Casino magnate Laughlin dies

He was one of the few well-known Owatonna natives who didn’t find fame on a stage.

Don Laughlin, namesake of hotels, casinos, and more, died Oct. 22 in the town that also bears his name, Laughlin, Nev. He was 92.

He grew up on a farm outside Owatonna, and like many kids in the World War II era, earned his spending money by trapping muskrat, mink, and other animals. With a savvy business sense that would become clear in the following decades, Laughlin invested his profits in a few slot machines and a punchboard route.

He was making enough money – some accounts say $500 a week before he was 15 years old – that school took a back seat.

As the story goes, his principal gave him an ultimatum: education or gambling.

He cashed in his chips, so to speak, and dropped out of school in ninth grade.

By the time he was 22, Laughlin was married to Betty Jones, who was from Faribault. In 1953, the couple left Owatonna with their baby boy, headed for Las Vegas and pulling a small travel trailer.

Laughlin worked as a waiter during the day, attending a “dice and dealer” school at night.

According to business records, he bought the 101 Club in North Las Vegas in 1954 and sold it 10 years later. He found an empty, run-down, eight-room motel and bar along the Colorado River south of Las Vegas, and in 1966, opened the Riverside Resort. It featured all-you-can-eat chicken dinners for 98 cents, a dozen slot machines, and two gaming tables.

In 1968, the land on which the resort sat was named Laughlin by the U.S. Postal Service.

Back then, the resort was accessible by a dirt road, which flooded when it rained.

Today, Laughlin has a population of nearly 8,000, and is home to eight casino resorts drawing 2 million visitors annually.

Its founder was inducted into the American Gaming Association Gaming Hall of Fame in 1991. He turned down offers to buy other casinos and had no interest in expanding to other places – like, up the road to Las Vegas.

In 1986, Laughlin paid for and built the Laughlin Bridge over the Colorado River, connecting Nevada and Arizona. He donated land and money for the Laughlin/Bullhead City International Airport.

A helicopter pilot, Laughlin spent a lot of time flying between his penthouse suite at the Riverside and his cattle ranch in nearby Kingman, Ariz.

He also used his private helicopter to fly back to Owatonna for the Steele County Free Fair, parking it in the vacant lot where the Northwoods Cinema movie theater now stands. He gave up his pilot license at age 84.

All that, yet when his beloved Betty died in 2022, after nearly 70 years of marriage, her obituary described their life like this:

“They ended up opening a few small casinos and sold them. By 1966, they arrived at what is now Laughlin, Nevada. She had a large impact on many people’s careers at the Riverside Resort.”

She was much more interested in the community at large, serving on the town board and advocating for the food bank.

Her husband, by all accounts, worked as hard at 85 as he did at 15, spending 14-hour days at his flagship casino, greeting guests and employees alike.

The couple is survived by two sons, a daughter, five grandchildren, 12 great-grandchildren and two great-great-grandchildren.

Don Laughlin is also survived by a sister.