PS, SP and 4Q

Another fun semi-annual trip for us, 7 nights at Palace Station, South Point and Four Queens. It was just Linda (wife) and me this time. It was what the industry calls a “non-winner”; actually, it was our worst loss ever, about 5.1%. Not life-changing money, but ego-challenging money. We'll live, it's just the unpopular tail of the bell curve. Still, it was a fun trip, always is.

WEDNESDAY

Easy flight on Southwest, with a quick layover in Houston, then Uber to PS. We didn't get down to the casino until around 3:30pm so it was a short day with the time change. Linda mostly played dollar BP at the bar, the progressive was over $5200 but she got pretty beaten up. I had a long and meh 3-play BP session with a lot of SQs (squandered quads) and a good NSUD session with lots of quints and SFs. Dinner was at Lindo Michoacán, pretty good but kind of a prepped in the commissary across town taste. Had an interesting pescado relleno (orange roughy stuffed with octopus and shrimp, battered and fried) and a forgettable chili relleno. Okay dollar JoB session and a good 3-play BP session with quad 4s after dinner (only downside was one of the most annoying button slappers ever, about 10 ft away), then ESI (early shut-eye).

THURSDAY

Up early, and a decent break-even session with coffee at the bar; nobody had hit that progressive yet, myself included. Linda got dealt quad aces at the bar for $400 and I got a SF on the 3-play BP machine, but things went downhill for both of us after that, including a really crappy Multistrike BP session. Lunch was a high point, the Oyster Bar (only about a 20min wait). Had good Louisiana oysters, a combo pan roast, and Linda had the chicken gumbo, all excellent. Love that place. The afternoon was all dogshit for both of us (aside from turning my $25 FP into $60). Dinner was at Edge Steakhouse, at Westgate. I hadn't been to Westgate since it was the Hilton and they had that Star Trek Experience thing. Now it's all Elvis stuff, 100% Elvis music in the casino, lots of signage and memorabilia, including a greasy divot of his hair (slightly more interesting than Elvis' bottle of Mylanta, which was featured at Binions’ short-lived Elvis exhibit about 10 years ago). The casino is loud, with 6:5 CSM BJ, triple zero roulette and similar crap. The sports book is pretty cool, though. Edge was very good, a top tier steakhouse. Had a roasted bone marrow appetizer, a Wagyu rib cap and a truffle potato gratin. Back to PS, had a fun 3-play Illinois Deuces session with a bunch of quints, a wild royal, a dealt SF and another SF on the redraw.

FRIDAY

Quick Uber to SP today, and better luck so far. I started with a good 3-play JoB session, got a total of seven quads (oddly enough, the first six came in pairs, only 4 or 5 hands apart each time). We just got some quick weenies over in the sports book for lunch. The afternoon was up and down, I had a great Illinois Deuces STP session, first hand was a dealt quad with a 5x multiplier (turned one hand into a quint) for $143.75, also another 3x dealt quad and two back to back wild royals. Unfortunately, I lost most of that back on dollar JoB. Quick dinner at the coffee shop, they have surprisingly tasty Chinese food; I had some wonton soup and beef chow fun. Played a little more after dinner, then we had front row tickets for a Beach Boys tribute show, “Good Vibrations.” Great show, lots of fun. Took a shot at a LDW machine after the show, had a long session but no donut.

SATURDAY

Bad morning.  I played a lot of 3- and 5- play, some NSUD, couldn't hit anything. Lunch was good, anyway, got some wings, onion rings and cheese balls (fried, with a mochi shell) from Pelicana Korean chicken across the street. I really like this place. The afternoon wasn't much better than the morning, had a few good hits on 3-play deuces at the bar and a dealt FH and a couple of quads on 3-play JoB, but mostly lost. National Marker Day. Dinner was a treat, though, finally made it to Michael's, what an experience! It's about as old-school an experience as you can hope for, in terms of ambience, service, menu and food, the kind of high-end meal that you'd expect at the best Continental restaurants in New York or Vegas in the 1960s or '70s.  This is what Hugo's should be. Dinner started with a relish tray of pickled vegetables, olives and quail eggs, flatbread and black bread toasts with parmesan. I started with French onion soup (very good, but a little more flavorful at Silverado), then a very good but somewhat overdressed Caesar salad, then a lemon sorbet topped with a splash of Dom Perignon (wow!). Dinner was rack of lamb bouquetiere, a real classic, gorgeous and top quality. Then a finger bowl (yeah, old-school), a fruit bowl and chocolate-dipped fruit. Really a memorable meal, a real experience. Last dollar JoB session after dinner, another disappointment, then bedtime.

