Las Vegas can dazzle, impress, and go beyond surprise visitors. Here are ten bizarre Las Vegas facts, the inside scoop on what happens in Sin City, including the location of the Las Vegas Strip, its diner-based wedding ceremonies, and famous high roller tales.
Las Vegas is the fun capital of the US and we like to think Vegas keeps secrets. While this might not be true, what is true is that this desert destination has plenty of secrets buried under the bright lights, including some crazy gambling tidbits.
Here are a few facts about Las Vegas that might interest you.
1. Where is the Las Vegas Strip?
The Las Vegas Strip is the first place visitors want to go to. Tourists can find this well-known 4.2-mile long glamour walk in Paradise, and actually not in Las Vegas at all.
The strip is the most famous promenade in the world and it is home to places such as the MGM Grand, Caesars Palace, and Wynn Las Vegas. It is part of the neighbouring town called Paradise. While it may feel like paradise on earth, it’s good to know precisely where Paradise is on the map.
2. Las Vegas: Bright and Big
Speaking of the Las Vegas Strip, the iconic Luxor Light Beam located at the Luxor Las Vegas only shines half as bright as it did back in 1993 when it launched.
The naked eye cannot distinguish the difference, and the beam still holds the prize for the most radiant light beam on earth, visible from almost 100 miles away.
3. No Sex Work in Sin City!
Despite the many movies and signs that promote the sex industry, Las Vegas prohibits any form of sex work, and so does the rest of Clark County.
Nevada’s other major city, Reno, joins the entertainment Capital of the World with their ban on sex work despite other neighbouring cities allowing it.
4. How Many Hotel Rooms Are in Vegas?
Ever been curious about how long it would take you to sleep in every single room in Sin City? Well, the answer is 404 years.
There are over 147 238 hotel rooms in Las Vegas, with the average room costing around $129 a night. With figures like that, and if inflation were to take a break, it’d take Las Vegas fans nearly 404 years and $19 million to stay in every Las Vegas hotel room.
5. Las Vegas Casinos Swap Competing Casino Chips
Most casinos will allow players to use foreign chips in their houses. Fret not if you only deal in MGM Grand chips. Caesars Palace will gladly open the door for you and do business with you as usual.
6. Take a Hike Powerballers!
Seeing a Powerball or scratch ticket in the Nevada desert is almost as rare as finding a Mcdonald’s burger that is under 500 calories.
Despite being the self-proclaimed “Gambling Capital of the World,” the state of Nevada prohibits the sale of lottery tickets.
7. Wedding With a Side Order of Pancakes
Getting married is popular in Las Vegas. Sin City also happens to be a city of wedding ceremonies with fast food joints such as Denny’s, offering the opportunity for lovebirds from all over the world to proclaim their love for another and wed in one of their specially designed wedding restaurants.
These last-minute weddings will cost you around $199 but include a wedding officiant, the diner’s chapel, a pancake wedding cake, a champagne toast, and not forgetting two slap-up breakfasts.
8. Say, Watt?
Powering the world’s brightest light isn’t cheap. The cost of keeping the city alight, powering the long nights, is legendary. The Luxor pyramid takes the prize for dazzling costs.
At $51 an hour, it costs $15,300 a month to keep this pyramid of lustre illuminated. Yikes!
9. There’s Something in the Water
Why do more people crave shrimp in Las Vegas? Consumption of this salty shellfish comes in at around 60 000 pounds per day. That’s over the combined amount that the whole of the United States consumes!
10. FedEx, Blackjack, and a Whole Load of Luck
Understandably, folks who are down on their luck go to Vegas to try to make a fast buck. Frederick W. Smith, the founder, and CEO of FedEx salvaged his firm by gambling in Vegas.
When FedEx ran out of money to pay their $24,000 fuel bill, Smith used it’s final $5,000 to gamble and won $27,000 on blackjack, keeping the company afloat.
Bonus Fact
There’s a Room for all of Burbank at the MGM Grand. With 5,043 rooms, the MGM Grand Hotel and Casino is the largest hotel in the country and the second-largest in the world. That’s nearly enough space for everyone in Burbank, California to have their own room.
That’s just the tip of the iceberg regarding the secrets buried under the Nevada desert. Sin City is the city of bright lights, all-you-can-eat buffets, and secrets – as many as there are grains of sand.