When Did Tier-Matching Become All the Rage?

I first learned about “tier-matching,” which has been around for several years, when the new Fontainebleau opened and didn’t offer it. Vegas influencers were all atwitter about this latest stumble from the snootiest fanciest new casino on the Strip. 

Ultimately, Fontainebleau capitulated and honored money gambled at a competing casino to determine the level of perks you deserve. And that somehow opened up something in the time-space continuum that is allowing low-rollers to get high-roller treatment with minimal time and money invested. 

Jacob Orth – aka Jacob's Life in Vegas – explained it all in a video he shared with his followers on multiple social media channels last week.

Quick nutshell: Get MGM Pearl status (the first tier above entry level), use that to get Fontainebleau Silver status, next go to Wynn and get Platinum status, which you can bring back to MGM to achieve level MGM Gold.

Buzzkill: This scheme only works for new signups, not for people like yours truly who have been collecting base-level players cards from all the casinos since forever. 

Bonus: If you are mostly uncarded and can hit MGM Gold status, you can  transfer that casino rizz to Resorts World Monarch status, Circa-D-Golden Gate Maverick status, Mirage-cum-Hard Rock Icon status, and Sahara Iconic status.

Travel Vloggers Play the Casino Tier-Matching Game

Meanwhile, this tier-matching hack isn’t just spreading through the Vegas influencer sphere, it’s reached some travel vloggers, too, who are showing how to use casino tier-matching to get a free trip to the Atlantis casino-resort in the Bahamas and other destinations. 

Their formula is mostly the same. It starts with applying for a Wyndham Rewards credit card to get Wyndham Diamond status, which you can transfer to a Caesars Diamond status, which bring you to MGM Gold, which she mistakenly identifies as MGM Diamond, but regardless, it's where freebies, perks and high-roller amenities flow . 

https://www.instagram.com/reel/C3auJ_TRSUx/?igsh=bzR3YzE3OTdvNTJx

Casino Collusion Conspiracy Theory?

For as good as this hack seems to be, I can’t help but wonder if there isn’t even a little more to it . While it of course makes sense as a way to steal recruit customers, I've never before seen such active promotion behind the concept. Maybe it's just something I missed as a basic rewards-card collector. But not only are online people like Orth and Kelly & CJ providing a roadmap for serious bonus chasers, but also you have competing casinos actively promoting the programs at the same time. 

Here's what MGM has out there on social media:

And at the Wynn, they're paying for social media to push a two-month promotion we're currently in the middle of. This all of course is no proof of anything nefarious -- but it is an indicator that the concept of tier-matching at casinos is something that multiple entities are currently seeing as something worthy of spending money to push to casino customers.