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4[[quoteright:299:[[ComicBook/BuffyTheVampireSlayer https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/viva_las_buffy.jpg]]]]
5[[caption-width-right:299:[[Literature/FearAndLoathingInLasVegas "Wait! We can't stop here. This is bat country."]]]]
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11
12->''"We are treated to the customary CHARACTER WHO HAS NEVER BEEN TO VEGAS LOOKING OUT THE WINDOW OF A MOVING CAR AT ALL OF THE EXTRAVAGANTLY DECORATED CASINOS montage."''
13-->-- '''''Website/TheEditingRoom''''', [[http://www.the-editing-room.com/21.html The Abridged Script]] for ''Film/TwentyOne''
14
15%% One quote is sufficient. Please place additional entries on the quotes tab.
16
17'''The principal characters [[RoadTripPlot journey]] to UsefulNotes/LasVegas.''' At least one [[TheGamblingAddict has a gambling problem]] and will end up dead broke or winning a ton of money (bonus points if an urgent need for cash is why they go to Vegas). Most likely, one or all end up in jail and/or [[AccidentalMarriage married]]. It's possible that someone might host their friend's StagParty here. Don't be surprised if there's a DrunkenMontage or BingeMontage. Don't be surprised either to see Wayne Newton ([[NoCelebritiesWereHarmed or an thinly-veiled]] {{Expy}} of him), the former teen pop star of the 1950s [[TropeCodifier who popularized the notion]] [[MoneyDearBoy of musicians relocating to Vegas in order to find steady work]] within the city's many high-profile night spots, and continued to perform off-and-on in the city well into the new millennium. If children are involved, expect some harsh MoodWhiplash when they confront adult themes for the first time, and [[HilarityEnsues hilarity may or may not ensue]], although this story element has become obscure past the year 2000. In reality, Las Vegas has actually become much more open to people who do ''not'' gamble and [=/=] or who have kids, and they even have a ''support group'' people can call if they have a gambling problem!
18
19'''This should be considered a separate genre from shows which are routinely set in Vegas''', e.g. ''Series/{{CSI}}''. In other words, if the show is ''SET'' in Las Vegas, it does '''not''' belong here. If the cast decide to go ''visit'' Vegas and hit up casinos and the line "What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas" is mentioned, it belongs here.
20
21Viva Las Vegas consists entirely of casino interiors (with rattling-change sound effects, although modern slots dispense credit slips), the Strip, high-roller nightlife in clubs, stage shows, and possibly Fremont Street. And, of course, every other person you'll meet is an Elvis impersonator who doubles as a clergyman or justice of the peace for quickie, no-questions-asked marriages. These many not be too far away from reality...
22
23TelevisionGeography is common when using Vegas, as are BrandX casinos, unless it's total ProductPlacement for a real casino or a company's family of casinos (most of the Strip is presently owned by two companies, although several other companies have stakes in either Strip or near-Strip properties). The "Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas" sign is the city's prime candidate for the EiffelTowerEffect, given that its image is in the public domain while the likeness of the hotels themselves are privately held. Still, some movies will inflict MonumentalDamage on the resorts themselves.
24
25Ironically, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=naDCCW5TSpU very little popularly associated with Las Vegas is actually located in the City of Las Vegas]], not the Strip, not the gigantic casino resorts, and not even the "Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas" sign. They are actually located in the unincorporated towns of Paradise and Winchester; this was done intentionally to dodge paying municipal taxes. On the other hand, the [[https://www.stratospherehotel.com Stratosphere]] tower, which is the tallest building west of the Mississippi River and which can be seen from practically anywhere in the city (and which shows up on innumerable souvenirs of LV), and the [[https://downtown.vegas/live/downtown-visitors-guide/ Downtown district,]] which contains the [[https://vegasexperience.com Fremont Street Experience]] and most of the casinos seen in older features and series about Vegas, are firmly within Las Vegas city limits. However, there are two things worth considering about these loopholes: First, the city of Las Vegas proper is the seat of Clark County (whose local government would be in charge of collecting taxes on the casinos), and second, the city of Las Vegas proper, Paradise, Winchester, and other surrounding suburbs and unincorporated communities collectively form the Las Vegas Valley, making [[MetaphoricallyTrue the name of this trope technically accurate]].
26
27Another irony of this trope is that, while both in fiction and in RealLife, the Strip is a major attraction for ''tourists'', most locals in the Las Vegas area actually [[https://www.feelingvegas.com/do-las-vegas-locals-go-to-the-strip/ avoid going to the Strip on their time off]]. The reason for this is pretty simple: The fact that the Strip is such a major source of the local economy (and, therefore, employment), [[TheCobblersChildrenHaveNoShoes they would feel less inclined to spend their free time at the Strip]].
28
29Contrary to popular belief, prostitution is illegal in Las Vegas, Nevada. By state law, any prostitution outside of a brothel is illegal, and a brothel must possess a state-issued license to operate legally. Every county is allowed a "local option" on whether to allow operations of brothels. However, the law immediately prohibits any county having a population over 400,000 from issuing brothel licenses, which excludes Clark (encompassing Vegas) and Washoe (encompassing Reno) counties. The end result of this is that in Nevada's largest cities, prostitution is illegal by default. From Vegas, one has to drive sixty miles west to Pahrump to find the nearest legal brothel. Of course, this doesn't prevent illegal prostitution from being rampant (much as it is in most other large cities in the United States overall).
30
31A destination of a VacationEpisode, RoadTripPlot, and VacationDearBoy.
32
33Compare ItCameFromBeverlyHills, TheCasino, MinigameZone, CasinoPark, and TheShowGoesHollywood. Las Vegas' European equivalent is the FreestateAmsterdam. See also CasinoEpisode, which need not be centered around a specific RealLife casino. Related tropes include SinisterSouthwest or WeirdWest, which include using the American Southwest (where Las Vegas is located) as a setting for {{Horror}} or supernatural stories.
34
35----
36!!Examples:
37
38[[foldercontrol]]
39
40[[folder:Advertisements]]
41* A [[http://www.carlustblog.com/2010/05/great-commercialsjoyride-dream.html 2010 Kia car commercial]] had a bunch of toys (including a character from ''Series/YoGabbaGabba'') go to Las Vegas and cruise down the strip during a Super Bowl ad -- in defiance of an NFL advertising rule against showing casinos.
42[[/folder]]
43
44[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
45* Early in ''Manga/ChronoCrusade'', Rosette and Chrono are sent on a mission to Las Vegas to save a girl that's been adopted by an owner of a casino. On the way, Rosette gets in trouble because she can't resist gambling on slot machines. (Funnily enough, this series is set during TheRoaringTwenties, and gambling wasn't even ''legalized'' in Las Vegas [[NewerThanTheyThink until 1931]].)
46* In ''Manga/Eyeshield21'', the Devil Bats arrive in Las Vegas following the "Death March", where they try to win enough money to pay for air fare home and help pay off the debts of Doburoku Sakaki, Hiruma and Kurita's old sensei. Hiruma gets enough on his own by card counting in blackjack.
47* ''Literature/KyoKaraMaoh'': Yuuri and his harem visit their [[FantasyCounterpartCulture world version]] of Vegas and bring down a man who runs a crooked casino.
48* ''[[VisualNovel/PhantomOfInferno Phantom ~Requiem for the Phantom~]]'' had an arc set in Las Vegas and showed the Paris hotel without naming it.
49* ''Anime/SamuraiChamploo'' substitutes 18th-century Osaka for Las Vegas, but otherwise plays it similarly.
50[[/folder]]
51
52[[folder:Comic Books]]
53* The ''ComicBook/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' comic 'Viva Las Buffy', which picks up where the original film left off, though with Creator/JossWhedon's vision rather than the moviemakers'.
54* ''ComicBook/DoctorWhoTitan'' sends the Twelfth Doctor and Clara Oswald to 1960s Las Vegas in the two-part story "Gangland". The Doctor runs afoul of the Earthly gangsters who run the casino where he wins big, ''alien'' gangsters are the principal villains, and Clara falls in with a NoCelebritiesWereHarmed version of the Creator/RatPack.
55* ''ComicBook/FatherChristmas Goes On Holiday'': After spending a few days in the South of France and the Scottish Highlands, Santa decides he fancies a change of pace and spends an unspecified but lengthy period living it up in the [[BlandNameProduct Nero's Palace]] resort.
56* ''ComicBook/TheIncredibleHulk'' spent a year in Vegas when the Hulk worked as a mob enforcer. Whenever the Grey Hulk (a.k.a. "Joe Fixit") is dominant, expect him to head back to Sin City at the first opportunity.
57-->"Guess what, Vegas?! '''Joe Fixit's''' back in town!"
58* ''ComicBook/JudgeDredd'': Judge Dredd visited Las Vegas in the "Cursed Earth" arc, where he travelled through post-apocalyptic America to deliver a cure to the West Coast. The city was run by a corrupt Judge force before Dredd ousted them from power and outlawed gambling. Several years after he left they deposed the guy he put in charge and returned to the old system, but then Judge Death destroyed the entire city.
59* In 1981's ''Franchise/{{Superman}}'' #365, ComicBook/{{Superboy}}, after he left Smallville, kept which city he moved to a secret for awhile to avoid anyone suspecting Clark Kent also moving there at the same time (for college). This resulted in the entire country abuzz about which city Superboy would pick as his new home. A TV news story showed gamblers in Las Vegas making bets on which city the Boy of Steel would call his new home; besides the obvious choice (Metropolis), other cities bet on included: Gotham City, New York, Washington, D.C., Boston, Miami, Los Angeles, Detroit, New Orleans, and Chicago. Ironically, Las Vegas itself wasn't one of the cities being bet on.
60* ''ComicBook/Zatanna2010'': The second story arc takes place in Las Vegas. Zatanna is there performing her world-famous stage act, and her cousin Zachary is trying to break into the big time himself with his own show. Ultimately, Zatanna comes into conflict with the demon Mammon, the personification of greed and wealth, who bought the soul of the man who helped build Las Vegas decades ago as a monument to greed.
61[[/folder]]
62
63[[folder:Fan Works]]
64* In the ''Fanfic/CalvinAndHobbesTheSeries'' episode "Lightning Man", the protagonists journey to Vegas to find the titular villain's lair. No casinos are seen, though the fic doesn't lose an opportunity to comment on the strange people there.
65* ''Manga/Evangelion303'': In chapters 17 and 18 the cast takes a trip to Las Vegas before their deployment. Bachelor and bachelorette parties are had, two soon-to-be-married characters explore further their sex life and other two characters get married.
66[[/folder]]
67
68[[folder:Film -- Live-Action]]
69* ''Film/TwentyOne'' is about a bunch of MIT students who go to Las Vegas and make a lot of money via card counting.
70* ''Film/ThreeThousandMilesToGraceland'' begins with [[ElvisImpersonator four Kings]] pulling a casino heist.
71* ''Film/ArmyOfTheDead'' is a ZombieApocalypse movie set in Vegas, complete with a zombified [[StagParty bachelorette party]] and ElvisImpersonator, rabid zombified topless showgirls, a Music/{{Liberace}} impersonator, and landmarks like the replica Eiffel Tower getting [[MonumentalDamage blown up]]. The opening credits shows the typical Vegas life being wrecked by the zombie outbreak (set to a reprise of the song "Viva Las Vegas!" by Music/RichardCheese and Allison Crowe) while the main plot revolves around a heist as the protagonists are sent into the city's walled-off ruins to empty a casino's vault.
72* ''Film/BladeRunner2049'' finds [[spoiler: Deckard]] hiding out in a post-nuke Sin City.
73* ''Film/{{Casino}}'' is a long term version of this for the main character, who is a bookie working for the East Coast mob.
74* The made-for-TV DisasterMovie ''Category 6: Day of Destruction'' opens with tornadoes destroying Las Vegas, with such sights as a Vegas wedding getting trashed (complete with the bride [[{{Fanservice}} getting her dress ripped off]] by the wind), a man getting sucked out of his hotel room just as he's about to have sex with the gorgeous woman he picked up on the casino floor, various casino resorts ([[WritingAroundTrademarks all fictional ones]]) getting destroyed, and a couple living in a trailer outside of the city getting rich when the storm dumps tons of money on them.
75* Larkin & Poe chase Cyrus the Virus through the Strip in the climax of ''Film/ConAir'', after a suitable amount of MonumentalDestruction. Nic Cage seems to really love that town.
76* ''Film/DestinyTurnsOnTheRadio'' presents a seedy mythic Las Vegas with Creator/QuentinTarantino as a sort of trickster god of luck.
77%%* Most of ''Film/DiamondsAreForever''. Not even Film/JamesBond is safe!
78* ''Film/{{Domino|2005}}'' ultimately concludes the main character's HowWeGotHere story through the desert with a gunfight in the Stratosphere, that ends up with a helicopter attacking the tower (eventually crashing into the resort below) and one of the protagonist's friends sacrificing himself to blow up the entire observation pod, causing Domino to rapidly fall down the shaft in an ElevatorFailure. The real tower was used instead of a generic knockoff, though the MonumentalDamage was of course CGI and an accurate recreation of the restaurant level. Didn't stop them from calling it BasedOnATrueStory, though.
79%%* The majority of ''Film/FoolsRushIn''.
80* When ''Film/{{Go}}'' isn't about a drug-dealing checkout clerk going to Vegas, it's about what his drug-dealing checkout clerk friends decide do while he's gone to Vegas. Gambling isn't highly featured for use of this trope (casino gambling, that is; the characters gamble in plenty of other ways,) and a fair bit of off-Strip Vegas is shown.
81* ''Film/TheGodfather'', both Parts I and II. Vegas is where [[MoeGreeneSpecial Moe Greene gets his special]] and where Fredo was caught [[MemeticMutation "banging cocktail waitresses two at a time!"]]
82%%* The entire plot of ''Film/TheHangover''. Complete with Mike Tyson singing "In the Air Tonight".
83* ''Film/HoneymoonInVegas'' (well, duh). Nicolas Cage loses $65,000 in a poker hand, but the guy he lost to is willing to look the other way in exchange for a weekend with his fiancee. Ends with Cage skydiving into Bally's with a bunch of Elvis impersonators.
84* ''Film/HostelPartIII'' transplants the ''Hostel'' series from Europe to Vegas.
85* Buffy and Pike run off to Vegas in the end of the original ''Film/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' movie. It's explored more in the comics.
86* The characters in ''Film/KnockedUp'' take a trip here; the ladies try to get into a nightclub and the guys check out Creator/CirqueDuSoleil's ''Theatre/{{Mystere}}'' (the latter are high on mushrooms to enhance the experience).
87* ''Film/LastVegas'' involves the Flatbrush Four staging a bachelor party in Vegas. Drag Queens, notable Vegas locations, improbably gambling winnings, and Vegas weddings are all in order.
88* In ''Film/LeavingLasVegas'', Nicolas Cage's character goes to Vegas to drink himself to death.
89* The title creature of ''Film/Leprechaun3'' awakens in Las Vegas, and goes looking for his wish-granting gold.
90* ''Film/LostInAmerica'', in which David doesn't find out that his wife Linda has a gambling problem until after she blows their entire savings, over $100,000, in a single night.
91* ''Film/LooneyTunesBackInAction'': WesternAnimation/YosemiteSam owns his own WildWest-themed casino. WesternAnimation/BugsBunny even sings the trope-titled song while on the way there.
92* ''Film/MissCongeniality 2'' takes place in Las Vegas, and even features a scene where a no-nonsense agent is forced to perform as a Tina Turner impersonator.
93* ''Film/OceansEleven'' and ''Film/OceansThirteen'' are about pulling a heist/con on a Las Vegas casino owner, the former for profit and the latter for revenge.
94%%** And the original ''Film/OceansEleven'' (1960).
95%%* The first half of ''Film/PinkCadillac'' happens in Vegas.
96* ''Film/RainMan'' has Charlie Babbit take his autistic brother to Vegas to raise some quick cash, to the beat of some SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic.
97* ''Film/RatRace'' begins in Las Vegas as a group of bored billionaires select a group of random gamblers/tourists, and tell them that the first to reach Silver City, New Mexico gets to keep a bag full of money stashed there.
98* The second half of ''Film/RushHour2'' takes place in Las Vegas where the two main characters infiltrate a casino.
99* The hero of the post-apocalyptic movie ''Film/SixStringSamurai'' spends the entire movie traveling to "Lost Vegas", the last outpost of civilization in America, to replace the recently deceased [[Music/ElvisPresley Elvis]] as king.
