The City of Las Venturas, commonly known as Las Venturas or simply Venturas, is the second largest city by area and least populous in the State of San Andreas and the third and final city encountered in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. Las Venturas is Spanish for "The Fortunes", a reference to the gambling culture of the city and its inspiration.
Las Venturas is a gambling city located in a desert region in the north east of San Andreas, connected to the neighboring Bone County to the east, with Los Santos directly south of it and San Fierro to the south west. It is famous for its renowned Strip, which runs through the middle of the city and is lined with numerous casinos including Caligula's Palace and The Four Dragons Casino. Everything that can be bought in Las Venturas, except the Pay 'n' Spray service, is 20% more expensive than in the rest of the state.
After buying an abandoned desert airstrip under orders from Mike Toreno, once Carl learns to fly as part of Toreno's plans he receives a phone call from the blind Triad leader Wu Zi Mu, whom Carl worked with in San Fierro. Wu Zi Mu has opened a casino called "The Four Dragons Casino" in Las Venturas, and he offers Carl part ownership in exchange for defending it, since Las Venturas is a Mafia-controlled town.
After stopping the sabotage efforts of the Forelli Family and Sindacco Family, who have part ownership of Caligula's Palace, with the Leone Family, Carl and Wu Zi Mu plan to strike back by pulling off a heist on Caligula's. Carl eventually meetsKent Paul and Maccer, a member of the Gurning Chimps. Paul knows Ken Rosenberg, who is currently the manager of Caligula's.
After helping Rosenberg out with his problems, Salvatore Leone himself arrives from Liberty City to take total control of Caligula's. Carl capitalizes on his relationship with Rosenberg to earn Salvatore's trust, and after performing numerous hits for him, is ready to begin the heist. When the heist team successfully robs Caligula's, Salvatore swears revenge against Carl.
In a different tempo, Carl also does a task once again for C.R.A.S.H., which is to retrieve a dossier for Frank Tenpenny. After some time, C.R.A.S.H. and Carl meet up in Las Brujas, near El Castillo del Diablo in Bone County, to give Tenpenny the dossier. In this event, Tenpenny knocks out fellow C.R.A.S.H. member Jimmy Hernandez with a shovel, since he was going to turn in evidence against Tenpenny. Later on, Carl himself kills Tenpenny's partner Eddie Pulaski, but not before Pulaski also kills Hernandez, who had tried to attack him.
Wu Zi Mu (in person) and Julio G (on the radio), among others, talk about how corporations are moving in on the Las Venturas gaming industry and pushing out mobsters. This refers to the real-life trend in Las Vegas, also in the very early 1990s ("corporations" being Steve Wynn and Circus Circus Enterprises).
Most Las Venturas casinos are modeled on real-life locations in Las Vegas. Curiously, counterparts to some noteworthy Las Vegas casinos which existed in 1992 (when the game takes place), but were later demolished, do not appear in Las Venturas - these include the Dunes, the Desert Inn, and the Sands Hotel and Casino. Also, the Luxor Las Vegas (opened 1993), Hard Rock Hotel and Casino (opened 1995) and Treasure Island Hotel and Casino (opened 1993) had yet to be built.
Three casinos (The Four Dragons Casino, Caligula's Palace, and Casino Floor) can be entered by Carl Johnson. Inside you will find dealers and casino games along with many pedestrians. These pedestrians will be found ordering drinks, playing the table games (except Wheel of Fortune), standing in front of the slot machines, and making comments regarding the drinks they are ordering, about the table games they play, and about Carl Johnson's appearance. Casinos along The Strip include:
Las Venturas has a large freeway system circling and splitting the city into two. The Julius Thruway is the freeway system circles the city, and is split into four parts: Julius Thruway North, Julius Thruway South, Julius Thruway East, and Julius Thruway West. Julius Thruway North leads to an intersection, before splitting into many paths crossing the desert. Julius Thruway South continues to the west from the Blackfield Intersection to become a major highway in the south of Bone County, continuing to the Garver Bridge, and to Tierra Robada and the Gant Bridge. Thus Las Venturas has easy access to San Fierro and Los Santos and services numerous areas in the city. The Harry Gold Parkway is another highway, splitting the whole city into a western half and an eastern half. It mainly services the airport, some few casinos, and the central areas. It also leads to a highway to the south, crossing The Mako Span to reach the Montgomery Intersection and becomes the major freeway through Downtown Los Santos.
The Brown Streak Railroad services Las Venturas, with its two stations (Linden Station and Yellow Bell Station) being located in the northern and eastern part of the city. The Sobell Rail Yards are also in the east of the city, though it is not considered a stop for Brown Streak and Freight trains. Las Venturas Airport is an airport on the south-central part of the city, with two runways and a number of planes. It is serviced by Juank Air and tickets to Los Santos and San Fierro may be purchased.
Crime[]
In terms of crime, Las Venturas is unique compared to Los Santos and San Fierro. Firstly, Las Venturas is not plagued or controlled by any street gangs. Because of this, crime rate and gang violence is on a much lower rate compared to the other cities in San Andreas. Furthermore, the rate of drugs-trafficking is substantially lower compared to the other cities and almost non-existent; likewise, crack dealers do not exist in Las Venturas. However, major criminal organizations have influence in Las Venturas and contribute to the majority of the crime and illegal activities including murder, corruption, assassinations and extortion. These organizations include the Triads and three different Italian Mafia families: the Leone Crime Family, the Forelli Crime Family, and the Sindacco Crime Family. All of the organizations' main business interests revolve around gambling and big-time casinos (Caligula's Palace and the Four Dragons Casino).
The Triads and the Mafia entered a brief but violent war during 1992 for control of the gambling industry. The three Mafia families have been on rocky terms since, as they all had a stake in Caligula's Casino and each are trying to muscle the other out for its full control.
Las Venturas contains two types of collectibles throughout the city. The first type of collectibles are oysters which can be found in several bodies of water throughout the state. The second type of collectibles are Horseshoes which are horseshoe-shaped objects found exclusively within the city's boundaries, similar to the snapshots in San Fierro and the spray tags in Los Santos. Horseshoes increase the player's gambling luck by increasing the odds of winning. Upon collecting every horseshoe, the player will receive an M4, an SPAS-12, an MP5, and Satchel Charges at the Four Dragons Casino entrance.
Like San Fierro, it is possible for players, without cheating, to enter Las Venturas before it is unlocked by simply swimming across the river from Red County (there are also locations where skillful bike riders can jump from Red County into Las Venturas). Once the player enters the city proper, however, a four-star wanted level is given (though the "Lock Wanted Stars" cheat code will prevent this and allow exploration). Unlike San Fierro, however, there are some small areas along the south side that can be entered safely, namely the dock areas where the player can pick up boats and armor; remain away from the staircases leading up into the city and no Wanted Level is given. It is also possible to safely circumnavigate Las Venturas by water before it's unlocked, though approaching the waterways around San Fierro will activate the Wanted Level penalty, as will approaching too close to the Las Venturas shoreline (or approaching the location of the oyster in the far northeast corner of the map).
