New Year's Eve Offers

[Alan Mendelson]

It's that time of the year when once again the casinos send out their invitations for their New Year's Eve festivities, perhaps the biggest night of the year in Vegas.

If you get an invitation to a casino event, list it here and include any comments about previous year's offers and how they might have changed. I'll go first. My offers are in from Caesars where I have two offers for Las Vegas, and I have one offer from Harrah's Rincon in San Diego.

Las Vegas:

Honestly, I don't know how I "rank" this year. They've been cutting the dollar amount of my offers so I don't know if this invitation is for a "regular" party or something more "exclusive."

The invitation for Caesars Palace includes four consecutive nights, plus two tickets to what they call the "exclusive New Year's Eve Celebration" with cocktails and 10pm dinner. There is no mention of any entertainment so I suspect a local band or DJ. In years past the "exclusive" parties included top singers and bands including Huey Lewis & The News, and Vanessa Williams. Caesars Palace also has a New Year's Day brunch.

I also can choose to stay at The Rio. The Rio doesn't have the facilities for a "party" or bash so included with the four night stay is dinner for two at many of the restaurants on the property plus $700 of free play. Last year they offered me $1500 of free play. There is no New Year's Day brunch at the Rio. Since all of my offers have been cut from Caesars in Vegas, the cut of free play from $1500 to $700 does not surprise me.

Rincon is offering a "festive dinner" with various seatings through New Year's Eve and then a drawing -- 12 winners will be picked. Ten get $500 of free play, one gets $5,000 in cash, and one gets $10,000 in cash. The drawing is at 11:45pm which means the cash prizes and the free play are taxable events for 2012, but that would be a nice problem to have if you won any cash prize and especially the ten grand.

And then there are more drawings on the casino floor at Rincon with four casino players chosen each hour to win $500 of free play from 11am to 11pm on December 31. The more you play the more entries in the drawing. And at 1-am two players will be drawn with one getting $25-thousand and one getting $50-thousand and they will have all of 2013 to lose it back gambling to offset the win on their 2013 tax return that is filed in 2014.

My Rincon offer includes a two night stay.

[JamieV]

I checked my offers and only see two for Vegas.

Flamingo: $200 in free play, invite to new years party.

Planet Hollywood: Same offer

Rincon: Nothing! In fact, they want to charge me 400 for a standard room on New Years Eve. My host is so lackadaisical...

Laughlin: The free junket flight coincides with New Years Eve 12/29-1/2 so that is promising....but 4 nights in Laughlin during winter is not ideal.

I think the plan for me is to make the trip to Vegas/Rincon on New Years Day or a day later...New Years Eve is the most dangerous holiday in terms DUI and accidents? (That statement makes me sound like EvenBob)

[Alan Mendelson]

A friend of mine who plays exclusively at Caesars told me that he received his New Year's Eve "offer" and despite the fact that he goes to LV and stays at Caesars only, his offer includes a choice of the party and some free play at the Flamingo or the dinner and some free play at The Rio. Caesars is not an option for him despite playing there, and only there, for more than five years.

[Alan Mendelson]

Just talked to a Diamond player with more than 50,000 tier score points which puts him more than half-way to 7-Stars and he received two offers:

Rio: Dinner for two, $350 free play, four nights.

Paris: Two tickets to a "lavish dinner" with drinks, dancing, and performer Earl Turner, four nights.