100* ''Film/{{Swingers}}'' starts with a Vegas road trip.
101* ''Film/ThisIsNotAMovie'' takes place in Las Vegas, although most of it is filmed inside a hotel room that the main character sequesters himself in as he waits for TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt.
102* ''Film/VegasVacation'' concerns the Griswolds taking a vacation in the city; Clark receives the gambling addiction subplot, Ellen draws the Wayne Newton subplot.
103* In ''Film/VeryBadThings'', the guys travel to Vegas for the StagParty that goes horribly wrong.
104* Actually averted by the Music/ElvisPresley movie ''Film/VivaLasVegas'', which features the eponymous song; it's largely about car racing, and has little mention of casinos and gambling, the theme song's lyrics to the contrary.
105%%* The rom-com ''What Happens in Vegas'' lives this trope.
106* In ''Film/Wishmaster2EvilNeverDies'', the JackassGenie heads to Vegas, due to it being the perfect wishing hotspot.
107[[/folder]]
108
109[[folder:Literature]]
110* Hunter S. Thompson's ''Literature/FearAndLoathingInLasVegas'' is essentially a story made out of this trope [[ThisIsYourPremiseOnDrugs on drugs]] -- literally, and lots of them.
111%%* The ''Literature/FinalDestination'' novel ''Dead Man's Hand''.
112* ''[[Literature/KittyNorville Kitty and the Dead Man's Hand]]'' takes place here, and has many of the Vegas tropes, but with a paranormal twist.
113* ''Literature/SecretVampire'': Ash takes Poppy to UsefulNotes/LasVegas (which is only several hours by car from her hometown in UsefulNotes/{{California}}) to avoid people learning she's a renegade vampire. However, while he tries to show her the sights she's not all that interested, as she'd rather be there with James. Ash suggests they go to a Night World Summer Solstice party [[spoiler:whereupon it's revealed he actually plans to turn her over to the Elders]].
114* The location of Flagg's base in ''Literature/TheStand''. [[spoiler: Eventually destroyed by a nuclear bomb]].
115* In ''To the Nines'', Literature/StephaniePlum heads for Vegas to capture a skip, with Connie and Lula in tow. Connie at one point thinks she got married to an Elvis impersonator while intoxicated (much to her relief, the photo she has of this event turns out to be a non-binding joke).
116[[/folder]]
117
118[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
119* The Season 15 finale of ''Series/TheAmazingRace'' took place in Vegas. It involved traveling from casino to casino, an Elvis impersonator in a wedding chapel, a visit to Cirque de Soleil, Wayne Newton, and counting out a million dollars in poker chips. The season also featured Maria & Tiffany, a pair of professional poker players. [[note]]Although by that time, they had already long been eliminated.[[/note]]
120* In the ''Series/{{Angel}}'' episode "[[Recap/AngelS04E03TheHouseAlwaysWins The House Always Wins]]", Angel takes the gang to Vegas, where Lorne is doing a very Wayne-Newtonish show. Against his will. It's learned that Angel attended Elvis' Vegas wedding and that only one member of the Blue Man Group is human. Ironically, the episode did not feature Creator/CharismaCarpenter - who was actually ''born'' in Las Vegas.
121* Parodied in ''Series/ArrestedDevelopment'', where Reno, Nevada -- essentially the poor man's Las Vegas -- is treated this way. Reno calls itself "the biggest little city in the world"; on the show, it has an equivalent slogan to "What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas" in "Make the biggest little mistake of your life in Reno" (also a variation on the show's CatchPhrase "I've made a huge mistake").
122* ''Series/TheBigBangTheory'':
123** Leonard, Raj, and Howard visit Las Vegas in one episode, partly to get Howard's mind off a recent breakup. Leonard and Raj ''do'' wind up hiring a prostitute (willing to roleplay a "Jewish girlfriend") for Howard... but in a nod to reality, she only agrees after confirming that they aren't police.
124** In another episode, Bernadette and Amy invite Penny to Las Vegas for a girls' weekend. However, Penny, normally the resident HardDrinkingPartyGirl, is more preoccupied with completing a sales report than taking part in Amy and Bernadette's drunken escapades, which includes dancing with male strippers. The following morning, while Amy and Bernadette nurse severe hangovers, Penny decides to go down to the pool by herself.
125* An episode of ''Series/{{Bones}}'' takes place in Vegas. One of the characters DOES have a (mostly former) gambling problem (which, to be fair, was introduced long before the episode,) but it doesn't turn out to be a big deal, as he manages to control his urges.
126* Two thirds of the way through the first season of ''Series/CrimeStory'', the action moves from Chicago to Las Vegas... where it stays for most of the rest of the series, moving SouthOfTheBorder for the last few episodes.
127* The main characters of ''Series/CriminalMinds'' all went to Vegas for two episodes to solve a crime. A different spin than the others because it's Reid's hometown (and, incidentally, also the hometown of his actor, Matthew Gray Gubler), although Prentiss ''was'' spectacularly [[HangoverSensitivity hung over]] at the start of the second episode [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=arQAApVYdFs Absolutely hilarious]].
128* ''Series/DeadlyClass'': The episode "Saudade" features the core characters going on a trip to Vegas for some fun. It's quickly complicated by Marcus [[MushroomSamba getting stoned on way too much acid]], Maria's psychotically possessive boyfriend Chico following the group, and the fact that [[spoiler: Marcus and Billy arranged the trip as a cover for killing the latter's father]].
