Every gambler has heard of the Bellagio, Caesars Palace, MGM Grand, etc. They’re the most famous casinos in Las Vegas. What you may not know is that they also offer some of the best bonuses. Granted, they aren’t the same kinds of bonuses you would find at online casinos, but they still have plenty of appeal. The VIP treatment at Las Vegas casinos includes much more than free drinks. These casinos offer bonuses in the form of discounts and complimentary rooms, events, show and attractions.

Take the Bellagio, for example. Owned under the same umbrella as the MGM Mirage, the Bellagio uses the same player’s club card, which can be used at 12 casinos in Las Vegas.. Members earn rewards based on their play on slots and table games. The bonuses include cash, complimentary rooms, show tickets and invitations to special events. Club Privé at Bellagio is great for high-limit rollers. The lounge offers seclusion and amenities with a worldwide selection of drinks.

Caesars Palace uses Harrah’s Total Rewards program. This includes four different player reward cards based on credits. You earn credits by playing your favorite games. Benefits include comps and cash for play, discounts on gift shops, merchandise, free tournaments, access to exclusive lounges, discounted green fees at the hotel golf courses, and invitations to private events and tournaments. The credits can also be used on third-party affiliates like Norwegian Cruise Lines.

The Luxor Hotel and Casino offers three levels of player reward cards: the Elite, the VIP and the MVP. Benefits include priority valet, VIP lounge check-in, 15% off hotel services, etc. New members get $10 in free play, a buffet dinner and two show tickets. The high-limit gaming area includes blackjack, roulette and mini baccarat. It also include a private cocktail station and lounge.

The Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino also has a nice high-limit area. It offers blackjack and baccarat in the most secluded and amenity-bound part of the resort. Like the Bellagio, you can use the MGM Mirage player’s club card here for rewards like free shows, dining, golf, rooms, special events and more. Earn the VIP treatment like complimentary rooms just by betting an average of $25 per hand for four hours per day.

The last premier casino in Las Vegas with the best player bonuses is the MGM Grand. The perks and comps are the same as mentioned above with the MGM Mirage player’s club card. The 12 casinos that use this card are the Bellagio, the Mirage, Treasure Island, New York-New York, Mandalay Bay, Luxor, Excalibur, Monte Carlo, MGM Grand Detroit, Gold Strike Tunica and Beau Rivage.

At the online casino Canada, customers will find all sorts of games to fit their needs and their interests. Whether you love playing blackjack, poker or roulette, these games are all available at the online casino Canada sites. Ask friends where they play and enjoy getting in the game!

Let It Ride is yet another poker variation. It is similar to Five Card Draw Poker except you play against the dealer and the wagering is different. Let It Ride is another popular poker game played against the house.

Community poker games like Texas Hold’em pit players against other players. Other poker games like Pai Gow and Let It Ride are played only against the house, not other players. No matter how you view it, you are better off against one opponent than five opponents. That goes for any game, gambling related or not.

The rules of Let It Ride Poker are simple. There are five cards dealt face down involved, two from the dealer and three for each player. Each player has a place with three spots on the table. They are labeled 1, 2 and $. If players don’t like their three-card hand, they can remove two of those three bets. If they like their hand, they keep playing, also know as letting their bets ride.

Basically, you look at your own three cards first. Then, you can decide whether to withdraw bet 1 or let it ride. In either case, the dealer turns over their first card, which is the fourth card in your hand. Next, you withdraw bet 2 or let it ride and the dealer turns over their second and final card. Once both the dealer’s cards are face up, all players must turn over their cards and the value of the hands are calculated. The player with the highest value is deemed the winner. Standard poker hand rankings apply.

That’s it when it comes to Let It Ride Poker. It’s a nice variation of the game if you are getting tired of the old Five Card Draw.

Millionaire Casino is powered by Vegas Technology and has quickly become a recognizable player in the online gambling industry since launching in 2001. The online casino accepts players from all over the world and operates under English Harbour Casinos, which includes Go Casino among others.

Bonuses and Promotions

Millionaire Casino has a free $5,000 welcome bonus over the first three deposits. Unlike most casinos, there is a 100% match on the first three deposits. The first and third deposits allow for a maximum of $2,000. The second is a $1,000 maximum. All have a 20x bonus wagering requirement.

There are also some weekly bonuses on your first deposit. The amount varies for that day. They include a 75% bonus every Tuesday, 50% every Thursday and 100% every Saturday. Also, earn a 100% deposit bonus when you use a pre-paid gift card. Millionaire Casino has plenty of other daily promotions available. All the details are on the promotions calendar on the online casino.

One more nice benefit for joining Millionaire Casino is the VIP Plan. Earn points for every $100 wagered to climb up the six different VIP levels. There are plenty of rewards associated with the VIP Plan such as cash, merchandise and trips. The current features of the VIP Plan include Happy Hour rewards, monthly sweepstakes and a game of the month where you can earn double points for playing. The game of the month in January is the Winter Wonderland slot.

