Well, another semi-annual trip is over. This was our usual one-week trip; players included Linda (wife) and myself, Linda's sister and brother-in-law, Joyce and Ken, and our friends Glen and Jennifer. Three nights at MSS and two at Four Queens (our usual stops), and our first trip to South Point. Given the devastation of the BConnected program, this may have been our last MSS trip, we'll see. Anyway, we played heavier than usual, coin-in was $73.8K, and it was a non-winner, with a total loss after CB of about $1740 (2.4%).
TUESDAY
Early Southwest flight and Uber downtown, we were at MSS by around 9:30am. Started on the dollar 9/6 JoB bartops, got beaten up (foreshadowing here) but then got two quads. Quick lunch at Market Street, had some good minestrone and forgettable kalua pig and cabbage (bet it would have been better at Aloha Specialties). Had a mostly lousy afternoon on the JoB, on NSUD and on multi-play 8/5 BP; only (natural) quad was on the deuces, that always pisses me off. Linda did pretty well, though, got a SF.
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Hit the buffet with Joyce and Ken for dinner (prime rib and scampi night, prime rib was pretty good, scampi was crappy, just some small shrimp swimming in a watery sauce), then bedtime.
WEDNESDAY
Good start, turned $100 into $302 over coffee; it was Senior Day, got a 5x multiplier and Linda got 9x, that helped. Played the usual JoB and multi-line BP, also some STP Illinois Deuces, got killed on that (lots of good multipliers on losing hands, sigh...). Only good hand was dealt quads on the three-play.
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Glen and Jennifer arrived mid-morning, we played for a while and went over to Aloha Specialties for lunch. I love this place, might be my favorite Vegas restaurant. Had saimin with wontons, really nice.
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Did a little better in the afternoon, had some luck on NSUD. Dinner was at Craftsteak, probably my favorite steakhouse in Vegas (although I'm becoming a Bazaar Meat fan), had an arugula salad (Linda had a Caesar salad, the better choice) and splurged on a piece of Japanese A5 rib cap. Boy, was that rich and flavorful. Linda had her usual domestic wagyu skirt steak, always excellent. Sides included grits with prosciutto and gruyere, and some roasted heirloom cauliflower, and we had some nice chocolate malt ice cream for dessert.
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THURSDAY
Bad start, usual $100 cup of coffee; I did manage to turn $35 FP (kiosk game) into $65 on DB, anyway. Linda had won two buffets yesterday (Senior Day promotion) so we had a quick breakfast buffet; I like the MSS breakfast buffet, pretty solid with some good options. Back to the machines, not a good day, took more markers than I care to remember. I did get a rare $5 scratch-n-sniff card, though, that was nice. Later that afternoon, some old friends (Ray and Rhonda) who were in town at Cosmo dropped by, it was good to catch up with them. Rhonda played some short-pay DB at the bar, hit quad aces and then quad 4s in about 10 minutes for a quick $1200, that was a thrill. Had a quick dinner at Market Street (Island short ribs, a good choice), some coconut macadamia ice cream at Lappert's, and that was that.
FRIDAY
Moving day, to Four Queens, had a nice renovated room in the south tower, but still facing north, so the evenings were loud. Fair start, then Linda went over to GN for breakfast with Joyce and Ken, and I tried the new ramen shop over by the El Cortez, Shinya Maru. A little pricey and the portions were a bit small but everything was excellent and I'll definitely go back. Had some chicken kara-age and miso ramen, both memorable.
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Back to work; Linda and I both did well overall; she had a real roller coaster, turned her $200 FP into $175, then started going south and threw in some more cash, ultimately hit a school of quads and cashed out $600. I was up and down but did okay (between dollar JoB and quarter DB), also hit a royal on 100-play ($40, oh boy!). Dinner was at Hugo's Cellar (only way to use all those Four Queens comps, they accumulate quickly) for the six of us. I love Hugo's, great ambience and old-school menu; everything is perfect except for the chef, they'd do so well with a better one. Service was a bit off this time (waiter seemed impatient) but that was an anomaly. Anyway, had some fair lobster bisque and pretty good prime rib; Linda had rack of lamb, which was overdone but good. A little more play after dinner, then bedtime.
SATURDAY
Up and down all day today. Turned my FP into $125 on the dollar 10/7 DB machine, mostly played JoB with some quarter DB mixed in. Played a few more dollar DB sessions and got killed; I didn't get one quad on DB this trip, either for quarters or for dollars, pisses me off. Lunch was a quick weenie at American Coney. Cool thing there is that mural of the old days in Detroit, Adolph Hitler is eating lunch there.