129* ''Series/TheDrewCareyShow'' had an episode where Drew lost a ton of money then ended up married to a cocktail waitress. This episode was part of a multi-series crossover orchestrated by ABC in which characters from ''Drew Carey'', ''Series/{{Coach}}'', ''Series/{{Ellen}}'' and ''Series/GraceUnderFire'' appeared on each other's shows and interacted with each other. Drew was the only one to show up on all four.
130* ''Series/TheFreshPrinceOfBelAir'': In the final season Will and Carlton go on a trip to Vegas where, inevitably, they lose all their money and Carlton pawns their plane tickets leaving them stranded. They resort to entering a TalentContest run by Wayne Newton to try and earn enough money to get home.
131* ''Series/{{Friends}}'' had the very well-known two-part Vegas episode where the friends travel to Nevada to visit Joey (who they think is filming a movie there) and also to celebrate Monica and Chandler's one-year anniversary. There, Joey meets a man with identical hands to him and tries to persuade him to go into business with him; Phoebe is stalked by an elderly "lurker"; Monica turns out to be an excellent gambler; Ross and Rachel get drunk, draw on each other's faces, and [[AccidentalMarriage accidentally get married]]; and Chandler nearly gets married to Monica, but the two decide against it when they see Ross and Rachel stumbling drunk out of the chapel.
132* ''Series/FullHouse'':
133** The season 2 finale "Luck Be a Lady", although set in Lake Tahoe, is more like the traditional "Vegas" episode, where it features Jesse and Rebecca deciding to elope (and later changing their minds), and the girls playing on the slot machines.
134** In season 4's "Viva Las Joey", Joey has the opportunity to do a stand-up routine before Wayne Newton's concert in Vegas.
135* Season 3 ''Series/HannahMontana'' episode, "Jake...Another Little Piece of My Heart" shows the main characters at a hotel in Las Vegas.
136* ''Series/HowIMetYourMother'' did a Viva Las Vegas episode using Atlantic City instead, with Lily and Marshall not realizing till the last minute that AC doesn't share Vegas's quickie marriage laws.
137* In the ''Series/{{Hustle}}'' episode "Big Daddy Calling", Albert is roughed up and has his hands broken by a vengeful casino owner. The rest of the crew come to Vegas to take revenge by robbing his casino.
138* In the ''Series/KnightRider'' remake, one episode has Mike try to bust a money laundering operation in Vegas, and KITT poses as a prize car in a casino. Meanwhile, Billy hooks up with a girl he meets at the bar and tries his luck to earn some money to help pay her out of debt.
139** The classic series episode Goliath also took place in Las Vegas. Surprisingly there wasn't much gambling involved, besides computer poker games.
140* ''Series/LAToVegas'' is a WorkCom for the aircrew/regular cast, and this for the passengers/rotating guests.
141* The ''Series/{{Lexx}}'' episode "Viva Lexx Vegas" avoids the formula: rather than gambling or marrying, the crew gets mixed up in a Mafia casino's cage-fighting, prostitution, and antiquities-laundering rackets. [[AlienAmongUs Naturally, they don't even realize anything illegal is going on.]]
142* In an episode of ''Series/LieToMe'', Cal, Gillian and agent Reynolds go to Las Vegas to investigate the disappearance of a poker championship finalist. As Cal has a previous history of gambling (he was actually ''banned'' from the city of Las Vegas in the past), Gillian forbids him to gamble while they're there, so Cal has Reynolds do it for him instead.
143* There was a ''Series/MadTV1995'' commercial parody [[spoiler:about Atlantic City]] where a woman is stalked by Las Vegas.
144** An AnthropomorphicPersonification or GeniusLoci? Or [[Series/BrassEye a stalker disguised as a casino]]?
145* ''Series/MalcolmInTheMiddle'' has an episode set in Vegas, where Lois falls in love with a crooner played by David Cassidy.
146* Al Bundy has to try to win prize money by facing [[ProfessionalWrestling The Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling]] after Peg loses all their money on ''Series/MarriedWithChildren''.
147* ''Series/{{Monk}}'': "Mr. Monk Goes to Vegas" has Monk and Natalie go to Vegas to solve a murder at the request of Captain Stottlemeyer (or rather, to help Stottlemeyer remember how he had solved the murder when he was drunk off his ass the night before), while Lieutenant Disher loses his savings at a blackjack table.
148* ''Series/ThePretender'':
149** In "Curious Jarod," Jarod gets a job at a Vegas casino to discover who killed a showgirl and bring that person to justice.
150** In "Cold Dick," which was actually filmed in Las Vegas, Miss Parker and Broots pose as newlyweds while on a stakeout in a honeymoon suite in Vegas. Hilarity ensues, then Wayne Newton appears in the final scene.
151* ''Series/{{Roseanne}}'' had an episode where Dan and Roseanne go to Vegas with a couple of friends for their quickie wedding. After what was apparently hours of nonstop gambling, they go see Wayne Newton AND a Wayne Newton impersonator.
152* On ''Series/{{Roswell}}'', a seriously stressed-out Michael attempts to drag Max with him on a getaway to Vegas; by the time they're ready to leave, the entire rest of the teenage cast has included themselves on the trip.
153* The series finale of ''Series/SavedByTheBell'' sees Zack and Kelly get married in Las Vegas, with pretty much every trope played to the hilt.
154* In one episode of ''Series/SevenDays'' Frank marries Olga in Las Vegas, complete with Elvis impersonator. [[spoiler:Though it turns out it's not Olga...]]
