Horseshoe Baltimore accused of screwing players regarding NFL touchdown promotion

[Dan Druff]

This post was from a Facebook group:

Worst Run Promotion Ever: Today at Horseshoe Baltimore

Promo details on webpage & email:

$7 TOUCHDOWNS

Each time the Baltimore Ravens score a touchdown at any game, you will qualify to win $7 in Free Slot Play OR 700 Reward Credits. Claim your Free Slot Play at our Promotional Kiosk during halftime and immediately after the game's conclusion.


How it actually went:

A couple hours before the game I swipe to check my offers & click the Ravens promo. This is key because apparently if you didn't activate the offer BEFORE THE GAME you were SOL. A short time later an announcement is made over the PA. Instead of halftime and immediately after the game, the only time to claim will be 2 hours AFTER the game.

The Ravens score 3 TDs. The game ends at 4:10 and I head back to the casino. I swipe at 6:15. Nothing. There is a sign on the now closed Total Rewards Desk saying activation will begin at 6:30pm but ONLY for people who swiped before the game. I swipe again at 6:30, 7:00, 7:15pm. Nothing. The employees still working shrug their shoulders. Not my job. You have to talk to the Total Rewards desk. From what I could tell no one got the $21. The kiosk message is attached.

[Dan Druff]

I think this was either a complete fail (which wouldn't be surprising), or the participants were simply "qualifying to win" (see language of the promo) the $7 per touchdown, and then were entered into some computerized drawing system.

If it's the latter -- that you need to get lucky to win $7 -- it's hilarious and sad.

If it's the former, then it's just one of many Caesars promotional bedshits.

I hope they make it right for this guy and anyone else who complains. We're not talking about big money here, though perhaps it added up to a lot, depending upon how many people signed up for it.

The whole thing seems like it was a mess, and had a lot of rules and procedures which apparently were not clearly disclosed to participants.

[Dan Druff]

When I asked the guy about the "qualify to win" part, here's what he said back:

I can't wait to hear what they say. I'm a season ticket holder who has pre and post game tailgated at Horseshoe since they opened. They've never done any sleight of hand like "qualify" before.

They've been running similar Ravens gameday promos since they opened. If today they were raffling off $7 they are in worse shape than I thought!

So it does sound like the "qualify to win" was just dumb language, and this was more likely a case of incompetence.

[redietz]

When I asked the guy about the "qualify to win" part, here's what he said back:

I can't wait to hear what they say. I'm a season ticket holder who has pre and post game tailgated at Horseshoe since they opened. They've never done any sleight of hand like "qualify" before.

They've been running similar Ravens gameday promos since they opened. If today they were raffling off $7 they are in worse shape than I thought!

So it does sound like the "qualify to win" was just dumb language, and this was more likely a case of incompetence.

I'm going to take a Sherlock Holmes stab at this. I read carefully, a side effect of having done a lot of editing and knowing editors.

I think if the poster had actually personally collected on "similar Ravens gameday promos" in the past, then he would have said directly that he had collected on similar promos previously. He would not have written "They've been running." So it sounds to me that he had heard/read of these promos and decided to try one for the first time. And it was a fail.

The other tell is that he's stupidly upset over $21. Now Dan, I understand you are a stickler for minor financial screw-ups, not that there's anything wrong with that, but most people are not. Let me repeat that -- most people are not. So if this guy had collected on "similar Ravens gameday promos" in the past, I doubt he would have gotten his knickers in a twist regarding this one.

My speculative Sherlock Holmes conclusion is that he tried this for the first time. And it didn't work. In addition, I suspect that the "qualify to win" is not an error, but a cover one's ass statement that blankets and can be applied to many aspects of the promo, basically capping the payout in a number of ways. It gives them an out in terms of truncating the payouts after x number of people collect or y amount of dollars is distributed or z amount of time has passed. Their asses are legally covered. Maybe you had to "qualify" by being one of the first 100 people or one of the people collecting the first 5K in the kitty. Not stating that there's a limited kitty doesn't mean there isn't a limited kitty.

[Tasha]

It could have just been an outright gimmick scam like what happened when a Casino was giving out mailers saying stuff like,"Get either $500 in free play, a diamond bracelet, or an automatic upgrade to the next tier if you are a lower tier." A guy went to Player's Club and was a level 2 player and he was like,"I really want to be automatically upgraded to the level 3 tier.." He showed Player's Club the mailer and Player's Club admitted that Lromo never ACTUALLY existed. He was understandably livid. I remember saying something like,"Casinos mailing out FAKE Promotions shoot themselves in the foot. That's a quick way to lose their Players and their MONEY when the tricked Players take their business elsewhere and give bad word of mouth
Bad word of mouth spreads quickly and MOST people will not gamble in a Casino that mails FAKE PROMOTIONS! "
" Posters were like,"Oh my God. Karen Nathan ACTUALLY made a good post, is completely right, and I agree with everything she said! "

[DGenBen]

Typical Caesars fail

Had a similar one once, got some $50 gift voucher for some crystal or something like that. Couldn’t care less about it, but my lady friend at the time saw it & wanted it.

You had to redeem on Sunday & it said Redeem at this casino shop by 7pm. Got there at 6pm & the place was already closed.