I don't know if it is the same thing that you are mentioning but I seem to recall a few things about Harrah's Total Gold or whatever card one has, platnum, diamond... I seem to recall that from the onset, while your points are, or were, good at any location and all points from everywhere compiled together, there were some benefits that were a little different. The cash back offers for losses when you signed up for your card were only redeemable at the casino where you earned them. You would sign up for a card, and they would cover up to $100 in losses your first day. A voucher would be SENT to you (so you couldn't redeem on the spot) but you would have to redeem it at the casino where you signed up. I would assume that is to encourage you to sign up at and visit your local Harrahs property more often and discourage those who only visit occasionally while on vacation. In addition it would limit the number of payments that the casino would have to make since most players would not be able to collect and if they did make the claim the payments would go unfulfilled because the person didn't make it back in time before the voucher expired. I seem to recall there was a time limit in which you would have to redeem the certificate (eliminates more payments because people were not enthusiastic frequent visitors). This would deter one like myself who would travel to LV and sign up, earn the $100, cash out and not return for another year or 6 months. Unless of course I had a lot of time on my hands and wanted to go through the trouble to travel again within 60 or 90 days...(?) and go back.

I notice that some friends who are in their 70s get many more offers like rooms etc. than I (42 years old), even though I probably spend more on our yearly visits. I can only assume that they are more valued because of demographic data that would lead a casino to believe that they are retired, have more disposable income and time on their hands and are more free to travel more frequently.

Anyways, they had us hooked with these offers. It was appearantly an enticement to get people to sign up and provide demographic info that could be used for marketing mailings and offers. It encourages one to visit frequently and risk more of their money. Therefore, if I wanted to get the most out of the program, I would be encouraged to apply at Joliet where they can send me tons of offers and get me coming back every week because I live near by. In fact, I recall a rep at Club Orleans tell me once that there are all kinds of offers that are sent routinely to locals that folks like myself never get because I live too far away to be drawn in frequently. The explaination was that it doesn't make much sense to send most of the offers to out of towners who don't come in that often.

The second offer at the time was that if you signed up they would give you tickets to a show at any Harrahs property. The trick here was that it couldn't be at the property where you signed up. This was obviously to entice you to go to other Harrahs properties as well. Thus, if I signed up at Joliet, I could go to LV and redeem a coupon for a free show. Here I would be encouraged to look for other Harrahs locations while traveling and go in and play.