155* In the sixth season premiere of ''Series/{{Scrubs}}'', JD, overstressed about the fact that [[spoiler: he impregnated his new girlfriend on the first date]] drinks himself into a stupor and promptly gets kidnapped to Las Vegas by the [[ItMakesSenseInContext elderly gay men who had commandeered his porch]], almost gets married to one of them, wakes up in utter confusion flees the chapel at the last second, stumbles onto a stage where the Music/BlueManGroup is playing, gets covered in blue paint and confetti, and finally gets beaten up by security, arrested, and has to call Turk to bail him out... all in the three-minute-long pre-credits teaser.
156* The penultimate episode of ''Series/StargateAtlantis'', "Vegas", is set in the city, where John Sheppard is instead a police detective investigating a series of grisly murders committed by a lone Wraith. It later turns out to be an AlternateRealityEpisode in which Sheppard's life turned out somewhat differently from the one we're familiar with.
157* ''Series/StarskyAndHutch'' has "The Las Vegas Strangler," in which the guys go to Vegas to investigate a serial killer who authorities suspect is Hutch's BeleagueredChildhoodFriend.
158* ''Series/{{Titus}}'': Subverted in an episode where Titus and his dad Ken are on their way to Las Vegas, but then their car breaks down outside of a road diner and they spend the rest of the episode dealing with a MaternityCrisis.
159* In the third season of ''Series/VeronicaMars'', Dick Casablancas goes on a road trip to Vegas with a girl. He ends up married.
160* An episode of ''Series/{{Warehouse 13}}'' sends Pete and Myka to Vegas to track down a pair of thieves who stole an artifact that can see the future (which they're using to get rich gambling).
161* ''Series/WeddingSeason'': Katie and Stefan headed to Las Vegas in the flashbacks of Episode 4, ostensibly for Katie's hen do. They gamble, Katie steals something, and nearly get married by a Prince impersonator in their escape.
162* ''Series/TheXFiles'': The episode "Three of A Kind", the second Lone Gunmen-centered episode.
163[[/folder]]
164
165[[folder:Music]]
166%%* The Alan Parsons Project's album "Turn of a Friendly Card", pretty much in it's entirety.
167%%* Music/ElvisPresley's "Viva Las Vegas", from the aforementioned movie.
168* Music/FaithHill's "Let's Go to Vegas" has her persuading her lover to run off to Vegas, where she hopes they'll get married.
169* Music/GramParsons' "Ooh Las Vegas" condemns the city for always making "a wreck out of me."
170* Music/TheKillers play this up in the music video for "The Man", with the all the stereotypical behaviors of Las Vegas leading to crushing failure. "Shot At The Night" plays this more straight, with the story of a hotel cleaner falling in love with a young man in the city.
171** From Brandon Flowers' solo career, "Welcome To Fabulous Las Vegas" takes the trope and tells it with AsTheGoodBookSays style language painting the city in religious imagery, comparing the casinos to temples and the men who hand out calling cards for escorts to religious disciples.
172[[/folder]]
173
174[[folder:Newspaper Comics]]
175* ''ComicStrip/SafeHavens''
176** The main cast travels to Vegas at pivotal moments in their careers: aspiring singer Bambi needs her Vegas show to do well if she doesn't want to get dropped by her label (and her agent Jenny needs it to go well as well or she'll be forced to close her talent agency), Remora and Thomas need to find jobs to support their newborn (especially complicated for Remora since she's temporarily {{Mode Lock}}ed in her 'mermaid classic' form), and Don and Dave are competing in the NBA Summer League to try to get contracts for the regular season. Gambling in the casinos only comes up in Thomas's story arc where he accidentally lost Remora's fish tank, but gambling as a metaphor (for everyone's futures) is played up, compared to Samantha and Luis's safer decisions to go back to school for a doctorate and masters respectively. [[spoiler: Bambi's career is resurrected after five encores convince the label to keep her, Thomas's trapezing skills get him hired by Cirque du Soleil, which allows Remora to be a stay at home mom, Don gets a contract with the Havens Fastracks (formerly the Seattle Supersonics), and while Dave failed to do the same, an Italian basketball team offered him one instead. Oh, and Jenny and Luis eloped, but the others don't find that out until Jenny starts having MorningSickness a few months later.]]
177** Years later, Samantha and Dave return so Dave can try out for Team USA to compete in the 2016 Olympics, where Samantha is banned from casinos because the dodos snuck in to gamble, they got busted counting cards, and the casinos believed them to be animatronics Samantha built. [[spoiler:Dave makes it into Team USA, and would go on to help them to an Olympic gold medal.]]
178[[/folder]]
179
180[[folder:Pinballs]]
181* Las Vegas is one of the destination cities in ''Pinball/RedAndTedsRoadShow''
182-->'''Ted:''' There goes Friday's paycheck.
183[[/folder]]
184
185[[folder:Podcasts]]
186* ''Podcast/MysteryShow'': Starlee goes to Vegas in episode two, but if she hit any casinos or got married, it's not mentioned. She does mention that her hotel lobby doesn't even have slot machines.
187[[/folder]]
188
189[[folder:Video Games]]
190* ''VideoGame/BigMuthaTruckers'' takes place in Hick County, but it features a few cities that are not indicative of such a place it resides in. One of them is Greenback, which is very Vegas-like, complete with casinos, nightclubs and the bright neon signs to go with it.
191* The third game in the ''Castle Cat'' franchise is set in one of them.
192%%* Glitter Oasis in ''VideoGame/CrazyTaxi 3: High Roller''.
