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Thread: Tips and advice for the Great Gift Wrap Up

  1. #1
    The first session of the Great Gift Wrap Up for Caesars / Total Rewards members starts on November 7. Here is the schedule:

    November 7 - 11, 2013
    Flamingo Las Vegas
    10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. PST

    December 4 - 8, 2013
    Caesars Palace
    10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. PST

    Do you have any tips and advice?

    I have this suggestion: that unless you are going to exchange your "reward points" for free play when you start your visit in Vegas, it's best to make the GGWU the final event prior to leaving Vegas so you can use all of your play towards purchasing items.

    And don't forget about the $10 gift cards to maximize the use of your points so you don't have any "leftover points."

    Also, if you are short a few points (a few will vary) go to the "help desk" and ask for a break on the points redemption. I have seen these "help reps" discount some items by several hundred points when a player was "short" the amount needed. Usually the "floor staff" will tell you to go back to a game and play a little more but if you go to the help desk and tell them you've checked out you might catch a break.

    One question I have is: what items give you the most value? Do you get more for your money exchanging points for free play or for gift cards or for merchandise? And what merchandise gives you the best value for points?

  2. #2
    Here is what I posted in April, 2013 regarding tips to the GGWU. They still apply today:

    ----


    - Stay away from electronics. This is because electronics are constantly going obsolete, and therefore getting cheaper (or less valuable) as every day passes. Furthermore, the electronics on the Great Gift Wrap Up tend to be priced months in advance, meaning that the camera that was worth $600 when it was "priced" in points is very possibly only worth $450 by the time November/December rolls around. iPads are the one exception to this, but make sure that the iPad you are buying is not about to be replaced by a new model within weeks.

    - Always do your research in advance, and pick items you think you probably want to buy. Then go to Google Shopping and figure out the best price you could actually purchase the item. Use this to figure out whether you are getting a good deal regarding the number of points you are paying.

    - In 2012, the gift cards and the freeplay were the best value. Some people did not want freeplay because they actually wanted something tangible to show up at their door for the holidays, which is understandable. However, keep in mind that you are getting the most bang for your buck by buying gift cards and freeplay.

    - You can transfer gift points to a friend! Or at least you could in 2012. Both people need to be there in person at the same time, but they definitely let you do it. This is a great way to prevent points from going unused, or to be able to afford something you want that you're just short of being able to buy. To transfer gift points, both people need to go up to the checkout area (with their TR cards and ID), and the transfer will be done without any fees.

    Last year, I had about $1100 worth of gift points. I got an iPad with about half of that, and I took freeplay for the other half. I bought a $10 Shell gift card with the remainder.
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  3. #3
    Harrah's Rincon has been running an interesting promotion during October. Each Friday and Sunday if you swipe your card at the Total Rewards area, (no play required), you get extra GGWU points. In my case its 31,500 points for each day's swipe which is more than enough for a $100 shell gas card. My son who is a Diamond gets 11,500 points per swipe. Well, you guessed it -- we drive down just for the swipe plus we have free play on Fridays and Sundays that covers the cost of the excursion. We drive together so that cuts our costs.

    In my case that's 8 X 31,500 = 252,000 points without making a single bet. That's $840 of gas cards.

    I also get another 20,000 or so points if I put on 1,500 tier points. Now, some days I didn't play more than about $150 of free play, but a few days I did score the bonus.

    The bonus points won't be visible on my account until Nov 1, but the way it looks to me now, based on my current score, I might have enough points for $3,200 of gas cards.

    The reality is, we use more than $100 of gas here per week for a combination of personal and business travel. I can't see using those GGWU points for anything but gas cards.

    Also, I am not planning to stay in Vegas for the GGWU. The plan is to drive up in the morning, attend the event, and get outta Dodge... except for a stop at the Gold Strike in Jean where I can play $3 craps.

  4. #4
    I don't have that promotion from Rincon, despite being a Seven Stars member.

    I went to Rincon once on a freeplay/massage promotion, but didn't play at all aside from running my freeplay. I imagine that this might have influenced them never to give me any further offers, though I did get a last-minute offer recently for some kind of Disneyland/Sea World excursion.
    Check out my poker forum, and weekly internet radio show at http://pokerfraudalert.com

  5. #5
    I didnt get the Disneyland/Sea World offer. I think the GGWU promotion is probably for players who are there more often.

