Las Venturas

Updated 28 October 2026 · Fan site. Not affiliated with Rockstar Games or Take-Two Interactive.

Las Venturas is the fictional version of Las Vegas in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (2004). It is the third and last city Carl Johnson unlocks, a desert gambling town run by the Mafia. Later HD games only mention it, and they place it in a separate Nevada-like state instead of San Andreas.

What is Las Venturas based on?

Las Venturas is Las Vegas, with neon, giant hotels, wedding chapels and a central Strip lined with casinos. GTA Wiki says it also borrows from Paradise, Nevada, the area that holds most of the real Strip, and takes some of its freeway layout from Sacramento. The name is Spanish for "the fortunes". There is no 2D-era version. The 1997 game had no Las Vegas city.

Las Venturas in the 3D era (GTA San Andreas)

Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas came out on 26 October 2004 and is set in 1992. Las Venturas sits in the desert in the northeast of the state, with Bone County to the west and Red County to the south. It is the last of the three cities to open. GTA Wiki also notes that most goods cost 20% more here than elsewhere in the state.

The Strip runs through the middle of town. Its casinos include Caligula's Palace, The Four Dragons and Come-A-Lot. The Old Venturas Strip copies the Fremont Street area, and Prickle Pine copies Summerlin. On the radio and in dialogue, characters talk about corporations pushing the mobsters out of the gambling business, which echoes what was happening in real Las Vegas in the early 1990s.

What does CJ do in Las Venturas?

Carl Johnson first buys an abandoned desert airstrip and learns to fly. Then Wu Zi Mu, the Triad leader he met in San Fierro, calls him. Wu Zi Mu has opened The Four Dragons and offers Carl a share in return for protecting it. Wikipedia describes Carl as co-owner of the casino with Wu Zi Mu and Ran Fa Li.

The rival Caligula's Palace is shared by three Mafia families: the Forellis, the Sindaccos and the Leones. Carl and Wu Zi Mu answer the Mafia's sabotage by planning a robbery of Caligula's. Along the way Carl helps the casino's manager, Ken Rosenberg, and does jobs for Salvatore Leone, the Liberty City don who arrives to take over. The heist succeeds, and Salvatore swears revenge.

Is Las Venturas in GTA V?

No. GTA V only covers Los Santos and Blaine County. In the HD era Las Venturas is only talked about. GTA Wiki says a TV show in GTA IV and a licence plate added to GTA Online in The Chop Shop update both suggest the HD city lies in a separate, unnamed state inspired by Nevada.

GTA IV's poker show, set in the city, uses actual footage from San Andreas. GTA Wiki calls this the only real glimpse of the 3D city in the HD games. Chinatown Wars and The Ballad of Gay Tony also mention the city.