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You're not wrong. Our extensive research into the topic uncovered a total of zero casino bars that serve Dr Pepper. You can, however, purchase cans and bottles from those casino gift shops and vending machines that are in properties that serve Coke rather than Pepsi (more of this later), but that's it. Why, you may ask?
Well, the most common reason we were given, which does seem to make sense, is that there's very little demand, if any (aside from you!), particularly bearing in mind that most bars are focusing on liquor sales. Whereas Coke (or Pepsi) is frequently mixed with Bacardi or Jack Daniels and is a constituent of many cocktails including the Cuba Libra, Long Island Iced Tea, and Black Russian, can you name a single cocktail that includes Dr Pepper? We couldn't. So we searched and searched and came up with only one, namely the Dr Pepper Flame, which includes the tooth-decaying, stomach-churning combination of your favorite soda, plus amaretto and Bacardi 151. Yuch.
Before we tell you where you can buy Dr Pepper, here's a little background (you piqued our interest). The drink was created in Waco, Texas in 1885 by a pharmacist named Charles Alderton. The U.S. patent office lists Dec. 1, 1885 as the first time it was served. Alderton worked at a joint called Morrison's Old Corner Drug Store and the owner of the store, Wade Morrison, is credited for naming the drink after a friend of his, Dr. Charles Pepper.
As demand for the drink grew, Alderton lost interest in pursing the business and manufacturing end of production, so Morrison teamed up with one Robert S. Lazenby, the owner of the Circle "A" Ginger Ale Co. in Waco. The two formed the Artesian Manufacturing & Bottling Company in 1891 and introduced Dr Pepper to the rest of the public at the 1904 World's Fair Exposition in St. Louis.
Dr Pepper/Seven-Up Inc. was formed when Dr Pepper merged with the Seven-Up company in 1986 and nine years later Cadbury Schweppes acquired Dr Pepper/Seven-Up Inc. Today ,Dr Pepper is marketed by Cadbury Schweppes Americas Beverages and is distributed in the Las Vegas area by the Coca-Cola Bottling Plant. A map showing the breakdown of the major casinos that serve Pepsi (27) and Coke (18) can be found at vegastodayandtomorrow.com, a great site for anyone interested in the development of Las Vegas and its architecture, which is updated frequently and tallied with our own independent findings.
As far as the story that Dr Pepper was once used as a laxative is concerned, it most likely stems from the erroneous but common belief that one of the ingredients of the drink is prune juice. According to the Dr Pepper Web site, the drink is a proprietary blend of 23 unidentified flavors and other ingredients, but the company does confirm that prunes are not one of them. There's speculation that the prune rumor was started as early as 1930 by a competitor's deliveryman who was trying to discourage store owners on his route from stocking the drink. Wow, if true that was one effective piece of propaganda.