John Ford | April 26, 2022 | Updated on: January 27th, 2023
Casinos in Virginia are a bit hard to come by because there aren’t any…yet! Since voting for the construction of gambling venues, four massive casinos have started construction in cities such as Danville, Norfolk, and Bristol.
So, you should be able to play all your favorite casino games in Virginia relatively soon. But until such a time, you may be looking for other opportunities to play these games. You may have had to drive to West Virginia, Maryland, or North Carolina to visit a casino in the past.
Nowadays, you need to look for an online casino that accepts players from Virginia. Below we list some of the top online gambling sites for Virginians, along with explaining all you need to know about gambling in the Old Dominion.
Top-Rated Virginia Online Casinos
Virginia Casino Links
- Top-Rated Virginia Online Casinos
- Gambling Laws in Virginia
- Land-Based Casinos in Virginia
- VA Online Casinos – FAQs
Gambling Laws in Virginia
Virginia has only recently started opening itself up to the idea of gambling. For a long time, the only forms of gambling available in the state were horse racing and the lottery. And, then, in 2014, some racetracks were shut down, leaving residents with even fewer opportunities to wager.
Nowadays, everything looks to be on the up. There are now tons of gambling options available to Virginia’s residents, with more set to come. Some of the available options include:
- Sports betting – Virginia legalized sports betting in 2020. It was the second state to do so, which may be surprising given how conservative they have been with their other gambling laws.
- Historical and live horse racing – is one of the forms of online gambling the state has openly legalized.
- Daily fantasy sports – Virginia was actually the first state to legalize the activity and has been working with DraftKings and FanDuel ever since.
- Lottery games – Virginia has one of the most extensive state lottery programs available. Not only can you play interstate games like Mega Millions and Powerball, but tons of fun progressive jackpot games are also available to you.
If this wasn’t enough, the state also has about four casinos in the pipeline, which will all be near some of its biggest cities.
The state also used to have very popular “skill-based” gaming machines that manipulated the gray areas of the law. However, laws were later amended to disallow the purchase and operation of these games. The machines are currently being phased out, with many stores in Pennsylvania purchasing devices.
Currently, the phase-out period has a planned endpoint of July 1, 2021. So, if you love these games, play them while you still can.
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Online Gambling
First and foremost, online sports betting is explicitly legal in Virginia. The state legalized sports betting in 2020. In 2021 many online sportsbooks launched, including DraftKings, FanDuel, and BetMGM.
Concerning online casino gambling, Virginia laws are very vague. In fact, they don’t really mention it at all in their regulations, which makes gambling online in the Old Dominion a legal gray area.
This means you can play casino games online in Virginia because no laws prohibit you from doing so. Until such a time that Virginia amends its laws to outlaw online casino games strictly, you can play at offshore casinos with no fear of being prosecuted.
Land-Based Casinos in Virginia
Unfortunately, there are currently no land-based casinos in Virginia. Some of the state’s biggest cities, including Bristol, Norfolk, Danville, Richmond, and Portsmouth, were allowed to vote for or against the establishment of casinos in November 2020, and the response was overwhelmingly positive.
New casinos are planned for the following areas:
- Caesars Virginia in Danville – the casino is set to start construction in late 2021/early 2022.
- Norfolk Resort & Casino in Norfolk – construction of the casino is set to start in Spring 2021.
- Rivers Casino in Portsmouth – construction of the casino is set to start in 2021.
- Hard Rock Casino Bristol in Bristol – this casino has a very ambitious opening date of 2022.
As building casinos takes some time, it is safe to say that residents can expect to wait a while before they are actually able to visit a brick-and-mortar casino in Virginia.
VA Online Casinos – FAQs
No, Virginia does not have any casinos. There are currently casinos in the pipeline for some of the state’s biggest cities, including Danville, Norfolk, Portsmouth, and Bristol.
Yes, you can gamble online in Virginia because it is neither legal nor illegal. Currently, Virginia’s laws do not make any reference to the legality of online gambling. Thus, by default, gambling is not illegal. The state actually has to ban something before you can get into trouble for doing it.
Theoretically, yes. The state just legalized casinos and is in the process of building venues, so there isn’t any way to play these games yet. Hopefully, by 2022, though!
No, internet sweepstakes are not legal in Virginia. The state officially banned these offerings in 2011 after the laws surrounding them appeared to be a bit unclear.
There are no online casinos in Virginia – there aren’t even physical casinos. However, there are online casinos that accept Virginia players based offshore, which you can use to satiate your gambling needs.
Yes, sports gambling is legal in Virginia. The activity was legalized in 2020, and the first set of sportsbooks launched in January 2021.
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