Downtown Grand no longer awarding points for Video Poker. UPDATE 9/2: $10/point

Important update that hasn't been reflected on DTG's website:

Tier point calculation has changed, and appears to be targeted against video poker players. It used to be $20 coin-in per tier point. I played today and it was $200 coin-in per tier point. This will have significant impact for those of you who are trying to take advantage of the kiosk promos of the day, as many (if not all) of those are based on same-day tier points.

Reward point accumulation (that you can convert into free play or use at the restuarants) appears to be unchanged.

 

It was never $20 coin-in on vp. It was $2 coin-in=1 tp. Then no points for vp. Now it is $2 coin-in=1 tp on under 100% payback games and $10 coin-in=1 tp on over 100% payback vp.

Slots continue to be $1 coin-in=1 tp.

https://www.downtowngrand.com/offer/welcome-to-grand-rewards/

 

What you've mentioned refers to reward points, which can be redeemed at the rate of 250 points = $1. Tier points, which determine your status, have been calculated differently since at least the time DTG restored points on vp. (I was signed up for Grand Rewards during the time when vp earned no points, so I can't say much about how things were before then.)

When I played 10/7 Double Bonus in September and October, I was doing either $15k or $30k coin-in every visit. $15k coin-in got me 1500 reward points and 750 tier points. $30k coin-in got me 3000 reward points and 1500 tier points. Reward points were verified both on gaming machines and at the kiosk, while the tier points were verified at the kiosk. That equated to $10 per reward point and $20 per tier point at the time.

November rolled around, and on my first visit I did $15k coin-in, bringing in 1500 reward points -- still $10 per reward point. I went to the kiosk to activate promos only to find out that I wasn't eligible because I had only earned 75 tier points that day when I needed 100. That's $200 per tier point. To double check, I went back there a few days ago and ran $200 coin-in through 10/7 DB. I got 20 reward points and 1 tier point for that action.

 

Doh. But what's the benefits of higher tiers there?

The value of bounce back comps is more important...

 

If you're visiting Vegas and you've got the top-tier black card, you might find some of those benefits to be useful... pick-up from the airport, comped suite upgrade, etc. As far as bounceback is concerned, mine wasn't particularly great, about 0.2%. The daily promos I was going after were worth more, before they jacked up the coin-in per tier point.

 

Vpfree2 reported they removed all the high payback video poker except for a handful DDB, DB, and Bonus with good paytables remaining.