We just got back from our semi-annual Vegas trip, seven nights (three at South Point, two at Four Queens, two at Palace Station). It was a great trip aside from the gambling, all lousy sessions but one (you’ll see which). Our son and daughter-in-law, Aaron and Arielle, were there for a few days, also Linda’s (wife) sister and brother-in-law, Joyce and Ken. Total coin-in was $63.5K, loss after CB was $2055 (3.2%), our costliest trip ever, about 0.8SD below the mean (so I guess it could have been worse, and eventually might be). So, there will still be a lot about the food in this report, not so much about the gambling.
TUESDAY
We had stayed at the airport Marriott the night before, the sandwich I had for dinner was literally forgettable, so I can’t tell you anything about it. Easy Southwest flight through Dallas (Love Field) and caught the South Point shuttle to the hotel. This was our third trip to SP, I really like it there, lots of good games, generous players club and hosts, good food. There was a rodeo event in the equestrian center, so lots of Stetsons to be seen. Mostly played either dollar single-line or quarter 3-play 9/6 JoB, and I did lousy from the start; also had a particularly frustrating STP-BP session. Dinner was nice, though, at Zenshin. This was our first time there, fairly creative pan-Asian menu, the sushi was good overall, not world-class (fair nigirizushi but the shari was a bit too sweet; had an 8 second bull ride roll, that was plenty tasty [crab, asparagus, avocado, topped with seared wagyu beef, sesame miso and truffle essence]). Also had some very good fried eggplant and some squid; Linda had a chicken katsu bowl that was far above average. Dessert was their specialty malasada thing in a white chocolate dome, long story. Had a few breakeven sessions after dinner, then bedtime.
WEDNESDAY
Stayed about even in the morning (got a SF on the 3-play JoB machine and had a decent Good Times Pay NSUD session), then lunch at Big Sur Oyster Bar, which is okay, not great. Had some very good clam chowder and decent fish tacos (made with halibut!). Mediocre afternoon. Dinner was at Don Vito’s, which was fairly good, not great. Had some okay baked clams (free with an ACG online coupon!), fair veal piccata (Linda’s veal parmigiana was better). Long, pointless dollar JoB session after dinner, ultimately lost.
THURSDAY
Fair start on the 3-play JoB machine with a few quads, but things deteriorated quickly. Grabbed the breakfast buffet, which was very good and extensive, then an okay DDW session with three wild royals (no, no quad deuces), some lousy sessions (3-play Illinois deuces, NSUD-GTP again, Ult X Illinois deuces). Nice dinner, though, at Silverado Steakhouse, had the obligatory (and always excellent) French onion soup , a really excellent ribeye and some creamed corn with whiskey and bacon (didn’t work as well as I’d hoped). Another breakeven 3-play JoB session after dinner, then bedtime.
FRIDAY
Moving day, to the Four Queens. It was kind of a mess there, they were finishing installation of new carpeting and about half of the machines were out of service (including all of the 10/7 DB). Still, it was surprisingly dead and we had no trouble getting on the JoB machines. Unfortunately, the highest denomination now is 50c; the dollar JoB is either downgraded to 8/5 or only qualifies for half points. So, it’s been kind of a tedious grind there. Tedious and lousy in my case. I had a 99c shrimp cocktail at Lanai Express to hold me over until dinner (doesn’t hold a candle to the old GG 99c shrimp cocktail, of course).
We caught up with Joyce and Ken today, they were staying at the Golden Nugget as always. Linda met Joyce at one of the bars and played some crappy VP, I think it was 7/5 JoB, and Joyce was playing a deuces game that paid about 93%. Bastards. They have an automated system at the bars for comping drinks, like on the Strip; with theirs, a light turns on after you play a certain amount, but also at a specified minimum speed, and the light turns off if you slow down or if you stop playing for a few minutes to talk or something. The bartender was particularly rude to Linda and Joyce about it as well. Not my style. Anyway, we all went to Top of Binions for dinner, had a boatload of food comps as always. Nice meal, great service; I had some bone marrow for a starter (okay but overgarnished), prime rib and some surprisingly good macaroni and cheese. Another lousy night of VP afterward, aside from hitting a double-inside SF.
SATURDAY
Aaron and Arielle had arrived late Friday evening and we caught up in the morning, it was great to see them. We played together for a few hours and the six of us went to American Coney for lunch, always reliable. Didn’t tell Joyce what the hot dog chili was made of until after lunch. I did especially badly in the afternoon, took more markers than you can shake a stick at. I guess the high point was when someone’s miniature pinscher took a dump dead center in the track of the automatic door over by the hotel lobby, and all of the attendant consequences. Aaron did well, though, hit two sets of quad deuces on the Illinois deuces progressive bartops; that was a trip-changer for him. Gambling for me was lousy after dinner as well, but what a dinner it was, Aaron and I went to Kame Omakase for their signature omakase menu.
