Document and Entity Information	3 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2012	May 11, 2012 Class A Voting	May 11, 2012 Class B Non-Voting
Document Information [Line Items]
Document Type	10-Q
Amendment Flag	false
Document Period End Date	Mar. 31, 2012
Document Fiscal Year Focus	2012
Document Fiscal Period Focus	Q1
Entity Registrant Name	RIVIERA HOLDINGS CORP
Entity Central Index Key	0000899647
Current Fiscal Year End Date	--12-31
Entity Filer Category	Non-accelerated Filer
Entity Common Stock, Shares Outstanding		10	9,039,035