South Point: March 9-13

South Point, March 9-13 2017



Prelude: Our daughter was turning 21 on March 11, and we’d always told her that when she was “of age”, we’d take her to Vegas and show her the sights, a show, a spa treatment, and teach her everything we knew about the place. Our hotel of choice for the last several trips has been South Point…..they’ve always been great with comps, they have good food choices and all the VP I need. Plus a great movie theater, bowling alley etc. We had an upfront comp of 1 room for Thursday night, and 2 rooms for Friday, Saturday, Sunday. It was a busy weekend, with the NASCAR race in town plus the Pac-12 tournament, plus the normal number of conventions, etc.



I’ll put a day-by-day report at the beginning, and at the end I’ll break down the categories of food, comps, gambling, at the end in case you don’t want to read through the details.



Thursday: I was taking a 5am flight from Portland to Seattle, and then heading to LV…..so naturally I didn’t sleep at all the night before. My plan was to sleep on the plane to Vegas, but there was a really nice couple next to me and we just ended up talking the whole time. Great flight. I know that SP has a shuttle, but frankly I didn’t want to stand around the airport for an hour…I just wanted to get there. Uber was only a few bucks with a promo code, so that was an easy choice. Checked in my bags at the desk, and started with the gambling. I’m a VP guy and I usually love the Super Times Pay machine with Double Double Bonus, but this day it was absolutely killing me. No good hands all day. I eventually took a break to have some of the awesome clam chowder they have at the oyster bar, along with some calamari which was excellent. After this I tried to play some more, but between the food, a few drinks, and the zero sleep, I was literally falling asleep at the machine (I had switched to one of the slant tops and was playing BP). I woke up once to see that it had dealt me 4 queens, and that’s when I realized it was time for a nap. This was probably 4pm, and I slept until 7 or so. My daughter was coming in that night….got a call from her around 9:45 saying she was at the airport trying to figure out Uber. We were hoping to make it to the Mexican restaurant that night, but that close at 10 on Thursdays so no luck there. Ended up at Steak and Shake where we had some much needed tasty food. After that, I think my daughter went to bed and I went back to playing VP to no avail. I wandered in the room about 5am for a few hours of sleep.



Friday: I can’t sleep much in Vegas no matter how tired I am or what time I go to bed. All of the nights there I think I woke up between 6-7am. Got up Friday morning and resumed the gambling until my daughter got up. We killed some time together (she sat next to me at the machine, not playing, but nobody ever questioned that she was still a day away from 21). Eventually went up to the Mexican place Baja Miguel’s for a great lunch…..love the trifecta of salsa, guac, and bean dip they bring right away. The servers (as is the case everywhere at SP, were awesome). One was having a birthday that day so we all sang to her. After lunch, we went back down to the machines where my daughter and I talked and figured out the secrets to life, the universe and everything. If I got dealt 4 of a kind, I’d let her press the button to try to get the 4th. She went 0-12. Then she got up to go the restroom and while she was gone I got 4 aces and 4 queens. Oh well, that’s gambling for you. My wife arrived around 3:15pm and she and my daughter had a spa treatment set up for 4pm. Back in December the SP spa was running a special where if you bought a $200 gift certificate, they would add another $125 to it. So they had that much to work with, and apparently it was awesome. Later that evening, our daughter’s boyfriend arrived (they both live in Denver) . She turned 21 at midnight so we had a little discussion about where we might want to go for that…..eventually we settled on the Peppermill, just because I’d heard about its old-school Vegas look and the good drinks. We weren’t disappointed, although I wouldn’t say that it’s a place I’d HAVE to go back to. Good food, some drinks and some video poker, then back to SP. Our plan for the next day (her birthday) was to be walking the strip and try to catch as many sights as possible, so it was a (relatively) early night. I think we may have gone back to SP to all play some video poker together, but if we did it wasn’t for very long.



Saturday: Up at a reasonable time (maybe 9am?) and took an Uber to the Hard Rock. Didn’t plan to eat anything there….just want to see some of the cool guitars and drumsets and outfits. Walked from the Hard Rock toward the strip, and ducked into this place called “Nacho Daddy” which I’d never heard of but we were all a little hungry and thirsty. It was surprisingly good, I would definitely go back there. The next few hours were really all about just checking out different hotels on the strip. We went to NYNY, Mandalay Bay, Planet Hollywood, the Venetian, the Bellagio, the Mirage….also ducked into Margaritaville, and for some reason…Casino Royale. Eventually we all got pretty tired and Ubered back to SouthPoint. Our daughter’s boyfriend and I had tickets for the Pac-12 championship final game, so we headed off for that a couple hours later at T-mobile arena, which is actually pretty nice. We had good seats and although the game could’ve been better, it was a lot of fun. I’d say 4/5 of the fans were from AZ, so it was basically a home game for them. They had a great setup for Uber there....tons of people were using it. Very quick and convenient. Back to SP for more late night gambling and eating.



Sunday: Biggest plan for today was dressing up for a nice dinner at SP and then taking the kids to the Bellagio where we had tickets for them to see the Cirque show “O”. In the middle of the day, all the rest of them headed to the pool at the Flamingo (we had a friend come into town to surprise us, and that’s where she was staying). I’m not a pool guy, so I stayed back at SP to play some more VP. Had a nice stretch where I got the 4 aces ($1 machine) on BP, then literally 5 hands later got 4 threes. So I took that money and ran. Watched Brent Musburger do his show from the VISN booth there in SP. I went to the host office to talk to Courtney and see about a comp for the Prime Rib restaurant, which we had had before and really enjoyed. There were 5 of us, and she wrote us a $250 comp. After a bottle of wine, 3 specialty drinks, and 5 dinners, we still only used $180 of it. Ubered to the strip where we had enough time to send the kids up to the top of the Eiffel Tower, watch the Bellagio fountain show twice, and get them into the theater for “O”. While they were in there, the remaining three of us headed to Bally’s to play around a little. The kids loved the show, as we knew they would. We ubered back to SP for more VP and a final meal that we really didn’t need.



