Category Interesting Facts

24 Fascinating Las Vegas Facts You Probably Didn’t Know

Author Toni Published on 9 min read
24 Fascinating Las Vegas Facts You Probably Didn’t Know

Known as Vegas, Sin City, the Gambling Capital of the World and dozens of other names, Las Vegas is one of the most popular and one of the most visited cities in the entire world.

Think you know everything about the City of Lights?

Well, here are some Las Vegas facts we bet will surprise you.

General Facts About Las Vegas

1. Las Vegas is the brightest spot on Earth.

(NASA)

Las Vegas is considered to be the brightest city in the world because of the concentration of lights from its hotels and casinos. In fact, NASA says the city is so bright, it can reportedly be seen from space. 

2. Approximately 70,000 weddings take place a year in Vegas. 

(The Hustle)

Around 70,000 weddings take place a year in Vegas or around 150+ weddings in one day. Las Vegas is one of the most popular wedding destinations in the US because it is very easy to get a marriage licence and of course, there are plenty of options for choosing a wedding venue as the city has over 50 chapels. 

3. The famous Bellagio Fountain consists of 1,214 individual fountains.  

(VEGAS.com)

The Bellagio is one of the most popular casinos in Vegas, both the interior and exterior. The world-famous Bellagio Fountain sits on an 8.5-acre lake and has over 1,200 jets that throw streams of water up to 460 feet in the air. Free shows take place in front of the casino every day, while the performances are so complex there is a staff of 30 people who clean, maintain and repair the fountains between the shows. 

4. Las Vegas is Spanish for ‘the meadows’.

(Feeling Vegas)

In Spanish, Las Vegas translates to ‘the meadows’. Although this may sound like a strange name for a city located in the middle of the desert, it actually comes from a Spanish trader Rafael Rivera who discovered an oasis in a valley surrounded by mountains. This oasis, created from underground artesian springs, was the birthplace of the Vegas we know today. 

5. There are less than five inches of rainfall per year. 

(Feeling Vegas)

Las Vegas is not just a gambling mecca, it is also a great place to escape cloudy London days. The city sees about 4.2 inches of rainfall per year and has around 26 rainy days on average since it’s located in the Mojave desert, one of the driest places on Earth. 

Fun Facts About Las Vegas Gambling 

6. Nevada has 433 casinos on its territory.

(Gamboool, Las Vegas Then And Now)

Nevada has 433 casinos in four main areas: Las Vegas, Reno, Lake Tahoe and Laughlin along with other smaller towns. The majority of the casinos (228) are located in Clark County, of which 23 are in Downtown Vegas and 60 in the Las Vegas Strip. 

The biggest and most luxurious casino in Las Vegas is Wynn/Encore, the sister casino of the world’s most expensive casino complex. Spreading over 191,424 square feet, this casino has an impressive 1,800 slots and 180 table games.

7. There are more than 160,000 slot machines in Las Vegas.

(Las Vegas Casino News)

A trip to Vegas would not be complete without spinning the reels in one of the casinos on the Strip. You will always find available slots in Vegas since there are more than 160.000 machines, ranging from 5 cent slots to one dollar machines that have higher RTP rates. According to a study, slots generate about $270 million a month, making them the most popular and most profitable games in Sin City. 

8. Gambling was illegal in Nevada until 1931. 

(El Cortez)

Did you know that alcohol and gambling were once outlawed in Vegas? Nevada officials banned gaming in 1911, but there were still some operating underground casinos. And then in 1931, the State of Nevada legalised gambling and the rest as they say is history. 

9. The largest sum ever won in Vegas is an incredible $39 million. 

(Best US Casinos)

Back in 2003, a 25-year-old tourist from Los Angeles decided to play with only $100 on the Megabucks slot machine and won an amazing $39.7 million, which is still the biggest jackpot ever won in history.

10. 73% of people gambled during their Vegas trip.

(SidmartinBio,Statista)

Although for some people gambling may not be the primary reason for a trip to Vegas, they still visit casinos out of curiosity. An average tourist spends $150 per day on gambling, so it’s recommended to have a daily budget between $100-500 while visiting the city. 

11. There is no sense of time in the casinos.

(Universal Traveller)

Here’s another interesting casino fact: They have no clocks or windows. This is because it takes away the sense of time, so while you play, you won’t think about what time it is or whether it is night or day. It also keeps you concentrated just on the game instead of the outside world.

12. Many casinos have missing floors.

(Las Vegas Advisor)

For instance, the Rio skipped the 4th and 40s floors, as the number 4 is considered bad luck in Asian culture. The Wynn also skips the 13th floor (another number considered to be unlucky) as well as all the 40s. So does its sister property, the Encore. 

13. The 2022 World Series of Poker will be held in a new location.

(PokerNews.com)

For 17 years, the WSOP Main Event was held at the Rio. This year it will offer a completely new expense for the best poker players as it is switching location to the Horseshoe Las Vegas Hotel, previously known as Bally’s. 