  6. #6
    I would like to explore this a big more:

    Originally Posted by Dan Druff View Post
    keep in mind that you are getting the most bang for your buck by buying gift cards and freeplay.
    Let's say that you can play your free play on a 8/5 Bonus game returning 99.1%. And your goal is get the most "cash value" out of your points. Which do you choose -- free play or gift cards for a store you will use?

    Of course if you have a lot of points you can allocate and divide your points. But for a player who can only get $100 of free play or $100 of gift cards, which do you choose? What factors are you considering? Thanks.

  7. #7
    I've said this before:

    The value of freeplay depends upon whether you would otherwise be gambling for cash anyway.

    So if you're NOT planning to gamble at all, but need to just "run your freeplay", then the value is the expected win-rate -- such as 99.1% in 8-5 Bonus poker.

    If you ARE planning to gamble anyway, then the value is 100% of the freeplay, since it will replace cash that you would have otherwise fed into the machine. For example, let's say you start off feeding $500 into the machine when you play video poker. If you have $500 freeplay, and feed that in instead, now you have $500 more sitting in your wallet. In this case, the freeplay is REPLACING real physical money that you are going to spend, so it is of full value.

    Let me put it a different way. Let's say someone gave me a $300 gift certificate to Tommy Bahama. I have use for the clothes there, but it's also overpriced, so I normally wouldn't shop there. So a $300 Tommy Bahama gift certificate might be worth $200 to me in real life. But if I liked Tommy Bahama enough to where I was shopping there anyway, and was about to spend $300 of my real cash, then a $300 gift certificate would be worth $300 to me.

    Anyway, getting back to your question:

    If the freeplay and gas cards are the exact same number of points per dollar, then it simply comes down to which you would be more likely to "use anyway".

    The gas cards, for example, are for Shell only. If you normally get gas elsewhere, this is somewhat of an inconvenience. Additionally, perhaps the Shell around you is expensive (the prices at Shell vary a lot by location). But if you're already a Shell customer, or if you don't care where you get gas, the cards have 100% value.

    As far as freeplay, as I said above, it will carry either full value if you are planning to gamble anyway, and 98-99% value otherwise. Of course, this also carries a LOT of variance, and you could easily end up with a small fraction of the freeplay's value (such as cashing out $75 on a $500 freeplay). This bothers a lot of people, as many want to see something tangible and guaranteed from their GGWU points.

    Last year, I had a little over $1100 in points. I used like $520 on an iPad 4/case combo (surprisingly good deal), $500 in freeplay, and got one $10 gas card with the remainder.

    I might just get gas cards this year, as there is a reasonably priced Shell by my house. I would like another iPad, but I'm not sure if they will be carrying them, and I also want the newest iPad, which may or may not be offered by Caesar's by then.
    Check out my poker forum, and weekly internet radio show at http://pokerfraudalert.com

  8. #8
    Dan: do you know if the free play you get from the GGWU can be used at any TR property, and are there any time limits on when to use it?

  9. #9
    Originally Posted by Alan Mendelson View Post
    Dan: do you know if the free play you get from the GGWU can be used at any TR property, and are there any time limits on when to use it?
    I don't remember. I went right down and used it immediately.
    Check out my poker forum, and weekly internet radio show at http://pokerfraudalert.com

  10. #10
    From what I remember last year - they asked me which property I wanted the Free play for. I was staying at Paris and asked them for that. I don't remember the expiration date.

  11. #11
    I was first scheduled for the November GGWU but will probably be changing it to December.

    Can one of you guys look if they are carrying any iPads, and if so, what the point price is? And most importantly, is it the iPad 5?

    The iPad 5 will be released on November 1.

    The first GGWU event starts November 7.

    Last year they had iPad 4, which was new at the time.

    I would love to get an iPad 5 with my points, provided it breaks out to a reasonable price.
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  12. #12
    Well I see they are carrying the iPad 4:

    http://greatgiftwrapup.com/greatgift...me&c=696372181

    It's 171,100 points.

    Gift cards are still 3,000 points per $10, including Shell gas cards.

    This means each GGWU point is worth a third of a penny each (that is, 3 GGWU points is worth a penny).

    This makes calculating value easy. Just divide the number of points by 300, and that's the dollar value you're paying in GGWU points!

