Players who earn enough tier credits will receive a higher players card tier. This tends to come with some set of perks based on the structure of the players card program. But does it have any impact on the gambling itself?
Does it matter if you play on premium cards?
John K.
As we’ve shared on the site in the past, playing with a casino players card doesn’t impact a slot machine’s payouts. So by extension, playing with a premium players card doesn’t impact payouts either. This is because casinos have one payback setting per denomination they can configure a slot machine, and that’s it – it’s not dynamic in any way based on who’s playing or whether or not they’re using a card.
What might be impacted is the rate at which you earn tier credits or comp dollars. Some players club programs have multipliers that kick in when you’re playing at a higher level. For instance, MGM Rewards awards slot dollars at a faster rate when you are on higher tiers.
So when you insert a players card for a player that’s at a higher tier, the players card system will recognize that, and your earning rate will be calculated accordingly. (It might also acknowledge your tier in other ways, such as showing your players card tier color in the background, but that’s just window dressing and has nothing to do with payouts).
A players card won’t impact your payback for a given gambling session, but it will impact the future offers you get from a casino – using a card lets the casino record how much you play, and based on that extend casino offers that are designed to encourage you to return and play some more.
Those offers can constitute 20-40% of what they expect you to spend on another visit, so it can be substantial, but you only will receive them if you play with a card. This is why we advise players to (almost) always use a players card.
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