. You are playing $5.00 VP, playing all 5 credits. This is $25 per wager. If you play 500 hands per hour, you’re coining in $12,500 per hour, or 1250 Tier Credits per hour. That’s just 1.6 hours of playing to hit 2000 Tier Points, but you need a massive bankroll to handle the ups and downs.

4. If you have a wife, girlfriend, or travel buddy, you can both play on your card. Just ask at Total Rewards for a second card (or more), one for each player. Sit down at a bank of machines together, put YOUR card in each machine (and leave it there), and start playing. If you have a total of 3 people playing $0.25 VP at 5 credits per pull, at 500 hands per hour x 3 machines, you’re coming in $1875 per hour, or 187 Tier Credits. That is still 11 hours of playing (for all 3!), but it is doable.

When I am in LV, I always offer my services for helping people hit a higher tier score. I’ve helped 2 people do Diamond in a Day, playing with my own bankroll (and keeping my profits). One time the player who I helped on a Saturday offered to play on my card with me on Sunday, just to “pay back” the tier credits — that was nice, but not necessary. If you’re really trying to hit a tier score within a specific period of time, try to swap like this with players you know.

Note that playing on another person’s card means they get the tier credits, but you get the winnings and a possible W2G if you hit a big win. You can also all play different denominations, playing at whatever is comfortable. Every few hour or so I like to remove my card and stick it back in to see my current total, and make sure that TCs are being recorded. Watch that green light!

A few questions that have been asked:

a) Multiplier days are days that your Rewards Credits are multiplied, NOT your Tier Credits. Rewards Credits are used for comps, Tier Credits are used for your tier level. Tier Credits reset to 0 at year’s end, Reward Credits are reset to 0 if you don’t access them for 6 months. If you’re close to the end of the year and want to get to the next tier level, do it before New Year’s Day or you’ll lose all that hard work!

b) Tier Credits may take a few days to bank, depending on the property you’re playing at. I’ve seen 3 day time-frames when I’ve played at Harrah’s Joliet.

c) If Tier Credits don’t seem to bank properly, go see Total Rewards. They may not be able to help, but they can adjust things if you tell them how long you were playing, and how many hands per hour. I only had to do this once, and they fixed it immediately.

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