Chief Marquez: Paradise City isn't heaven. Gambling, prostitution, drugs - the list goes on! Not only that, but the number of robberies is going up! Specifically in the big casinos at the strip!
On their first night at Paradise City, Frank and the player decide to patrol the district's Strip, where they find the body of croupier Alfie McNaulty with a croupier stick jammed in his eye socket.
Tropes:
- Absurdly High-Stakes Game: Frank is forced to play poker against Sheikh Faisal to stay in Paradise City or else he'll have you kicked out for disrespecting him.
- Caper Crew: The Phantom Thieves, a group of criminals who have been robbing casinos all over Paradise City but no one has seen or caught them. During the Additional Investigation, you discover that Louis De Rico is a member of them, but you can't arrest him due to lacking solid proof.
- The Casino: The Mennagio, one of the biggest and most important casinos in Paradise City that serves as a crime scene. During the Additional Investigation, you also meet Eugenia Hestentrope, the owner who is worried about the recent casino heists in the district.
- Chekhov's Skill: Frank's gambling skills come into play when he has to play against Sheikh Faisal or else he'll have the police department kicked out of Paradise City.
- Cold Turkeys Are Everywhere: Frank with gambling.Frank: <Player's Name>, I made it! I got this far without playing a single hand of poker! Phew, I've been thinking of nothing else all night!
- Con Man: Louis De Rico, an ex-convict that was recently released from prison and with a criminal record that spans fraud, racketeering, and even jewel thieving, appears in this case as a suspect.
- Continuity Nod: Frank recalls how every woman he falls in love with ends up being at the wrong side of the law when you discover Grace was a jewel thief.
- Eye Scream: The victim was killed by being stabbed through the eye with a croupier stick.
- The Gambling Addict:
- Defied by Chief Marquez, who prohibits Frank from wasting time on Paradise City's casinos as she doesn't want a gambling addict on the team.
- There's also Betty Wyatt, a tourist who lost $10,000 at the victim's poker table last night, and became enraged with him after he suggested her to stop playing because of this.
- Falsely Reformed Villain: Grace likes to pretend to be a Reformed Criminal since she was Alfie's partner in crime, but she was actually trying to rob a jewelry store and killed Alfie when he tried to stop her.
- Fixing the Game: Betty gets accused of this during the Additional Investigation due to winning a lot of money on blackjack and having a great poker face, though Russell manages to prove her innocence by analyzing the security camera of the casino.
- Hard-Drinking Party Girl: Betty Wyatt, a tourist that has come to Paradise City to drink, party, and gamble in celebration of her divorce.
- He Knows Too Much: Grace killed Alfie because he knew she was trying to rob a jewelry store and tried to stop her.
- I'll Kill You!: Chief Marquez threatens to kill Frank after he insults an Arabian prince and puts the police force in danger of being sued and thrown out of the district.
- Improvised Weapon: The murder weapon is a croupier stick.
- Ironic Echo: When Chief Marquez says Frank will have to play and gamble against Sheikh Faisal, he recalls how she strictly prohibited gambling whilst they were on Paradise City, much to her annoyance.
- Love at First Sight: Frank with Grace O'Brien.Frank: <Player's Name>, did you see the way Grace was looking at me? She was smoldering so much I thought she was gonna catch fire!
- The Magic Poker Equation: During the poker match to decide whether you'll stay in Paradise City, Sheikh Faisal smugly declares himself the winner with three kings, only for Frank to reveal he's got three aces.
- Minor with Fake I.D.: Danny, who is 17, signed up for a poker tournament at the casino the victim worked in.
- Not Now, Kiddo: Danny managed to take a photo of a member of The Phantom Thieves, but the police didn't care about it since he's just a teenager, so he ripped it to pieces and threw it out.
- Oh, No... Not Again!: Frank's reaction when Russell once again appears to give information about an analysis not related to him.
- The Paranoiac: Eugenia Hestentrope, the owner of the Mennagio Casino who is worried about her casino being robbed in the wake of recent heists that have been taking place all over Paradise City.Eugenia: There's been a string of heists in Paradise City, led by a master thief...And I've got the feeling these thieves are preparing to rob MY casino and I can't let that happen!Frank: You want us to investigate a robbery that hasn't even taken place?
- Pun: Roxie says that she's heard of a poker face, but never of a croupier-stick-face before.
- Reformed Criminal: Alfie used to be a jewel thief until he got caught, then became an honest croupier after serving his sentence.
- Revenge: Louis wanted to beat up Alfie for snitching him with the cops six years ago when Louis was planning a casino heist, though someone killed Alfie before Louis could.
- Shout-Out:
- Louis De Rico resembles Danny Ocean.
- The Mennagio is a parody of the Bellagio.
- In the Main Street scene, there is a parody of the "Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas" sign, as well as King Kong.
- In the Paradise Fountain scene, there is a Superman action figure, without the "S" emblem.
- In the Jewelry Store scene, there is artwork of a woman resembling Anne Hathaway.
- Teen Genius: You meet Danny Moto in this case, a 17-year-old college student intelligent enough to be put on a casino blacklist for counting cards and ripping off thousands of dollars from them.
- Upper-Class Twit: Sheikh Faisal, an Arabian prince with a serious lack of humbleness problem who tries to get you kicked out of Paradise City after you "disrespect" him during an interrogation.Faisal: Ugh, it's hard to be regal when you are surrounded by peasants! I have to take energy pills just to find the strength to talk to you commoners!