Las Vegas Tourism Facts

14. There are around 150,000 hotel rooms in Las Vegas.

(Reference, Statista)

Sin City is home to 15 of the world’s largest hotels. So you don’t have to worry about finding a place to stay, because it has around 140,000 hotel rooms (62,000 rooms on the Strip alone). According to the latest research, the hotel with the largest number of rooms is MGM Grand with 6,852, followed by Luxor Hotel and Casino which boasts 4,400 rooms.

15. Las Vegas reportedly has 666 restaurants per every 100,000 residents.

(Vital Vegas)

The population of Las Vegas stands at 651,391 and this is the number used to calculate the “666 restaurants per capita” stat, but the actual number of all the restaurants in the City of Las Vegas is around 4,337. 

16. McCarran International Airport welcomes more than 50m passengers a year. 

(Hotels, Review-Journal) 

This airport, which is actually located in Paradise, Nevada, sees more than 50 million passengers every year, making it one of the busiest airports in the world. It is also one of two airports on the planet to host slot machines on the premises. 

17. Sin City has an average of 41 million visitors annually.

(Travel Week, Family Destinations Guide)

Back in 2019, Las Vegas was visited by an amazing 42.5 million tourists and not all of them were gamblers. Research has shown that 47% of the people come for a vacation, 12% come to gamble and 11% come to visit their families and friends. Even though numbers dropped to 19 million because of the pandemic, figures are slowly increasing again now.

18. The famous Las Vegas Strip falls outside the city limits. 

(Feeling Vegas)

Did you know that the Strip is not actually in the city limits, but is located in Winchester and Paradise? In the past, casino proprietors wanted to build casinos outside the city limits to avoid paying taxes. But, the area is still right in the middle of what is known as Vegas for the tourists. This 4.2 miles long Strip, also known as the ‘City without clocks’, is home to many attractions, casinos, hotels and resorts where you can party all day and night. 

Las Vegas Business Facts

19. Over 22,000 conventions take place in Las Vegas every year.

(Las Vegas Advisor, Las Vegas Weekly)

Every year, Las Vegas hosts 60 of the 200 largest conventions and around 20,000 meetings, which makes it one of the biggest convention centres in the USA. 

Conventions are extremely important for tourism expansion since they bring around 6.5 million visitors a year and they also have an economic impact of nearly $11.5 billion during an average year.

20. The state of Nevada reported $13.4 billion in gaming revenue.

(Forbes)

2021 was amazingly profitable for Nevada casinos as the state recorded gambling revenue of $13.4 billion! That’s almost $700 million more than the record in 2007. Just for comparison, the entire UK gambling industry brought in 3.26 billion pounds (over $4 billion) in 2020. 

The revenue of the Las Vegas Strip also increased 7.4% over 2019. Roulette boosted numbers with a total of around $428 million, but still, it was slot machines that brought the biggest revenue of $9.2 billion, which is 16.4% more than 2019. Sportsbooks also did pretty well, raking in $445.1 million in 2021— another all-time record. 

21. Around 40% of casinos’ revenue comes from gaming. 

(Pay Space, UNLV)

Across the state, gaming’s share of total revenue dropped from  62% to 58%, while rooms, entertainment, and retail made the biggest gains. This trend was most noticeable in downtown Vegas which noted a five-time increase in revenue from rooms and on the Strip where revenue from other streams (not including gambling)  more than doubled. 

Las Vegas Fun History Facts

22. The first telephone was installed in 1907.

(Way Marking, HMdb)

There is still a plaque of the very first telephone in the Golden Gate Hotel, which was originally installed in 1907 at the office of Charles “Pop” Squires and the second telephone was installed in his home. It was a private telephone line installed by the Las Vegas Trading Company, but that quickly turned into a real telephone company that also installed telephones for other people.

23. The Moulin Rouge was the first racially integrated hotel and casino. 

(Nevada State Museum)

Opened in 1955, located in West Las Vegas, where the black population lived, and built in a modern style, this hotel and casino were popular with many Black entertainers. The Moulin Rouge is also the symbol of Las Vegas’ civil rights struggle. Unfortunately, it only lasted six months, because of poor management and under-capitalization. 

24. The first hotel that opened was the Golden Gate Hotel and Casino.

(Oldest, Golden Gate)

The Golden Gate Hotel and Casino was the very first hotel ever opened in Las Vegas back in 1906. Built on Fremont Street, this hotel is a blend of modernization and nostalgia, since it still keeps its vintage character, but has newer and updated rooms.

24. Fremont Street was the first paved street in the city.

(LVOEG)

The home of the oldest hotel and casino, the city’s first gambling spot was also the first paved street in Las Vegas. Today, this famous street houses around 10 hotels and casinos. What’s more, many gambling movies and iconic TV shows have been filmed on this street.

Bottom Line

Which of these Las Vegas facts surprised you the most? Did any inspire you to visit Sin City and find out if what happens in Vegas, really stays in Vegas? 

Sources:

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *