Harrah's Rincon just changed the rules for its Million Dollar drawing.

[Alan Mendelson]

Harrah's Rincon just changed the rules for its Million Dollar drawing on New Year's Eve.

Back on March 1st, I reported that Total Rewards and others at Harrah's Rincon confirmed to me that the single winner of the one-million dollar drawing on New Year's Eve was not required to be present to win.

You can see that report here: http://vegascasinotalk.com/forum/showth...illion+dollars

That is true and did not change. The winner does not have to be present to win.

However, in the mail today I received my invitation for the New Year's Eve party and hotel stay at Rincon and in fine print I see something that tells me there is a new rule.

The small print says that there is an "activation" for the million dollar cash drawing from 6-AM on December 23 until 6-PM on December 31. That's a surprise. Until I saw this -- and since it was confirmed that the winner need not be present to win -- I thought that every Total Reward player at Rincon with at least one tier point scored was entered in the million dollar drawing. Now, unless you are at the casino to swipe your card on those dates you are not entered. See the photo below. (You must be registered on our Forum to see the photo, registration is free.)



The reason why management said the winner need not be present is that there just isn't enough space in the casino to allow for all players to be present. Now, is the reason for the "activitation" a way to limit the number of players eligible for the drawing?

Also note that the cut-off for the activation is at 6-PM on New Year's Eve which could keep some late arrivals from swiping their cards.

And in the invitation for New Year's Eve there is no mention of any other drawings. Back in the spring, I was told that in addition to the million dollar drawing there would be other "drawings" during the night.

[Alan Mendelson]

Reminder: You MUST activate your Total Rewards entries for the million dollar drawing by swiping your card at kiosks in the casino. The "activation" for the million dollar cash drawing is from 6-AM on December 23 until 6-PM on December 31.

[Dan Druff]

That's really awful. I can't be at the Rincon on those days, and I put in a good amount of play there. I am going to contact my host there and ask if any exception can be made. They will probably give me the middle finger.

[Alan Mendelson]

Here's where it would pay off for someone to collect spare player cards and make the drive to swipe all of the entries.

In fact, I was told there is a group of players that exchanged "extra" players cards so that at least one of them will go to the casino on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays for the swipes for extra comp credits. In my case, I could get $140 of extra Total Reward comps each day that my card is swiped. Now I personally can't get there all three days each week, but if someone had my card and swiped it for me that would be like money in the bank.

The downside is that it would lower my daily theoretical.

[Perdition]

Did you go Today or yesterday for the activation or you going to wait until later in the week to go?

Hope you win something.

[Alan Mendelson]

I dropped by yesterday because I also got $140 of free play. And now a confession: I swiped the cards of some friends. Oops. But I will not reveal their names.

And I don't think there is anything to win New Year's Eve except for the million dollars. I haven't seen anything about "other prizes."

[Dan Druff]

My Rincon host said, "I could lose my job if I swiped for you".

LOL ok

What a stupid policy. Rincon really knows how to alienate its customers.

[Alan Mendelson]

My Rincon host said, "I could lose my job if I swiped for you".

True story: a couple of years ago, Rincon had different kiosks (machines to swipe cards) for different promotions. And one Sunday there were two promotions running on the same day. I swiped at one machine but didn't realize I had to swipe at the second machine for some bonus points. I called Total Rewards and told them the problem. Someone made up a card for me, and walked it over to the machine that I forgot to swipe and swiped my card.

Now, the situation is a big different: I was at the casino and did a lot of play, but there were different machines for different promotions.