SUNDAY

Up and down this morning, which was better than it had been. Had a bad Good Times Pay BP session that reinforced what I learned in school about multiplying by zero. Finally started turning things around with a good 3-play JoB session with a dealt FH and two quads, then a dollar single line JoB with a quad on the first hand and another dealt quad soon thereafter. For lunch, I took the 117 bus out to Kahuku Poke on Silverado Ranch RD, had a bento with limu poke and kalua pig, all very good and significantly better than Two Scoops of Aloha (which is walking distance from SP). Back to SP, the afternoon didn't go well, aside from a quick vulture on a Joe Blow Gold machine.

Dinner was at Kaiseki Sanga in Chinatown, a fantastic omakase experience, everything top quality and with the utmost attention to detail. The first course was cold udon with Hokkaido uni and okra puree, then appetizers:  chawanmushi with snow crab, kuruma prawns with junsai and cucumber, fried octopus with mustard, simmered salmon with roe, scallops with caviar and a fried river crab. Next was a saikyo miso soup with grilled hairtail fish and eggplant, then sashimi (aji, chu-toro and madai). Next was tempura conger eel with eggplant and sesame tofu, then A5 Wagyu shabu shabu. Finally sushi:  kinmedai, bluefin akami, torched A5 Wagyu beef with grated black truffle, a temaki with negitoro, uni and caviar (incredible!) and o-toro. Then red miso soup and dessert:  crown melon, yuzu ice cream and matcha. Definitely the high point of the trip. Finally back to SP, a last losing dollar JoB session, cashback and bedtime. I'll pay the stupid markers off in the morning.

MONDAY

Well, the bad news this morning is that, effective today, CB at SP has been reduced to 0.15%.  Glad we got in under the wire. Anyway, Uber to 4Q, it's always a grind there but at least the CB is still good, probably the best in town now. Okay morning with a lot of FHs, then a quick lunch at American Coney; Linda likes it there and we hit it on every trip. Third trip in a row with no mitral valve in the chili, things are looking up. Had an okay afternoon, nothing special; I did run down to the El Cortex (I just let the autocorrect have its way on this one), lost a MP and played through some FP. On the way back, I noticed that they finally removed the air raid shelter sign from the garage at 4th and Ogden; I imagine that it had been there since all that nastiness back in 1963.  Had one good Illinois Deuces session at the bar, with a couple of WRs and another good JoB session with another button slapper next to me. This one was hairier and smellier than the one at PS; maybe it was his son. Or maybe it was him, disguised with a wig and fake beard, I'm not sure. Dinner was the usual mediocre prime rib at Magnolia’s. Had a last roller coaster JoB session, running $200 down to $30 and then back to $200, mostly with two pairs. Also caught the 9pm Vivavision show (Shakira), a lot cooler with the renovated canopy.

TUESDAY

Last day, and the first good session of the trip, turned $100 into $500 playing JoB, got two quads, some FHs and other than that just a lot of pairs and two pairs. About time. Things went okay for the rest of the morning; I also played some DB but lost after a long session.  Also played the Spinsplosion thing at Binions. Lunch was at Tacos y Miches, surprisingly good, especially for a place right on Fremont ST. Had three tacos: carnitas, adobada and quesabirria. Had a few bad JoB and Illinois Deuces sessions after lunch (seems like old times). Dinner was Sushi Ichiban, across the street from the El Cortex. Surprisingly good for a typical AYCE sushi place, the food was a little uneven (very good uni and saba, shitty unagi) but very good overall. I stopped at Evel Pie on the way back to get a few slices for Linda, also surprisingly good. I had another good JoB session after dinner, with back to back FHs and a dealt quad, quickly turned $100 into $300. The guy next to me was friendly enough, playing Caveman Keno for nickels and telling me about all the 5-figure keno jackpots that he's had, told me that he had been watching my machine and was sure that it was due to hit. Even offered to watch the machine for me if I had to go to the bathroom. What a guy! Last were breakeven DB and Illinois Deuces sessions, then I played off my FP. I was finally able to pay back my markers with cash (yay!), although that took about a half hour, nobody in the cage seemed to know how to retire a marker (they said that they don't do it that often). Go figure.

WEDNESDAY

I went over to Aloha Specialties for breakfast, had roast pork and gravy (a new item on their menu) and a spam musubi. I think this is my favorite Vegas restaurant. Quick Uber to the airport and easy flight home, aside from a nice enough guy behind us who seemed to have been vaccinated with a phonograph needle and a nice enough obese guy next to Linda who oozed under the armrest.

Overall, it was a fun non-winner, hopefully we'll be visiting our favorite tail of the bell curve in February. Thanks for reading!

Awesome report.   Sorry about the gambling results,  but you guys ate pretty well.   Better luck in February. 

Very much enjoying your report.  I suspect most of us have had a non-winner or three.  If we go often enough it is bound to happen.  I'd have loved the "Good Vibrations" show.

