Laughlin

Laughlin is located on a narrow strip of southern Nevada that is wedged between California and Arizona, across the river from Bullhead City, Arizona. It's historic beginnings make for an interesting story that continues to be told at the Riverside Casino. It goes like this: In 1966 at the age of 35, after selling his casino in Las Vegas, Don Laughlin opened a dilapidated casino on the banks of the Colorado River with three employees, twelve slot machines and eight rooms. The area didn't even have a name. Laughlin was chosen after ruling out Riverside as too common and Casino as too crass.

It seems Laughlin spotted the bankrupt bar while cruising in his private jet and although a non- gambling man, he bet he could attract the fishermen that frequented the Colorado River and nearby Lake Mohave as well as the local people of Needles, California, and Kingman, Bullhead City, and Lake Havasu City in Arizona to his playtime palace. He was right. In fact, Laughlin has since become a destination city.