I think I mentioned before that I liked the vibe of the old DI or the Sands... Things fairly close together and lots to do

I'm thinking Laughlin fits.that description to some degree..

I did notice that 1) no good golf course.nearby ( and nothing very close),_2) have to go pretty far.north to get across the river to all the stores in arizona. Is there a simple water taxi to get across?. If course, I can't imagine going to Laughlin without a car

Thanks in advance

It has been years since I have been to either place, but you might want to take a look at Mesquite instead if you've never been there. Lots of golf available as I recall.

Or Wendover for the casino vibe. Not much golf there AFAIK.

I guess I am a little unclear about what you asking.

Yes most of the casinos on the Laughlin main drag are within easy walking distance of each other. There is one that is now permanently closed (Colorado Belle) smack dab in the middle though.

Correct there are no golf courses within walking distance of the main Laughlin drag. There is a golf course across from the Avi Resort, which is the one casino not on the main Laughlin drag. There are also a few golf courses in Bullhead City but I am not familiar with them.

There is a small dying outlet mall on the Laughlin main drag for some shopping. Yes right across the river there are regular types of stores (Wal Mart, fast food, etc.). I have seen a water taxi on occasion but I do not know where it goes to & from. The only other ways across are the main bridge next to the main Laughlin drag or the bridge that is down by the Avi Resort. BTW you will not want to walk around the part of Bullhead City that is directly across from Laughlin. It is a meth-head infested s**thole.

hope this helps.

I live in Laughlin,

Laughlin Ranch (golf course) is across from the casinos (actually in AZ) it's maybe 15 minutes by car on the parkway. Emerald river golf course which was 5 mins by car just south of Harrah's on Casino drive closed years ago. Rest of golf is pretty far.

Shuttle boat that crosses the river from the Riverside Casino to BHC runs regularly. Free just have to tip the guy.

Old Bullhead, which the poster referred to in post #3 isn't as bad as he says but it has tweakers and people will beg at the gas stations. Rule of Thumb here is once you hit Home Depot don't stop driving until you see Lowe's where it's a nicer neighborhood and vice Versa.

Poker has died here,only two casinos have a poker room one of which is Harrah's which is barely hanging on. Open only 5 days and not much action other is in the Riverside which is better. If you have any more questions let me know.

Just curious.

What makes a person want to live in Laughlin? Just seems like one of those places where you HAVE to have a story if you're gonna decide to move there.

If you want it hot as f**k, and you are content to live in God's Waiting Room, you might like BHC.

Personally, we used to drive down to Laughlin occasionally, when poker was available, and Harrahs was on sale, "pre Hells Angels era".

When our son was about 5, he liked riding the water taxis up and down the river .... so we did that a few times every visit.

On occasion, we went to Lake Havasu instead, which I found a nicer destination.

I used to take a yearly golf trip to Laughlin pre-covid when the junkets came to Texas, we loved it. If you're looking to golf Mojave Resort is where to go and yes it's about a 20-minute drive from the Casino Strip in Laughlin. If you're looking to play Poker, Riverside is the place this time of year with all the snowbirds wintering there is the best time for that poker room.

Not really, my job is seasonal so I have winters off. A co-worker in NY told me about it and I gave it a try. I love it here. Low cost of living, small town feel and a decent drive from Vegas, PHX, SoCal etc. Sure, across the river in BHC has some white trash but most are hard working, decent people that love to boat, drive sandrails etc. From the outside you may not understand but once I was here for a few weeks I got it.

Sure, summers are brutal but I am either in NY or San Diego so I get the best of both worlds, don't forget as well Bullhead is totally different than Laughlin but yes in winter the older snowbirds come in who are retired. Miami John once said to me what are you doing in Laughlin you have to be at least 70. LOL

my thoughts are that... IT'S BORING!

Assuming one doesnt need to work, BHC seems like a decent alternative to Las Vegas or Phoenix for a place to live. As someone else mentioned, you're going to have a lower cost of living. Keep in mind I've never been there, just done a bit of research on the area. The advantage of living in BHC is you can play DFS and have access to different books like Fanduel and Draftkings living on the Arizona side. Sucks that poker is almost non-existent according to other posters. You're only about an hour from Vegas. As a golfer, I saw there were some decent options (Laughlin Ranch Golf Club looked to be the best option just from looking at the pics). And there are several courses in the area all the way down the Colorado to Lake Havasu.

You're about 3.5 hours from both Palm Springs and Phoenix.

I guess the OP was talking about making a vacation out of it. Why wouldnt you just go to the Palm Springs area...it's a golf mecca. And there is the Morongo Casino there that has poker.

