Ellis Island Rolls Out New Loyalty Club Tiers

Beloved off-Strip casino Ellis Island has introduced a new tier system for its Passport Players Club.

Tiers are common in most casino loyalty clubs, but Ellis Island isn’t common. For example, you can get a cocktail there without having to surrender your first born child.

Let’s dive headlong into the new tier perks at Ellis Island, shan’t we?

The characters aren’t the only colorful things at Ellis Island.

The new Ellis Island tiers are: Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum and Inner Circle. (For the record, they’ve always had tier designations internally, as all casinos do for marketing purposes, but players didn’t know their tiers or how to achieve them.)

We are unable to proceed without mentioning “Inner Circle” isn’t a metal like bronze, silver, gold and platinum. Our OCD is triggered, but because we love Ellis Island so much, we give them a lot of leeway. Specifically, we still love the place despite the fact they have karaoke. Moving on.

Players can earn one “tier credit” for every dollar of “coin in.” (Remember: “Coin in” isn’t how much money you put into the machine, it’s how much you play overall, the aggregate value of your wagers. So, you could start with $20, win, then play for hours on the machine. You only put in $20, but your “coin in” could be hundreds or thousands.)

Earning tier credits on table games is a little more complicated, as they’re based upon the game type, average bet and time played.

“Points” are different from tier credits, of course, and $1 coin in gets you one point.

As is common, tiers and tier credits are tracked during the earning period of Jan. 1 through Dec. 31 of a given year.

Ellis Island is a couple of blocks, and a world away, from The Strip.

Since we know you’ll ask, Ellis Island doesn’t tier match. (To attract new players who frequent other establishments, some casinos “match” loyalty club tiers without making guests jump through hoops to achieve the tier status.)

So, why do tiers matter? Perks.

As mentioned, there were always perks connected to a player’s tier, but now casino guests know exactly what they need to do to achieve a given tier status and what they’ll get for their loyalty.

This chart shows both the tier credits needed to achieve each tier, and also the perks associated with each tier.

It’s good to have goals.

Here’s what the Ellis Island tiers really mean:

googie Bronze = You showed up
googie Silver = You gambled a little, but mostly you visited for the BBQ
googie Gold = You’re on the radar, free pizza slices and $10 in free play are in your future
googie Platinum = You’re a small fish on The Strip, but a baller at Ellis Island
googie Inner Circle = Almost nobody gambles this much at Ellis Island

Kidding aside, the players club perks at Ellis Island aren’t bad, and they haven’t really had any higher end perks they can offer until, well, soon, which we can’t talk about because we don’t want the Ellis family to sic security on us. Trust us, your interest will be piqued. Until then, try the focaccia sandwich place.

Let’s just say those dining credits will become additionally valuable as Ellis Island continues to evolve.

Ellis Island recently closed its on-site brewery to free up space at the small (sorry, “intimate”) casino.

One of the things we love about Ellis Island is you can play relatively little and feel like a VIP.

Achieving those higher Ellis Island tiers gets interesting because they’ll hold your machine, give you access to a casino host (we only know of one, he’s awesome) and you even get VIP parking.

The VIP parking at Ellis Island is roughly the same distance from the entrance as all the other parking at Ellis Island, but the little signs give one a sense of importance, so there’s that.

The highlight of the tier perks chart, of course, is the “Karaoke Skip the Line Pass.” Which, to us, sounds like more of a punishment than a perk, but to each their own. We kid because we love, a lot of people really, really get into the karaoke at Ellis Island, despite our best efforts.

The best part of any players club is being able to redeem points for cash or slot play. It’s like a rebate for some of our losses. Although, at Ellis Island, everybody wins. Guaranteed. They can’t say it, but we can.

Everybody wins at Ellis Island because of the experience. It’s packed with colorful characters, friendly cocktail servers and dealers, and perhaps most importantly, great and increasingly rare values.

The table minimums at Ellis Island are much lower than The Strip (the chances of finding a $5 craps table on The Strip are about the same as Criss Angel developing a personality) and the machines are looser.

The aforementioned barbecue is some of the best in Las Vegas and the Front Yard serves up great drinks, video poker and, again, great food at a fair price.

There are more changes in store at Ellis Island, and you know we’ll be all up in their business as they’re revealed in the coming months.