Exhibit 31.1  Certification  of the Principal Executive Officer of the
Registrant Pursuant to Exchange Act Rule 13a-14(a).


I, William L. Westerman, certify that:

1. I have reviewed this annual report on Form 10-K of Riviera Holdings
Corporation;

2. Based on my knowledge, this report does not contain any untrue statement of a
material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary to make the statements
made, in light of the circumstances under which such statements were made, not
misleading with respect to the period covered by this report;

3. Based on my knowledge, the financial statements, and other financial
information included in this report, fairly present in all material respects the
financial condition, results of operations and cash flows of the registrant as
of, and for, the periods presented in this report;

4. The registrant's other certifying officer and I are responsible for
establishing and maintaining disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in
Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e)) and internal control over financial
reporting (as defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f)), for the
registrant and have:

      a. Designed such disclosure controls and procedures, or caused such
disclosure
         controls and procedures to be designed under our supervision, to ensure
         that material information relating to the registrant, including its
         consolidated subsidiaries, is made known to us by others within those
         entities, particularly during the period in which this report is being
         prepared;

      b. Designed such internal control over financial reporting, or caused such
         internal control over financial reporting to be designed under our
         supervision, to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability
         of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for
         external purposes in accordance with generally accepted accounting
         principles;

      c. Evaluated the effectiveness of the registrant's disclosure controls and
         procedures and presented in this report our conclusions about the
         effectiveness of the disclosure controls and procedures, as of the end
         of the period covered by this report based on such evaluation; and

       d. Disclosed in this report any change in the registrant's internal
         control over financial reporting that occurred during the registrant's
         fourth fiscal quarter that has materially affected, or is reasonably
         likely to materially affect, the registrant's internal control over
         financial reporting; and

5. The registrant's other certifying officer and I have disclosed, based on our
most recent evaluation of internal control over financial reporting, to the
registrant's auditors and the audit committee of the registrant's board of
directors:

       a. All significant deficiencies and material weaknesses in the design or
         operation of internal control over financial reporting which are
         reasonably likely to adversely affect the registrant's ability to
         record, process, summarize and report financial information; and

       b. Any fraud, whether or not material, that involves management or other
         employees who have a significant role in the registrant's internal
         control over financial reporting.

         Date:    March 14, 2006

         William L. Westerman
         --------------------
         William L. Westerman
         Chief Executive Officer