Amanda Fridmon's blog : Don Laughlin, who turned a corner of the desert into a casino mecca, dies at 92

Donald J. Laughlin, who transformed a desert area about 100 miles south of Las Vegas into a sprawling casino boomtown that bears his name, died on October 22 in Laughlin, Nevada, at age 92.

His death was confirmed by his grandson, Matt, who now runs the resort facility that Laughlin built.

His gambling oasis on the Colorado River in southern Nevada was little more than a dirt road and a boarded-up eight-room motel when Mr. Laughlin first saw it in 1964. However, after he took the time to browse around this site, envisioning its potential, he embarked on a journey to transform it into what would eventually become a thriving resort destination known as Laughlin.

Today, the town has eight casino resorts, two million annual visitors, a population of more than 9,000, and a jet airport in Bullhead City, Arizona, on the other side of the river, which is served by a Boeing 737, partly funded by him. (Mr. Laughlin also partially paid for the construction of a bridge that carries tourists to and from there.)

Mr. Laughlin has carved out a resort area where land is cheap and parking for recreational vehicles is endless. Laughlin recognized that not everyone who wanted to gamble would also want to pay for a hotel in Las Vegas.

We found that R.V. customers spend as much money as our guests," he told the Las Vegas Review Journal in 1999.

A high school dropout, Laughlin became a billionaire who owned a resort complex of 1,350 rooms, a bowling center, and a multiplex cinema; by 1988, he was the fourth-largest gambler in the country.

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'He was a man of his word,' Michael Green, chair of the history department at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, said by phone. 'He built his town. No one else in the industry can say that."

"He saw the opportunities that existed if you played your cards right," Professor Green added.

A black-and-white photo of Mr. Laughlin wearing a button-down shirt and a jacket with casino-game.co.za.

Mr. Laughlin in 1971. 'He didn't go with the flow. He had his own ideas. "Credit.via Riverside Resort Hotel & Casino

Donald Joseph Laughlin was born on May 4, 1931, on a dairy farm owned by his parents Raymond and Olive (Benarek) Laughlin outside Owatonna, Minnesota, about 65 miles south of Minneapolis. His father was also a part-time truck driver.

Taking chances seemed natural to Donald, and as a teenager he used the money he saved from hunting mink and muskox to buy a mail-order slot machine, which he installed himself at a local pub.

Demand was high, and soon he was making $500 a week (nearly $7,000 in today's money).

The principal of the one-room schoolhouse he attended through high school was not amused. "He told me I had to choose between quitting gambling or quitting high school," he says. I said, 'I make three times what you do.

In 1953, when Nevada was one of the few places in the United States where slot machines were legal, he and his young wife moved to Las Vegas. He worked as a bartender and attended card and dice dealer training school at night; by 1954, he had saved enough to buy the 101 Club restaurant in North Las Vegas. He obtained a gambling license, put "Families Welcome" and "Steak and Eggs" on the sign, and started the area's only blackjack game.

But Mr. Laughlin was restless. He began scouting the state for an alternative to Las Vegas. He found it in the southernmost part of Nevada, in the mountains, desert, and rivers bordering Arizona and California. A bankrupt bar and motel on an unpaved road along the Colorado River was just the place.

A black-and-white photo of the casino and hotel strip at Laughlin's resort.

Mr. Laughlin eventually became a billionaire, owning a 1,350-room resort hotel, casino, bowling center, and multiplex.

He sold the 101 Club for $165,000 and made a down payment of $35,000 in cash for the motel and six acres of land along the Colorado River, ultimately paying $235,000 in all. Something told him that the location's isolation would work in his favor: once the gamblers reached him, he had them in his grasp.

In 1966, Laughlin reopened the motel as the Riverside Resort. He advertised a 98-cent all-you-can-eat chicken dinner, 12 slot machines, and two gambling tables. He and his family lived in four of the motel's eight rooms. One day a postal inspector told him he could not continue to receive mail without the town's name. The inspector suggested Laughlin.

The town, a confluence of three states, was blessed with a constant flow of drivers going back and forth between the three states: 48 rooms in 1972, 52 rooms three years later, a 14-story tower in 1983, and a 307-room tower added in 1986.

Says Bruce L. Woodbury, a longtime county commissioner in Clark County, Nevada. 'He had his own ideas. He was independent. He didn't care what other people thought.

By 1988, when a New York Times reporter visited, Laughlin's resort was worth $167 million. He invested $5 million in a bridge across the Colorado River to Bullhead City, making it easier for employees and guests to get to the slot machines. Cunningly, he placed one end of the bridge near the parking lot.

In the spring of that year, President Ronald Reagan invited Laughlin, who had generally been less politically active, to the White House and honored him for his contributions to the area.

Laughlin's wife, Betty, died in 2022. In addition to his grandson Matt, he is survived by three children, Dan, Ron, and Erin; a sister, Patricia Miller; four other grandchildren; 12 great-grandchildren; and two great-great-grandchildren.

Mr. Laughlin, wearing a blue suit, stands with the phone to his left ear and his right hand on his hip.

Although Mr. Laughlin shunned the limelight, he continued to interact with employees and customers well past the age of 80.

Mr. Laughlin continued to work 14-hour days well past 80, interacting with employees and customers at what is now called the Don Laughlin Riverside Resort Hotel and Casino. Says Executive Director Malibu Diaz, "He was a constant presence on the casino floor."

But he avoided the limelight that flashy players like Steve Wynn and Sheldon Adelson prefer in Las Vegas.

He stayed out of the limelight and minded his own business," Professor Green said. 'There were never any articles about him in the newspapers, and he loved that. The generation he came into the business with didn't want any personal attention.

Diaz said of the enterprise, "This was all an opportunity, and it paid off.

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