193* ''VideoGame/DeadRising2'' takes place in a Vegas [[NoCommunitiesWereHarmed analogue]] by the name of Fortune City. The casinos, giant hotels, and malls are all accounted for; in fact, the only easily noticeable difference between Las Vegas and Fortune is the fact that Fortune has been [[ZombieApocalypse overrun by zombies]]. [[spoiler:The prequel establishes that Fortune City was a replacement for Vegas, the real thing having been overrun by the dead and firebombed into oblivion. The BigBad confesses to starting ''that'' outbreak in the main game.]]
194* Every ''VideoGame/DragonQuest'' game after the first has a "casino town" where you can gamble to get new equipment.
195* ''VideoGame/DukeNukemForever'' takes place in Nevada, where Duke has retired and set up a casino/strip club.
196* ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas'' is set in post-Great War Las Vegas (and, for a large portion of the game, its vicinity). ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 2}}'' had New Reno which, while not being Vegas, [[WretchedHive overlaps with much of this trope nevertheless]].
197* ''VideoGame/FateGrandOrder'': The storyline of the limited event [[Recap/FateGrandOrderEvent43Summer2019LasVegasOfficialBout Las Vegas Official Bout]] takes place in a Las Vegas singularity, with a lot of Servants enjoying their vacation in various ways.
198* ''VideoGame/TheFinals'' features a map set in Las Vegas, where the action unfolds around four casinos in an area modeled after the Fremont Sreet Experience.
199* ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoSanAndreas'' features the city of Las Venturas, a dead ringer for Vegas, as the third big city in the state along with [[HollywoodCalifornia Los Santos and San Fierro]].
200* ''VideoGame/HitmanBloodMoney'' has the mission "House of Cards," in which 47 has to assassinate a white supremacist using conflict diamonds to buy genetic technology from a Middle-Eastern billionaire and his flunky, both whom are also targets, in a hotel/casino. Right after, there's the mission "Dance with the Devil," where 47 has to kill rival assassins in a hotel down the street while there's a rave going on in the hotel's ballroom and penthouse floor.
201* ''VideoGame/LeisureSuitLarry1InTheLandOfTheLoungeLizards'' takes place in the aptly named ''Lost Wages'', where Larry is destined to lose his virginity before sunrise. The only way to gain funds in the game is gambling, so expect to do a lot of SaveScumming.
202* The penultimate level of ''VideoGame/MetalWolfChaos'' involves chasing the [[EvilChancellor evil Vice-President]] to Las Vegas, where you have a [[ClimaxBoss climactic showdown]] with him involving HumongousMecha, to the sound of slot machines [[StuffBlowingUp EXPLODING]].
203* ''VideoGame/NeedForSpeedPayback'' features Fortune Valley, a pastiche of the usual Las Vegas settings and the surrounding desert lands.
204* ''VideoGame/PhantasyStarOnline2'', as part of its UrbanFantasy arc "EPISODE 4", travels to Las Vegas, Nevada for a level. The ARKS don't spend their time gambling, though (that's for the [[MinigameZone Casino Area]]), but rather beat down some Phantoms, ride MiniMecha, and fight ''a living Statue of Liberty replica riding a living Sphinx replica.''
205* Las Vegas is one of the cities featured in ''VideoGame/ProjectGothamRacing 3'' and ''4'', with its circuits going up and down the Strip with deviations that circle around the various casinos.
206* ''Tom Clancy's VideoGame/RainbowSix Vegas'' and its sequel hit all the high notes of a MoreDakka tour of Las Vegas: Shooting your way through cacophonous casino floors, down the Strip, on Fremont Street, in a high-rise knockoff of The Stratosphere casino, and finally out to the Hoover Dam.
207* In ''VideoGame/WarioLandShakeIt'', Wario visits the Shake Dimension, an alternate universe featuring analogues to several real places. Glittertown and Neon City are clearly based on Las Vegas, featuring lavish casinos and neon decorations. In one of these levels, it's actually impossible to collect as many coins as you need unless you stop to play at the slot machines.
208* ''VideoGame/WarOfTheMonsters'' has a level clearly based on the locale, called Gambler's Gulch.
209[[/folder]]
210
211[[folder:Webcomics]]
212* In ''[[Webcomic/{{PHD}} Piled Higher and Deeper]]'', Mike went to Las Vegas hoping to get more funding for the university. He ended up married.
213* In the TabletopGame/{{poker}} comic ''Webcomic/PlusEV'', of course.
214* ''Webcomic/{{PVP}}'': [[spoiler:Francis and Marcy]] go to Las Vegas on to compete in a gaming tournament on behalf of the magazine. They get drunk one night, get married, freak and ditch the rest of the tournament, in that order.
215[[/folder]]
216
217[[folder:Western Animation]]
218* ''WesternAnimation/TheFlintstones'' made at least one trip in the original series (plus in several spinoffs and the [[Film/TheFlintstonesInVivaRockVegas live-action prequel movie]]) to "Rock Vegas", the prehistoric version of Las Vegas, complete with Stone Age casinos and entertainment.
219* ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'':
220** The episode "When You Wish Upon a Weinstein" climaxes when Peter takes Chris to Vegas for a quickie ''conversion to Judaism''. Lois follows suit in a parody of ''Film/TheGraduate''.
221** "Roads to Vegas" has Brian and Stewie heading to Las Vegas via the latter's teleporter. Problem is, the teleporter malfunctions and creates duplicates of the two -- one pair makes it to Vegas, the other doesn't, and neither set is aware of the other's existence. The latter pair takes a plane to Vegas instead and goes through the miserable Vegas experience (they get stuck at a fleapit hotel, lose their money at the gaming tables, etc.) while the first pair lives high on the hog. Eventually their paths unknowingly cross, [[spoiler: and the status quo is restored when one Stewie is murdered by a loan shark and one Brian kills himself]].