    That makes the iPad $570.33 in GGWU points.

    This is a terrible deal!

    You can buy an identical iPad 4 from Walmart right now for $450 plus tax.

    Last year the iPad 4, which was new, went for something like $535 in GGWU points, AND you got a free case with it. At the time, the iPad 4 went for $500+tax in the store, meaning about the same, and here you got the free case, too.

    Anyway, unless they get the iPad 5 in stock, and unless it's a proper price, I won't be buying an iPad from the GGWU this year.
    Check out my poker forum, and weekly internet radio show at http://pokerfraudalert.com

  13. #13
    Originally Posted by Alan Mendelson View Post
    Dan: do you know if the free play you get from the GGWU can be used at any TR property, and are there any time limits on when to use it?
    Originally Posted by Dan Druff View Post
    I don't remember. I went right down and used it immediately.
    Originally Posted by sassycat View Post
    From what I remember last year - they asked me which property I wanted the Free play for. I was staying at Paris and asked them for that. I don't remember the expiration date.
    This could make a big difference. If I find that the free play can be used during 2014 at a casino such as Rincon, the free play could be much more valuable to me because there are better video poker games at Rincon (even with some of the latest changes) and there is a chance that the free play credit play would go towards 2014 tier scores.

    We discussed before that sometimes free play does not earn tier points -- but sometimes it does.
    And at Rincon there are still a couple of full pay games at the 25 cents level (Bonus, Aces and Faces) but at Caesars the full pay games start at $5 and they require $25 of coin per tier point.

    I also discussed "free play" vs "gas cards" with my son who pointed this out to me: it would take close to a year to use up all of the gas cards, while the "free play" benefit immediately frees up cash.

  14. #14
    The free play they offered me last year was only at Vegas casinos.

  15. #15
    What a dumb discussion about the ipads. Has anyone ever considered WINNING the money to actually buy an iPad with, instead of going all gaga over a year-end gift "giveaway" that most or all of you lost five times the amount you could have bought one for? Right now if anyone associated with CET is reading here, guaranteed, they are patting themselves on the back for another job well done in the oh-so-special Seven Stars dept.

  16. #16
    Rob, stop terribling up every thread with the same garbage.

    Are you suggesting that we just toss away these points, rather than redeem them?
    Check out my poker forum, and weekly internet radio show at http://pokerfraudalert.com

  17. #17
    Rob, please let what Dan wrote sink in:

    Originally Posted by Dan Druff View Post
    Rob, stop terribling up every thread with the same garbage.

    Are you suggesting that we just toss away these points, rather than redeem them?
    The points you get for the GGWU are not a consolation prize for losing. You get the same points even if you win. So why not use them? You of all people should be trying to maximize every free thing you can get out of a casino for your play. I will probably get about $3,000 of "free stuff" in two weeks at Flamingo. My only question is "what" to take 'em for?

  18. #18
    Here's a flash Alan: the ONLY reason CET has this year-end "freebie" is because they make oodles from those who walk in pumping their fists with thousands worth of points. Most or all of you lose big time, AND CET AND EVERYBODY KNOWS THAT. It's simply a marketing method of making players think "it was all worth it". In other words....and there's no reason for me to put this into fine print....you and others are being played like fiddles, to the point of you all telling yourself all that losing "was OK".

    Please wise up.

  19. #19
    Originally Posted by Dan Druff View Post
    Rob, stop terribling up every thread with the same garbage.

    Are you suggesting that we just toss away these points, rather than redeem them?
    No, I'm providing you one of those "teachable moments". Set goals when you go in to play, play at properties that Don't have you by the nuts with those stupid card level statuses and year end "giveaways" that makes people play longer and more than they know they should, and when you reach your win goal for an iPad or a cruise or a new bag of underwater, you leave.

  20. #20
    Originally Posted by Rob.Singer View Post
    No, I'm providing you one of those "teachable moments". Set goals when you go in to play, play at properties that Don't have you by the nuts with those stupid card level statuses and year end "giveaways" that makes people play longer and more than they know they should, and when you reach your win goal for an iPad or a cruise or a new bag of underwater, you leave.
    Gee Rob, this past year I did play with win goals and loss limits and as an added bonus I will have somewhere around $3000 of gas cards or free play or merchandise (which I am not likely to take). What's wrong with that?

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