Don Laughlin's Riverside Resort

Don Laughlin's Riverside Resort is located 90 miles from Las Vegas at the southern-most tip of Nevada. The 1400-room resort features a whole city-full of amenities within its borders, all stretched-out along the Colorado River across from Bullhead City, Arizona.

According to Laughlin, he spotted the future resort's location while scouting the rugged Mohave Desert in his private plane. Two years later he took $35,000 from the sale of his North Las Vegas casino, the 101 Club, and made a down payment on the piece of land then known as Tri State. The land included a boarded-up eight-room motel.

In 1966, the Riverside Resort opened with all-you-can-eat chicken dinners for 98 cents, a dozen slot machines and two gaming tables. The eight-room motel had just four rooms for lent each night, since the Laughlin family occupied the other four.

Business was hardly brisk, but in 1972, Laughlin built a west wing with 48 room. Three years later an east wing was finished with 42 more rooms. The casino expanded too, and helped the town, and the resort by netting enough income to finance a bridge across the Colorado River in 1981.

Traffic moved steadily across the Arizona/Nevada border, and plenty of tourists pulled into the Riverside's parking lots. The first tower was built in 1983, a second in 1986, and in 1994, a 30-story tower opened. Many of the 1405 rooms have wonderful views of the Colorado River surging past the resort.

The Riverside's poker room is friendly and well-run. It too offers a view of the river below. Water taxis are available to cross the river or to carry passengers to other casinos if they prefer a quick river trip to driving their cars. Currently the cost is $4.

The poker room itself features several $15 tournaments each week, freerolls, and offers $2-6 and $4-8 blind Texas Hold'em games. Most nights you will find an Omaha high-low split game and often a small-blind no-limit game in action. High-hand, aces-cracked and after-tournament drawings are always on tap.

The Riverside casino offers 50 table games with roulette, craps, 21, Three Card Poker, Deuces Wild, and Pai Gow. Surrounding the pit along Casino Drive are 1,700 slot and video poker machines. The north side of the casino is no-smoking and has more table games.

The pit features single-deck blackjack and six-deck shoes. Limits run $5 to $500. The crap tables have $2 betting and roulette is offered at $2 minimum with 50-cent chips. Slot players will find plenty of machine types. Many are new, but some are from the 1990's. There are 100's of nickel machines. You can also play Keno from the restaurants and there is a huge Bingo parlor upstairs. Dining

There are restaurants and fast food outlets all over the property, from the Gourmet Room and Prime Rib Room on the second floor, to a buffet, Mexican restaurant, Pizza Hut, Cinnabon, Seattle's Best Coffee, Pizza Hut, Rice Garden, and Dreyer's Ice Cream outlets.

The property also boasts an antique car museum, a six-screen theater, and a 42,000 square foot bowling alley. Adjacent to the lanes is a 5,000-square-foot Race & Sports Book. If you bring your children, there is a supervised child's play center called Don's Kid Kastle.

Room rates are quite reasonable. Currently, four-hours of play in the poker room can get you a $5 bonus and a poker rate in the hotel as low as $29.