I recently had a really, really large fellow sit next to me on a Southwest plane.  He spilled over the arm rest, and onto my tray table.  In his defense he did try to contain himself, but it just wasn't possible.  Very uncomfortable 3 hours for me.

When I got home I sent a note (I was polite) to SWA about it.  Have heard nothing back.  Once upon a time they had a policy whereby a passenger of a certain size would be required to purchase two seats, which would best avoid the situation I was in.   If the plane wasn't full that passenger would be refunded the cost of the second seat.  I have no idea how this would be  handled at boarding, but I'm sure it became controversial.  Don't know if the policy still exists.

Anyway, your food descriptions make my mouth water.  That was a plus for your trip. 

Candy 

Well, call this a foodie trip (with some gambling). I've had trips like that, where I never really got my footing with the gambling but I fed my face with enthusiasm. Your strategy is good: you seek out eating experiences you can't duplicate at home. That's why I don't eat Asian or seafood in Vegas--both are abundant and terrific in Portland. I order yee-haw and Mexican in Vegas.

Thanks, guys.  All of our trips (and trip reports) are pretty food-oriented, but there was less gambling to talk about this time.  We'll see how February goes; that will be more complicated as we'll have friends and family joining us.

Candy, interesting about SW's oversized passenger policy, I didn't know that.  Would have been helpful.  We'll see how things go with SW, they're still our best nonstop option from Tampa, but their recent policy changes really put them in line with all the other airlines.

Kevin, we have a lot of good Asian food in the Tampa Bay area, but the choices (especially high-end Japanese) are much better out on Spring Mountain RD, so I always make at least one trip.  Much better Mexican food in Vegas as well; we have terrific Puerto Rican, Central American and still Cuban food here, only a few really good Mexican restaurants.

This renewed my interest in the subject, so I went to the SWA site.  At the bottom of the page there are four categories.  Click on Help Center, the first page (of several) is policy and instructions for "Customers of Size."  Much depends upon the customer acknowledging that he/she is "of size" and proactively reserving the extra seat prior to departure.   There is a specific way to do this when reserving the seat, as in the flyer enters their name with a XS, as in John Beresford XS Tipton.  That alerts the airline re capacity etc.  At check in the traveler is given a 'card' to place on the second seat so nobody else sits in it.  That customer can, after completion of the flight, apply for a refund of the cost of the second seat.

For the customer who does not apply for the second seat prior to flying, that is a whole 'nother' set of policies and procedures.

I agree, this SWA non-stop flight is the only one available from my city.  Last year we flew to Philly on AA.  They had the same policies/procedures for seat selection/boarding/fare costs as SWA will with their new system.  Will just have to go with it.

Candy

Part of the problem is that SWA uses the "MAX" configuration for its Boeing 737-200s, which in English means that there are two more seat rows than in the standard configuration. So if you feel a bit squoze aboard a SWA flight, it's because you have the least amount of room possible.

Not that I have any issues with their business model. I've read that only the last six seats are profitable. So without those extra rows...it would be Trump Airlines (sorry).

 Does Southwest use the Boeing 737-200 Max aircraft? --No, Southwest Airlines does not use the Boeing 737-200 MAX. Southwest operates an all-Boeing 737 fleet, but they fly the 737-700, 737-800, 737 MAX 7, and 737 MAX 8. The 737-200 was an older generation of the 737, which Southwest has retired -- Here's a breakdown: Southwest's Fleet: . Southwest Airlines operates only Boeing 737 aircraft, but they have several different variants within that family. Retired Aircraft: . Southwest has retired the 737-200, along with other older 737 models like the 737-300 and 737-500. Current 737 Variants: . The airline currently flies the 737-700, 737-800, and the newer 737 MAX 7 and 737 MAX 8. 737-200 MAX? . There is no such model as the 737-200 MAX. The MAX series is a newer generation of the 737, with the MAX 7 and MAX 8 being the variants currently in use by Southwest.

The  SWA Customers of Size policy doesn't state any differentiation among its aircraft fleet models.

I'd always wondered how it is applied, does it generate complaints, etc.   I am a relatively smaller person, usually taking a middle seat; several times have large men have noted my size, taken the aisle seat and 'spilled' over onto me.  This is the first time I've seen it in written policy.  Anyone can look it up on the web site.  I doubt that very many 'of size' customers abide by the preferred procedure to book and pre-pay for a second seat.  Is an affected flyer like myself expected to summon a flight attendant and ask for relief from the situation, otherwise suffer in silence, as I have done at least twice? 

Candy

My point was that the problem is exacerbated by the way Southwest configures their seating. The 737-200 was designed to hold twelve fewer passengers than the present "MAX" layout.

If you fly in a 737 with a different airline, you might notice that you have more legroom and can recline further. (Unless it's something even worse, like Spirit.) So while "persons of size" perhaps should be compelled to pay double for being fat, it wouldn't be as much of a problem if the plane wasn't a sardine can.