** Updated March 8, 2024 **

One of the most frequent questions I get from people is, "How do I get Seven Stars or Diamond in the cheapest way?"

This isn't an easy question to answer, because it depends where you live. If you are too far away from the best video poker games at Caesars properties, then it won't be cost-effective to travel across the country for a slightly better paytable than your local Caesars casino!

Therefore, I will use this thread to list the BEST video poker games to play in order to earn Diamond or Seven Stars.

Before we begin, here are some IMPORTANT facts which are universal to all Caesars properties:

- You earn Diamond once you reach 15,000 tier credits in a calendar year. You earn Seven Stars once you reach 150,000 tier credits in a calendar year.

- Most Caesars video poker machines earn one tier credit per $10 wagered in video poker. However, many properties have degraded this on the "better" video poker machines! If you see a notice on the machine that you earn tier credits more slowly (for example, one tier credit every $25 wagered), do not play these machines! With only a few exceptions as noted, the ones I will be listing below are all one tier per $10 wagered.

- In order to earn tier credits most efficiently, you must earn the maximum number of bonus tier credits each time you play. This means that you must earn EXACTLY 2500 or 5000 tier credits in a day. This is because 2500 tier credits in a day earns you 5000 bonus credits, and 5000 tier credits in a day earns you 10,000 bonus credits. However, any credits earned beyond that will NOT earn you any further bonus credits! For example, playing 4,999 tier credits will still only earn you 5000 bonus tiers (the same as if you had only played 2500), and 12,000 tier credits would still earn you only 10,000 bonus tiers (the same as if you had only played 5000). Again, plan to play EXACTLY 2500 or EXACTLY 5000 tier credits in a day.

- You can earn "Diamond in a Day" by earning 5000 base tier credits in one day (after the 10,000 bonus tiers). You can earn Diamond in two days by earning 2500 base tier credits each day.

- It is important to understand that the "expected losses" are likely to be MUCH greater if earning Diamond, as you are unlikely to hit a royal, which accounts for about 2% of the machine's return. Also, if you fail to hit a royal while earning Seven Stars, you will REALLY suffer. If you do not hit a royal while earning Diamond, your expected loss will be approximately an additional $1,000 above what's listed. If you do not hit a royal while earning Seven Stars, your expected loss will be approximately an additional $10,000 above what's listed.

- A "Caesars day" typically begins at around 6am and ends at 5:59am. It almost never begins and ends at midnight! This is important to keep in mind. Furthermore, each casino has different hours for when their "day" begins. Some are 3am, some are 4am, some are 5am, and some are 6am. Check with whichever casino you play to find this out, if you plan to play into the wee hours of the night. Keep in mind that the hours of the "Caesars day" are constant in each market. So if one casino in Vegas is 6:00am to 5:59am, so will the rest of the Caesars casinos in Vegas.

- If the next "Caesars day" crosses over while you're playing, you must remove your card, wait 30 seconds, and put it back in, in order for the tier credits to count towards the "new day". So if you inserted your card slightly before 6am, make sure to re-insert it before playing after 6am, if this casino's day starts at 6am.

- You should always play maximum credits, or you will get screwed when you hit a royal flush.

- It is good practice to remove your card and put it back in about once per hour or so. When you do so, make sure that it shows your tier credits properly for that day on the little screen next to where you insert your card. If it's not correct, take out the card and reinsert it. If it's still not correct, go to Caesars Rewards and have them check on it. If you do not do this, it's possible you will get screwed out of the tier credits you earned, and it will be a huge pain in the ass to reinstate them.

- If you played the previous day, it is wise to make sure the screen shows the proper date and the fact that you've earned 0 tiers for the current day. For example, if it's March 20, and if the screen says, "On March 19, you earned 7500 tier credits", then it's still "stuck" on the previous day. You will want to take out your card and put it back in, and look for it to say "On March 20, you earned 0 tier credits" before earning anything toward the current day.

- Once earned, you keep your status until January 31, TWO calendar years later. For example, any status earned in 2020 will last until January 31, 2022. Therefore, it is not wise to earn Diamond or Seven Stars at the end of the year. Wait until the beginning of the next year to do it!

Make sure you fully understand all of the above before attempting to earn Diamond or Seven Stars optimally!

It is also important that you know the proper strategy for each video poker game:

Jacks or Better: http://wizardofodds.com/games/video-...r/9-6/optimal/

Bonus Poker: http://wizardofodds.com/games/video-...nus-poker/8-5/

Double Bonus Poker Strategy: http://wizardofodds.com/games/video-...le-bonus/10-7/

Double Double Bonus Poker Strategy: http://wizardofodds.com/games/video-...ble-bonus/9-6/

Triple Double Bonus Poker Strategy: https://www.realmoneyaction.com/vide...oker-strategy/

Deuces Wild Strategy: http://wizardofodds.com/games/video-...ll-pay/simple/

You are allowed to print these out and bring them to the machine.

You can also just bring these up on your phone. Technically this may not be allowed (because your phone is an "electronic device"), but I doubt anyone will care, since these are not interactive and are equivalent to a printed strategy card.

If you do not play correct strategy, you will waste a lot of money, so make sure you have these either memorized or available to consult!

In the next post, I will list each market where I know the games are good enough to be worth earning Diamond or Seven Stars.

If your market is not listed, I either don't know it well enough, or you simply don't have a good option to earn Diamond or Seven Stars cheaply.

I am also only listing options where one can earn at least 2500 tiers in a day without investing an insane number of hours in a day.

I am assuming that the average video poker player can play about 500 hands per hour. It will take $25,000 of play ("coin-in") to earn 2500 tier credits in a day. So at a $1 machine ($5 per hand when maximum credits is played), this would take 5,000 hands -- or 10 hours for the average person to achieve. For this reason, I am making this the "cutoff", as I don't think it's realistic to expect anyone to play more than 10 hours in a day.

On the flip side, I am not listing the very high limit machines (anything more than $5/credit), because their variance is too high for most players.



Ways to Get Diamond Cheaply Without Gambling

If you want to earn Diamond without playing, there are two ways. First off, you can get a status match with Wyndham, or you can get a status match to your existing players club card at non-Caesars casinos (you will need to show up and ask if your card can be matched). However, as of March 2022, things have changed. You can only status match with Wyndham if you either earned the status there, or got it via a credit card benefit. You can do the Wyndham match every year.

Second, you can attempt to status match from other casinos. You can read about this here, but only new Caesars Rewards cards are eligible, and it only lasts for a year.

Note that as of 2024, the "Founders Card" no longer gets you Caesars Diamond, so I have removed that section from this guide.

Be aware that earning Diamond through a status match will NOT get you any freeplay or extra comps unless you earn them through play. However, you will get all of the basic Diamond benefits, which is the most important thing here.

Feel free to add to or correct my list, which is updated as I get information.