Which casino is that?

I'm thinking of staying at Aria, we'll play in the pits a bit but not a ton and not high stakes.

Yeesh, stop talking. SOME can get it at SOME hotels, YMMV. Don't make it sound like anyone can just call up casino marketing and ask for the casino rate and voila, it's theirs. Casinos tend to have very specific requirements for casino rate these days.

Here's the way it would work for you at Aria. Assuming you already have an MLife card, go to their website and see what the rates would be (should be a hair cheaper than the rack rate even if you haven't gambled much or at all). Feel free to call them and ask if it can get any lower, but chances are it won't get lower than the discount they're already offering you online. They won't give you casino rate or comps if you don't already have a qualifying level of playing history with them.

Now if you gamble enough while you're there, you can go ask for an adjustment before checking out, but chances are if you're not playing much they won't do much (if anything) for you.

I do it every trip. I'm not a highroller at all. I don't even like casino games or slots. I just play poker and go out at night. I know what Im talking about. I done this countless times. Anyways don't hate on this, it doesn't hurt to try. The casino wants people to come and stay so you will probably play in their casino. So many empty rooms in Vegas they are happy to get business and will give you a discount if you know how to go about doing so.

Which hotels do you do this at, and are you sure you know what "casino rate" means? I'm not hating on you and not saying that it's impossible to get that rate by calling them, just saying that it's highly unlikely, at least at a top-tier place.

is this just for a standard room or suites as well at aria

For the poker rate? Regular rooms.

I was initially given a so-so offer through the mlife website of $79 week days and $149 weekend days. This includes two free buffets, FWIW. To be fair the offer was better than rack rate and I actually did nothing but play about 10 hours of poker and maybe put 50 bucks in the slots at the Aria back in December. I had originally booked my stay for 2 nights: Sun Feb 26-Tue Feb 28. However, since I wound up getting this Friday off I figured I'd drive out early. I called today to try to extend the reservation forward to Feb 24th. The lady asked me what promotion I initially received, and I told her I didn't remember. She then said that she could give me a rate of 99 for Friday and Saturday... I was ecstatic. That's a pretty sweet rate for the Aria on a weekend. Current rack rate being offered on the Aria reservations website is 179...

Moral of the story: I would give marketing a call if you've ever gambled there AT ALL, let them know your intentions, and see what they respond with. I have never stayed there before, I only gambled the absolute minimum, but still got a great offer.

Sorry if this question has been answered already in another thread but: can you get the poker room rate during big holiday weekends like the upcoming Cinco De Mayo? Looking at the Aria specifically for this.