222* Subversion: ''WesternAnimation/FriskyDingo'' has the cast go to Las Vegas for some kind of invention competition (long story), but they only visit a nearly abandoned hotel owned by one of the characters, miles from the Strip.
223* ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'' has Mars Vegas built on Mars by the Wong Family.
224* ''WesternAnimation/GravityFalls'': {{The Stinger}} of “Soos and the Real Girl” is a [[https://youtu.be/JDwHor1h7L4 montage]] of Stan going on a trip to Las Vegas [[MakesJustAsMuchSenseInContext with a novelty toy]] named Goldie, who is meant to look like a [[{{Prospector}} gold prospector]]. In the montage, they are shown gambling and [[HoYay getting]] [[CargoShip married]], among other things.
225* The ''WesternAnimation/JackieChanAdventures'' episode "Vivas Las Jackies" is set in Las Vegas, however ''[[AvertedTrope it doesn't involve]]'' [[CasinoEpisode gambling at all]]. It does however feature a couple of white tigers in a magic show, an obvious reference to [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siegfried_%26_Roy Siegfried & Roy]].
226* Sibling series ''WesternAnimation/TheJetsons'' has a futuristic Vegas counterpart, "Las Venus."
227* ''WesternAnimation/KingOfTheHill'' when Cotton Hill escaped to Las Vegas due to not wanting to raise Didi's upcoming baby.
228%%* "WesternAnimation/MegasXLR'': Viva Las Megas [[DestructiveSaviour It didn't end well.]]
229* The ''WesternAnimation/MuchaLucha'' Movie: The Return Of El Malefico The ending of the film took place in Las Vegas.
230* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'': Las Pegasus (the setting of episodes "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS6E20VivaLasPegasus Viva Las Pegasus]]", "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS8E5GranniesGoneWild Grannies Gone Wild]]" and "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS8E16FriendshipUniversity Friendship University]]") is the kid-friendly equivalent. It's a giant, glitzy and noisy resort city, full of extravagant shows, themed resorts with indoor rollecoasters, and highly... flashy... personailities, but the real life city's defining feature -- gambling -- is conspicuous by its absence.
231* Inverted in ''WesternAnimation/RoverDangerfield'', where the journey begins in Las Vegas, but Rover ends up at a farm.
232* The {{WesternAnimation/Rugrats}} go to Vegas in the special "Rugrats' Vacation". Unlike the series' other specials, it's somewhat [[MissingEpisode hard to find]]; this is probably (like many missing episodes) [[DistancedFromCurrentEvents related to its depiction of]] [[NoCelebritiesWereHarmed a certain magic act involving white tigers.]]
233* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' invoked this trope in "Viva Ned Flanders". Homer and Ned end up married to two waitresses; this plot point is revisited in "Brawl in the Family".
234[[/folder]]
235
236[[folder:Real Life]]
237* Daniel Tammet, a real life mathematical savant visits Vegas (or maybe it was Reno) to see if he can count cards as well as the film ''Rainman''. He gets a ''triple Black Jack'' by splitting up what would have been three 7s.
238* The Las Vegas tourism board currently reinforces this trope in its "What Happens in Vegas" ad campaign. This came as a much-needed breath of relief (and reality) after their [[AudienceAlienatingEra ill-advised attempt to market the city as family-friendly]] in TheNineties.
239* In 2017, Las Vegas got its first major league team with the Usefulnotes/NationalHockeyLeague's Vegas Golden Knights. While expansion teams are usually terrible, the Knights basically set a new standard for expansion team performance by making it all the way to Usefulnotes/StanleyCup finalist, and won the most home games... the last part being [[http://www.espn.com/nhl/story/_/id/21825994/nhl-vegas-flu-real-golden-knights-stunning-home-success something analysts, players and GMs attributed to this trope]], as visiting teams will underperform after players spend their off-time getting distracted by the Sin City. Vegas would earn their first Stanley Cup in 2023 by beating the [[UsefulNotes/{{Miami}} Florida]] Panthers in five games, only six years after their maiden season, and threw a hell of a victory parade.
240** In case you were wondering why Vegas got its first major league team ''in 2017''[[note]]For context, the city of Las Vegas was founded and incorporated in, respectively, 1905 and 1911, while professional sports first arrived in the West Coast and American Southwest with the relocation of the UsefulNotes/{{Cleveland}} [[UsefulNotes/NationalFootballLeague Rams]] to Los Angeles in 1946[[/note]] while many nearby major American cities (e.g., UsefulNotes/LosAngeles, [[UsefulNotes/{{Arizona}} Phoenix]], [[UsefulNotes/{{Utah}} Salt Lake City]], etc.) have had pro sports teams for decades, this trope was historically the main reason. To wit, the Big Four leagues (the UsefulNotes/NationalFootballLeague,[[note]]Who would, in 2020, see the Raiders relocate to Vegas from their longtime home UsefulNotes/{{Oakland}} AND award the 2024 Super Bowl to Vegas, likely playing into this trope[[/note]] UsefulNotes/MajorLeagueBaseball,[[note]]Who would, in 2023, see the Oakland Athletics (who shared the ''exact'' same stadium with the Raiders for decades) announce their plans to relocate to Las Vegas no earlier than 2025[[/note]] UsefulNotes/NationalBasketballAssociation,[[note]]Who would, in 2023, have Las Vegas host the final and semi-finals of their new In-Season Tournament, playing into this trope[[/note]] and the National Hockey League), for decades, staunchly believed that Vegas' gambling culture would undermine the integrity of the game, and that the casinos (the main tourist attractions) would have offered too much economic competition for pro sports.
241[[/folder]]

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