Hotel near Harrah's Laughlin Casino in Laughlin. With a stay at this Laughlin hotel, you'll be steps from Golden Nugget Casino Laughlin and a 5-minute walk from Tropicana Casino Laughlin. Colorado Belle Casino and Laughlin Event Center are also within half a mile (1 km). A casino and a restaurant are featured at this. Pioneer Casino, Laughlin, NV Laughlin, Nevada is the third most visited city in the state and is located in the lower southern corner. The Colorado River runs past the unincorporated town.
Pioneer Hotel & Gambling Hall | |
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Location | Laughlin, Nevada, U.S. |
Address | 2200 South Casino Drive |
Opening date | 1979; 41 years ago |
Theme | Old West |
No. of rooms | 416 |
Total gaming space | 16,300 sq ft (1,510 m2) |
Owner | The New Pioneer, LLC[1] |
Previous names | Colorado Club |
Coordinates | 35°09′19″N114°34′22″W / 35.15541°N 114.57286°WCoordinates: 35°09′19″N114°34′22″W / 35.15541°N 114.57286°W |
Website | Official website |
Pioneer Hotel & Gambling Hall (formerly Colorado Club) is a hotel and casino located on the banks of the Colorado River in Laughlin, Nevada. It is known for its neon cigarette-puffing 'River Rick' marque.[2] It was a sister property of the Pioneer Club in Las Vegas until both properties were sold to separate parties.
What would become the Pioneer Hotel & Gambling Hall initially opened in 1979 as the Colorado Club[3] and was built by Tom Ward and Ed Nigro.[2] In 1986, the casino had the distinction of being the first casino to open a players' club for slot players in Nevada.[2]
The Hotel and Casino were purchased on January 9, 2004 by Archon Corporation.[4] The current owners continue utilizing the western theme that has been the signature of The Pioneer Club since its inception.[5] The casino added a new sports book, operated by Lucky's Race & Sports Book, in August 2009.
A new owner, The New Pioneer, LLC, assumed ownership on May 1, 2018. The casino closed at that time for 'refurbishment', although no timetable for its reopening has been announced.[1]
River Rick is the name of the neon sign that resembles a cowboy that was erected at the Pioneer Hotel & Gambling Hall in 1981. He is also referred to by some as Laughlin Lou,[6] although the hotel itself calls him River Rick.[7]
When Margaret Elardi, owner of the Pioneer Club in Las Vegas, bought the Pioneer Club Laughlin in 1981 she commissioned the River Rick neon sign to be built, which was an almost exact copy of Vegas Vic found at the Pioneer Club in Las Vegas at a cost of $1.5 million.
River Rick was built by the same sign company (Young Electric Sign Company) that made Vegas Vic 30 years prior.
River Rick is one of three neon cowboys in Nevada, the others being Vegas Vic and Wendover Will.
Pioneer Club | |
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Location | Las Vegas, Nevada 89101 |
Address | 25 E Fremont Street |
Opening date | April 10, 1942 |
Closing date | 1995; 25 years ago |
Theme | Old Western |
Signature attractions | Vegas Vic |
Casino type | Land |
Owner | Schiff Enterprises |
Coordinates | 36°10′16″N115°08′43″W / 36.1712°N 115.1454°WCoordinates: 36°10′16″N115°08′43″W / 36.1712°N 115.1454°W |
Pioneer Club Las Vegas was a casino that opened in 1942 and was located in Downtown Las Vegas, Nevada, at 25 East Fremont Street. It ceased operating as a casino in 1995, the same year the Fremont Street Experience was completed.
The Pioneer Club occupied a building that was built in 1918[citation needed] and originally served as a restaurant[citation needed]. The Pioneer Club and Cocktail lounge opened in April 1942 on the corner of 1st Street and Fremont Street.
In 1965, the Pioneer Club bought The Elwell Hotel located at 200 South First St. directly behind the Pioneer Club and renamed it the Pioneer Club Hotel. The Hotel was sold in 1969 and became the Golden Hotel. In 1983 The Pioneer Club bought Club Bingo located to the west of it and enlarged its Casino area. From 1956 to 1967 it was called the New Pioneer Club. In 1984 The Golden Nugget bought the hotel and demolished it, building a parking garage for its Casino and Hotel in its place.[1]
For many years, The Pioneer Club was one of downtown's leading casinos.[2]
Margaret Elardi who also owned the Frontier Hotel on The Strip and later the Pioneer Hotel & Gambling Hall casino in Laughlin, owned the club for a while, then Gold Strike Resorts. In 1992 new owners purchased the Pioneer Club but were unable to compete with the larger casinos on Fremont Street both at the beginning and at the end of the Fremont Street Experience or with the large new megaresorts on The Strip.[2] The owners closed the venerable casino in 1995 and it remained vacant until 1998 when Schiff Enterprises bought the Pioneer Club and opened a souvenir store inside. The vintage Pioneer Club signs and Vegas Vic sign still exists on the exterior of the building.
Although the Pioneer Club no longer operates as a casino, Vegas Vic (The 40 ft[3]neon cowboy) lives on. In 1947 Las Vegas chamber of Commerce hired a West-Marquis firm which invented the Fremont Street Cowboy Vegas Vic and his friendly 'Howdy Podner' greeting.[4]
The Young Electric Sign Company was commissioned to build the neon version of the sign by the owners of the Pioneer Club. They then commissioned Pat Denner who modeled it after the image used by the Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce[5] in 1947 consisting of a cowboy in blue jeans with a yellow-checked shirt and red bandanna. Vegas Vic was then erected on the exterior of the building in 1951 changing the exterior of The Pioneer club forever.[2]
Vegas Vic and the exterior of the Pioneer Club are prominently featured in shots from the 1971 James Bond film, 'Diamonds Are Forever'.
The Pioneer Club 1940s
The Pioneer Club 1950s
The Pioneer Club 1973
Vegas Vic closeup, post 1998 restoration
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