I received a few phone calls since New Year's day from members of the Caesars Total Rewards program who say they played on New Year's Day and on January 2nd but as of today, January 3rd, there were NO Bonus Tier Points added to their accounts.

I talked to a few other players who told me that they played at Caesars Palace and at a Total Rewards casino in Laughlin and they did not get any Bonus Tier Points.

My first thought is that there is a glitch in the system or a delay in the adding the Bonus tier points because of the New Year's Holiday.

In the past, I saw the Bonus Tier points added to my Total Rewards account on the Caesars / Total Rewards website within 48 hours. So, based on my previous observation, play on New Year's Day should have shown up this morning on the Total Rewards site.

I am asking other Total Rewards players to check their accounts to see if the Bonus tier points show up if they played on New Years Day. I also asked some of the players I know if the Bonus tier points showed up at the casinos on slot machine displays and they said the Bonus Points did not show up.

If it's not a glitch is this a change in the Total Rewards program?

If it is a change in the Total Rewards program it is significant because it means that instead of making "Diamond in a Day" with 5,000 tier points in one day ($50,000 coin in for video poker, $25,000 coin-in for slots) with a 10,000 free tier point Bonus -- players will not have to put in on their own the full amount of coin-in which would be $150,000 for video poker players and $75,000 coin-in for slot players. (I can't figure what table players must bet since that is one of the great unknowns of Total Rewards.)

It is also very significant for Seven Stars players as it significantly increases the "cost" of making this top tier players club rank.

While Caesars is telling players that there will be no changes to Total Rewards because of the bankruptcy that is expected to be filed soon, perhaps in two weeks, hosts have been telling their clients that "normal changes" or "routine changes" could be made to the Total Rewards program.

Caesars might consider the end of the Bonus tier points just a routine change.

But whether it's a routine change or a change forced by the soon-to-be-filed Chapter 11 Bankruptcy for Caesars, the bottom line is that it will be more expensive for players to earn the best comps and rewards from the Total Rewards program and this will save Caesars a lot of money.

What Caesars might be doing is maintaining its level of comps and offers and rewards for its Seven Stars and Diamond players while at the same time it cuts the number of Seven Stars and Diamond players that can claim those offers and benefits.

I look forward to the information other Total Rewards players have.