At ZorkFest 2025, points and miles enthusiasts will find new, practical ways to earn, save, and travel cheaply by combining casino loyalty, travel loyalty, and credit card strategies. Learn about status matching/earning and low-risk, low-edge gambling. ZorkFest 2025 isn’t only about gambling, but will help you add smart gambling and casino loyalty programs as a tool to your points and miles kit.
Why gambling?
Personally, I gamble in games like Video Poker and Blackjack – low house-edge games – when I have an advantage – and that advantage comes through status earning, promotions, creative spending (funding gambling directly or indirectly with credit or gift/prepaid cards). Some days, I will win and some days I will lose, but the fluctuations are minor and, because America Loves Math, the math works out in the long-run. Even in the short-run, it’s important to be properly bankrolled and gamble with money you can afford to lose, but the focus is on the long run.
Adding intelligent, disciplined, strategic gambling as a tool – not as something simply ‘looking to get lucky’ or ‘straight up gambling,’ as some may say – allows an expanded world of travel loyalty with comp cruises, rooms, flights, and much more that ‘traditional miles and points’ may get, but now can get more of through different means. Adding casino loyalty expands what points and miles can do: comp cruises, waived resort fees, better room types, and airfare credits—often faster than points alone.
New to gambling?
If you’re new to gambling, you’ll learn a great deal at Zorkfest including pre-sessions about casino loyalty explaining comps, statuses, and how casino loyalty programs work like hotel and airline programs with statuses and benefits.
You’ll hear from veteran Anthony Curtis of Las Vegas Advisor who has been winning with casino loyalty programs and gambling for decades. You’ll hear from more gambling-focused content creators including John and Kristina Mehaffey & Josh Duffy.
Points and miles enthusiasts will present: Gary Leff, Ed Pizzarello, Carissa Rawson, Dave Grossman, Joseph Petrovic, and Angie Sparks. I’ll also be presenting about the intersection of miles and points & gambling with a focus on MGM Rewards, cruises, and online Blackjack.
Zorkfest 2025 will also offer Master Classes (not Masterclasses, but similar) and labs focused on Video Poker, casino comp maximization, and creative spending to earn more miles and points. I’m happy to help with these, giving insights on my theory and practice. The labs are sponsored by Roame.
Per the ZorkFest website:
Step into our new “Labs” — small, topic-focused roundtables designed for direct interaction with experts. Instead of formal presentations, Labs are informal, high-energy mini-sessions where you can move from table to table, ask questions, and dive deep into the topics that matter most to you.
Engage. Learn. One conversation at a time.
LABS: Miles&Points Labs (Sponsored by Roame) – two sessions of labs, see the schedule
-Miles&Points Labs Sponsored by Roame (Searching and Finding Award Seats)
-Europe & Safari
-Asia Travel Family & Solo
-Disney & Family (Dia)
-Rove creative earn & redemptions
-All about CCs – What can they do for me & how can they help me travel for “free?”
-“Free” Cruises (Justin)
-100+ Countries
New venue
This year, ZorkFest will be held at a new location, M Resort, which promises brand new hotel rooms in the East Tower scheduled to open December 1st. Event host Michael Trager promises social gambling opportunities including reserved tables and games with good return to player rules and low betting minimums (compared to unfavorable rules and higher betting minimums often found at Strip properties). High-quality food is included with an opening reception and at multiple times throughout the event, even during Master Classes.
Buy your ticket for ZorkFest 2025 and level up your points and miles game by adding casino loyalty.