A couple of minor points:

1. AZ has a state income tax, NV does not.

2. 1.5 hours is the minimum drive time to the LV metro area (excluding Henderson). The first 15 miles out of Laughlin are up a steep winding hill to get out of the valley (i.e. 55 MPHish at best) and then going thru Searchlight is 25 MPH max for roughly 5 minutes.

The longest 5 minutes of your life ..... until they finish they rename it the Harry Reid Memorial Highway and put in a toll booth in honor of their native son.

I assume you're referring to this

I live right off 163 so it's an hour and 15 mins. BHC is a good 90 mins.

Is Searchlight still as big of a speed trap as it used to be?

Probably the biggest industry for miles around.

Yep sure is. As I may have said before I discovered Laughlin New years 2002. Was playing tables at the Pioneer and asked the dealer how the drive to Vegas was. He said don't go over 25mph in Searchlight. They don't give you 5mph or anything. It was good advice.

I’m a Laughlin dork, highly recommend for a few days if your town for a week or more.

The drive from LV is pleasant and I liked the last portion through the mountains.

If you like to gamble, like old school diners and steakhouses and drink it’s a perfectly acceptable place for 2-3 days.

They have some pretty decent rule 3/2 double deck hand dealt BJ for $10 mins. Riverside is old school, imagine the casino is like the old Dunes or something. Low ceilings, smoky, bunch of gamblers. The table games pit and poker room next to it have big windows with great views of the Colorado River. They also have a cool VP bar with views of the river as do most of the VP bars at the different casinos.

Poker action is pretty decent. Was there on a Wednesday and Thursday night and they had several games. Main game is a $2-$10 spread game that played probably as big as the smaller $1- $2 games in LV. They also had a $1/$2 NL game on the weekends and I played and a low buyin O8 tourney.

Water taxi runs its like $5 one way and fun and easy. I walked into all the casinos from Riverside to Harrah’s and took the taxi back. I’m weird other than waking Riverside to Aquarius and maybe Edgewater, I wouldn’t recommend walking more than that.

For food several coffee shops/diners. Old school prime rib place at Riverside is like $25 for a big cut, salad, desert and potato bar. The gourmet room is really cool and classic dishes. Place that carves lamb Provençal or beef chateaubriand tableside. With soup/salad and side dishes for under $50. Heck there’s even an In N Out and Capriotti’s.

Next time I’m there my plan is to stay at Aquarius which probably has the nicest rooms. Riverside is the most old school and fun but rooms are dated. Stay at Aquarius but walk along river to Riverside for poker and table games.

I went in the Summer it’s hot, even hotter than Vegas but I’m from Houston and found the weather here more pleasant. Summer had good crowds, surprisingly more young budget minded families mostly there for river boating/jet skiing etc.

I guess if you're a penny pincher you might take taxes into account. But I guess you'd have to weigh that vs how much you'd save on things like rent/home purchase, car insurance, etc. According to the website Best Places, living in Bullhead City is 15% cheaper than Vegas (taxes not taken into account). So even if their calculations are off a bit, not having income taxes in Nevada is far outweighed by the cheaper cost of living in Bullhead City. https://www.bestplaces.net/cost-of-l...city-az/100000.

By the way, Arizona will be going to a flat state income tax of 2.5% starting this year. Also, Arizona does not tax your social security. Arizona is one of the tax friendliest states out there.

Why would retirees care about state income tax? I’d be more concerned about retiring someplace with high property taxes.

not sure why we are comparing living in bullhead city to vegas and not laughlin

one of those locations laughlin vs. bhc (retired or not) vs. the other is a no-brainer, at least to me. but hey, u guys do u.

Not a financial expert, just my guess.

Due to RMDs on IRA-type accounts, many retirees have pretty significant income, even without a job.

^Good point.

Didn’t realize we were comparing living in BHC vs Laughlin. I like visiting for a few days but don’t think I’d want to live in either. To be honest didn’t think anyone actually lived in Laughlin, figured everyone local came across from BHC. Did meet a few locals that I believe lived in condos in Laughlin.

I’ll bite which one is better and why?

I will be in Laughlin for one night as part of my 19-day Vegas trip next month. I will be there on Thursday and was hoping to play some poker at Harrah's or Riverside. Been looking at Bravo and it looks like Harrah's rarely has a game on Thursday nights, is that true? (I see that it's only open Thursday to Monday.)

And 2-10 spread limit at Riverside, does that play more like a limit game? Can't imagine only being able to bet $10 on the river. Is there usually a game on Thursday nights?

^you got snookered into going to Laughlin, go to bed early so you can get up at the cfack of dawn to high tail it out of that place... keep an eye open for the 'Super Blooms' going on in the desert right now.