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Went down to the El Cortez after lunch, played some Downtown Deuces; love that game, my first quad deuces ever was on a DTD machine at the Las Vegas Club. Anyway, no quad deuces this time, and no nothing, really. Also took a walk down to the Western, the marquee still says that it's available for events, but it's completely empty now, no furniture or anything inside. Anyway, back to Four Queens, a little more play, then a quick dinner at Magnolia's with Joyce and Ken (had some good lentil soup and a very nice raspberry salad).
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SUNDAY
Moving day again, our first stay at South Point. Quick Uber, and our room was available. Great room, really spacious and very nice. I really like this place. The equestrian center is cool, kind of smells like the Gold Spike used to smell, and they have that statue of Benny Binion, haven't seen that since they moved it from Casino Center and Ogden years ago.
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Glen and Jen had moved here on Saturday so we caught up with them, had lunch at the Del Mar Deli, had a good Reuben sandwich (might have considered it great if I weren't from New York).
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Linda had a ham and cheese sandwich, also an inexplicably expensive ($6.95) bowl of tomato basil soup. The explanation became apparent when the soup arrived, it was 32 ounces. Good soup, plenty for four. Anyway. Lots of good VP options at SP, plenty of JoB, most of the deuces games are NSUD, also good pay tables for multistrike, for STP and for Ult-X. I did fairly well all day but got killed every time on MS-JoB, the general pattern was to get up $100 on JoB (dollar, or quarter triple-play) and then lose the $100 in about 5 minutes on MS. It's still a fun game, but more fun when you're hitting. They also had a 16x MS game, didn't try that. I did have a good STP-BP session, with a bunch of quads and FHs and a few fruitful multipliers (best was a flush at 8x). Also had a really long and pointless 3-play JoB session, up and down for over an hour. Dinner was at Primarily Prime Rib, we were all really impressed with this place. Good signature pea soup, good salads, really impressive prime rib (although I've never had less impressively plated food at a restaurant, just a slab of meat with juice on a plate).
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Good brussels sprouts, fair creamed spinach. Surprisingly good sourdough bread. We'll definitely be back.
MONDAY
Good start, I decided to play some Ult-X Illinois Deuces, did really well, had a lot of good hits including a wild royal at 3x. Gave some of it back but cashed out up about $100.
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Then a monster session on dollar JoB, got three quads in ten hands, up a quick $400. Gave some of it back to the multistrike machine, not all of it. It was Senior Day, the only meaningful promotion was a slot tournament, Linda and I played three sessions, didn't win. Glen played two, didn't win. Jen was too young, wasn't allowed to play without adult supervision. There was also a promotion, get a South Point 400 jacket for $1300 coin-in, so we have some jackets now. Lunch was at the oyster bar, all surprisingly good. Less interesting and less traditional menu than the Palace Station oyster bar, but kind of a sleeper, everything was good. We got some pan-fried oysters and calamari for starters, both really solid; also some excellent New England clam chowder. Linda got a forgettable muffaletta (this ain't New Orleans), I got some tasty alleged jambalaya, which was really a shrimp, chicken and andouille stew over converted rice.
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It was still tasty. Not a bad afternoon, up and down, a roller coaster on NSUD with a happy ending (not that kind of happy ending). Dinner was at the coffee shop, pretty uneven. I had some excellent stuffed chicken wings (from their Chinese menu) and some surprisingly good French onion soup (I'm wondering if it's the same as in the steakhouse, it was really top-notch), but a really poor Salisbury steak; Linda wasn't impressed with her open-faced turkey sandwich. Not sure if we'll bother with this place again. A little more play after dinner, then bedtime.
TUESDAY
Last day. 8am shuttle to the airport, lots of traffic but plenty of time. Uneventful Southwest flight back to Tampa, with a 45-minute layover in Birmingham, which worked out well, got some really good pulled pork sandwiches from the Jim 'n Nick's BBQ outlet on Concourse B. Home before 9pm, that's a first for us.
It was a fun trip overall, not as much fun as a winner, but fun nonetheless. Really good to catch up with friends and family, and I'm really glad that we got to try South Point, I can see becoming regulars there. Not sure what we'll do about MSS, the hosts were of course talking about how the new players club will benefit the players but they didn't sound enthusiastic, I think they realize that they're going to lose a lot of VP players, probably including us; the early reports are far worse than I had ever dreamed. So we'll be doing some shopping. Anyway, next trip in February, yay!