Kame Omakase is a fairly unassuming place in an office building on Spring Mountain RD, they used to have a standard restaurant menu as well but now are only doing the omakase. This was my second time there, Aaron’s first; when I went a few years ago it was probably the best meal of my life, and it was equally good this time, significantly more expensive but also significantly more luxurious and extensive in scope. The chefs are very creative, but still always within a solid classical Japanese framework; no “fusion” here. Quality and attention to deal are superlative, and the constant interaction with the chef, his attention and enthusiasm about his food, added immeasurably to the experience. So, we had: chawanmushi with Hokkaido uni, trout roe and shiitake; a sashimi course (lobster with otoro, uni and caviar; king salmon; kama-toro; akami; kampachi; madai; octopus; kurage jellyfish); an appetizer set (oyster with ponzu and caviar; suzuki misoyaki; goma tofu; baigai clam; lobster tempura); scallop with truffle ponzu, otoro, uni and caviar; a “jewelry box” (caviar tin with otoro, uni, trout roe, scallop and caviar); turban shell sazae (turban shell and nameko mushrooms in dashi, served in the shell); a variety of sushi (akamutsu; kinmedai; hirame; mirugai; chutoro; otoro with uni and caviar; uni; otoro and caviar temaki); king salmon and tofu tobanyaki with shiromiso; A5 wagyu ribeye (briefly cooked sous vide and finished with a torch) with foie gras and truffles; uni risotto with hairy crab and truffles; crown melon; yuzu and hojicha ice creams; matcha mocha; hojicha. This was truly a life-changing meal, the memory of which will always be with me.
SUNDAY
We moved to Palace Station today after paying off plenty of markers. Mostly played dollar JoB or 3-play BP there; Linda mostly played the 8/5 BP progressive at the bar and did reasonably well (some quads including one premium, a SF) but sans royal. I had a quick lunch across the street at Soho Sushi Burrito, a fairly tasty Tropical Sunset burrito with salmon and mango (a pretty far cry from Kame Omakase, of course). Lousy afternoon but another good dinner, the six of us went to Bardot Brasserie at Aria. Gorgeous room, classic brasserie menu done well. I had some good salmon rillettes, onion soup, a lamb trio (loin chop, neck, merguez sausage), a pork belly “cassoulet” that wasn’t quite it; Aaron and Arielle shared a duck, which was very good. Back to PS, had a major roller coaster session on 3-play BP, managed to dig out and cash out even.
MONDAY
Had my first really decent session of the trip over coffee, on the quarter BP progressives at the bar; got quad 8s and then quad 3s soon afterward, turned $20 into $100 plus coffee. Aaron and Arielle checked out at 4Q and came up to play for a while before their 5:30pm flight home. This was our last day and I started coming back a bit, had a few modest wins, also a fairly long but ultimately losing multistrike BP session. The kids and I walked over to Mi Ranchito for lunch, it was about 1/3 mile west on Sahara. I hadn’t been there before, it’s mostly a seafood-oriented Mexican restaurant and it was a really pleasant surprise, everything was outstanding (had some excellent ceviche and mojarra con mojo de ajo, also a fantastic taco de carnitas), very friendly folks. This will be a regular stop for me. The afternoon was a struggle again, some breakeven sessions, some losers. Finally sent the kids off to the airport and Linda and I had dinner at Tailgate Social. Nothing memorable, I had a greasy but adequate hamburger and some greasier but frozen onion rings. Had a few more up and down sessions after dinner, got a little bit ahead and decided to play one more 3-play BP session before bed, stayed about even and got dealt four to the royal, picked up the fifth on one line and in less than a second the gambling part of the trip went from horrible to lousy. I evened up the meter and cashed out $1000 ahead for the session; didn’t even remember to take a photo, but I got a photo of the voucher anyway.
TUESDAY
Last day, I had an early breakfast at the Oyster Bar (there’s never a line in the early morning), had the Palace pan roast (shrimp, crabmeat, chicken, andouille), really tasty and got me through the day nicely. Relatively uneventful flight home, we had a very tight connection in Chicago (Midway), got out of Vegas late but made it, so that was our second big win of the trip.
As always, it was a really memorable trip, great to catch up with family and to continue to watch Aaron and Arielle’s Vegas skills evolve. I do like the other tail of the bell curve, though. Next trip in February, hoping for the best. Thanks for reading!
