Not contradicting anything you've said seeing as the first few launches of the falcon 9 followed your rough outline, but SES was SpaceX's first GTO launch so they've clearly got an appetite for a bit of risk.
Also I read elsewhere that SES is in a "unique" situation here.
They are still building up their fleet of satellites, so if they lose one now it's not like it is some kind of company ending setback or will allow a competitor to launch ahead of them.
I guess its ok for SES as they say the insurance premiums didn't go up at all for using the reusable rocket. So they are just saving money with the same risk for SES in both cases.