Monday: The kids were leaving for the airport around 1pm, so we had Steak and Shake one more time, a little more VP and a couple more drinks. Tearful farewells, and then the wife and I had about 3 more hours before we needed to head to the airport. I sat at a 2cent 50-play machine, while she headed out to the SP pool. Had a great session there, which was a good way to end the trip. Other than the gambling, everything else we had planned on when perfectly, so I’ll take that any day. Great time with family, beautiful weather, wonderful food. Priceless





GAMBLING: Pretty bad, but frankly I was due for that. My last trip to Vegas (MSS) and Reno I had finished well ahead. Even my trips to our local Native American casinos had been fruitful lately. I’m strictly a VP player, I do love the 5cent 10-play Super Times Pay machine, but this trip it was not good to me. I did much better on the bartop 8/5 BP. I think I got 4aces with the kicker once on the STP machine, I got 4 aces on BP and multiple other 4oak throughout the weekend. I even managed 2 royal flushes on the 2cent 50-play machine. 3 of the 4 full days on the trip, I put over 10,000 points on my card each day. Even the finally day when we left around 5pm, I managed 8500points. On my next trip I think I’m going to avoid the STP and stick more with the BP at the bar. Quick drinks, sports on tv, and full-pay BP. One oddity is that twice on this trip I was DEALT a straight flush (unfortunately that was only on single line games)



COMPS: We had 7 nights (2 rooms for 3 nights, 1 room for 1 night) up front. Our host had said that they would have just given us one of the 2-room suites except that with the NASCAR event in town (and they were offering special packages because they have a driver), they just couldn’t. We’ve gotten a suite 3 different times there. Courtney wrote us a $250 comp for the Prime Rib restaurant, and she wrote off all of the other food charges ($150) we put on the room. I do love this hotel and how friendly and generous they are.



FOOD: The Prime Rib meal was the only really “nice” meal we had. None of us are food snobs, so as long as we’re served well and the food is good, it’s a good meal. I think the Prime Rib place even goes a little beyond that. Had a bottle of wine, 3 specialty drinks and 5 great dinners, an appetizer, for a total of $180. I personally like the blackened Prime rib, which was amazing. My other favorite thing at Southpoint is the Oyster Bar. The clam chowder is the best I’ve ever had, and I thought the fried calamari was outstanding as well. Late one night I had the crab legs, but frankly I wasn’t that impressed. Probably won’t have them again…there’s enough other good things on the menu. Baja Miguel’s at Southpoint is good, functional Mexican food, and the service is good. Speaking of Mexican, we were all impressed with the food and drink at Nacho Daddy near the strip. Great queso. Oddly enough, right around the corner from that is the new fancy 2-story taco bell, which we checked out but didn’t order anything. We ate Steak and Shake twice, perfectly good although the second time our server wasn’t terribly attentive. Went to the Café at Southpoint a couple of times. They have a great late-night menu for super cheap….the $3 burger is surprisingly good.



If there’s anything more specific I can answer for you or help you with, just ask. Thanks

 

Great TR and you must be a special dad for your daughter to spend her 21st hanging with you.
Hopefully next trip is profitable!

 

Yeah she said they had an amazing time, were very gracious and loved everything. She actually misses us.

 

Looks like you had an enjoyable family trip. We love the South Point as well, lots of dining choices and good gambling options.

 

Assuming you could get the same comps off $10,000 coin-in a day, you should brush up on your NSUD!

But everything else I hear about SP, they are tight with VP comps since the paytables are so liberal to begin with. Not sure how you're doing it Capt., but keep doing what you're doing!

 

Great report. Very much enjoyed reading it. Sounds like you had a great trip with the family. I love SP. Have eaten at the Mexican place many times and you are so right about the clam chowder as it is the best. I love playing VP at their many bars. Your report has given me a reason to go back out there and give them some play next trip to try and get back on their radar and maybe get some offers. Thanks again for the report.

 

Yesterday I wrote back to Courtney and got 5 nights comped in one of the junior suites for a week in August.

 

Great trip report!! Sounds like you had a wonderful time spending your daughter's 21st birthday!!

 

As the father of two daughters I know this is better than hitting a Royal.

I also love Southpoint and would add that Baja Miguel's has a very good lunch special. Check it out next trip.

and thanks for the TR.

TomTWI

 

Thanks for sharing your excellent trip report!
Sounds like some family time well spent!
I am so jonesin' for Steak and Shake right now!
I received an S&S gift card for Christmas, but the nearest Steak and Shake is about 300 miles away from me.

Thanks again!

RICHARD

 

I'm glad others love SP as much as I do... we stay at the Grandview whenever we come to LV so SP gets the majority of our play.

 

Love hearing all about the great things at SP as that's where I'm staying this trip. I'll be out there 31march-5april.
Love oysters and will be sure to try their clam chowder after all your rave reviews about it here.

 

What a fun birthday trip and report! Lucky daughter! Lucky Dad! Thanks for taking us along.

 

Thanks all. It really is a great place. I've stayed at Luxor, NYNY, Palms, Bally's, Orleans, MSS, Tropicana, and a couple others over the last 15 years or so. Southpoint has the best combination of stuff for me. Once you've done all the touristy crap on the strip, there's no reason to stay there....my humble opinion of course.

I'll be back in August and can't wait

 

Courtney is a great host