Games and Tournaments

Millionaire Casino has a huge selection of games that include traditional and graphic-rich video slots, blackjack, roulette, craps, video poker and more. Their featured slot tournament of the month is Frozen Assets, which is played on the Beat the Bank. It has a $250,000 grand prize and other prizes.

There are also plenty of other daily, weekly and monthly tournaments that English Harbour has come to be known for like The Slottery (slots), Weekender (slots) and The Wheel Deal (American Roulette). Buy-ins range from $2.50 to $10 and pots can get up to $25,000. You can’t find that kind of pot for that kind of price at a land-based casino.

Players Rewards Program

Millionaire Casino has a player rewards club known as The M Club. The six levels of clubs are achieved by earning rewards points through the VIP Plan. The levels are broken down below with their daily bonuses.

Amber

10% bonus on all deposits

Tuesday – 75% bonus worth up to $100 on first deposit

Thursday – 50% bonus worth up to $100 on first deposit

Saturday – 100% bonus worth up to $100 on first deposit

Bronze – reached at 10,000 rewards points

15% bonus on all deposits

Tuesday – 75% bonus worth up to $100 on first deposit

Thursday – 50% bonus worth up to $100 on first deposit

Saturday – 100% bonus worth up to $100 on first deposit

Silver – reached at 25,000 rewards points

20% bonus on all deposits

Tuesday – 75% bonus worth up to $250 on first deposit

Thursday – 50% bonus worth up to $250 on first deposit

Saturday – 100% bonus worth up to $250 on first deposit

Gold – reached at 100,000 rewards points

25% bonus on all deposits

Tuesday – 75% bonus worth up to $250 on first deposit

Thursday – 50% bonus worth up to $250 on first deposit

Saturday – 100% bonus worth up to $250 on first deposit

Platinum – reached at 500,000 rewards points

30% bonus on all deposits

Tuesday – 75% bonus worth up to $500 on first deposit

Thursday – 50% bonus worth up to $500 on first deposit

Saturday – 100% bonus worth up to $500 on first deposit

Diamond – reached at 1,000,000 rewards points

35% bonus on all deposits

Tuesday – 75% bonus worth up to $500 on first deposit

Thursday – 50% bonus worth up to $500 on first deposit

Saturday – 100% bonus worth up to $500 on first deposit

Nightlife promoter and bar owner Dave Meinert provides no hard numbers to back up his claim that the state could raise an easy $1.5 billion a year by massively expanding both legalized gambling and alcohol sales in Washington state, yet in attempting to refute my opposition to his proposal, he routinely dismisses me as an “old school thinker” who “doesn’t get it,” and who throws “shit at the wall,” while basically “guessing” about the economics of gaming. So in case he tries to similarly dis me today on KUOW, I thought it best to post a few links to some of my source material:

Lancet: Alcohol “most dangerous drug”

National Gambling Impact Study

WA Lottery: GAMBLING AND PROBLEM GAMBLING IN WASHINGTON STATE: A REPLICATION STUDY, 1992 TO 1998

Evergreen Council on Problem Gambling

Bill Virgin, Seattle P-I: Gambling craze not a good bet for states

These are all sources, by the way, that I’ve cited throughout my six years extensively covering this subject here on HA, as well as my behind the scenes activism on behalf of the welfare of problem and pathological gamblers. So if Meinert wants to dismiss me as not knowing what I’m talking about, he does so at his risk.

UPDATE:
For those who listened to the show, I a couple of points I didn’t have time to make.

Meinert talked about allowing a limited number of card rooms in Seattle, but that’s not how state law works. State law gives cities the power to either allow or disallow card rooms, but not the power to limit the number, or limit where they may locate beyond normal zoning powers. Once we allow card rooms, we lose all control. It’s an all or nothing, and Seattle has chosen nothing.

I also find it amazing that Meinert would brush off the difference between a problem gambling incidence rate of one percent and five percent as mere statistics. Five percent isfive times one percent. Furthermore, while problem gamblers may make up a relatively small part of the general public, they make up a huge proportion of the casinos profits, with some studies showing up to 50 percent of the revenue from slot machines coming from problem gamblers (the 1998 WA study cited above found 40 percent).

Finally, Meinert likes to talk about “starting the conversation,” but we’ve had this conversation again and again, and he’s consistently come out on the losing side, most recently with the liquor privatization initiatives, and a few years back with Tim Eyman’s odious slot machine initiative. Washington voters simply don’t want this, and it is disingenuous to attempt to exploit our current budget crisis as an opportunity for a windfall for bar owners like Meinert.

UPDATE, UPDATE:
One further point for the moment. Meinert talks about card rooms and casinos as economic engines, but this simply isn’t true. They don’t manufacture money. Rather, they pull discretionary spending from other discretionary activities, or in the case of pathological gamblers, non-discretionary spending.

His proposals won’t turn Seattle into Las Vegas. Tourists won’t flock here to come to our casinos, nor will Washingtonians cancel their trips to Vegas. Rather, casinos and card rooms and slot machines in bars will mostly compete for local business between themselves, and with other local entertainment venues. It’s a zero sum game, particularly slot machines in bars, which studies show to be the worst form of gambling if your goal is economic development.