Virginia Online Casino & Gambling Legislation
For the moment the Commonwealth of Virginia does not permit opening an online casino. In 2019 though, the state-approved that five cities open land-based casinos, and these are expected to start functioning in 2022 and 2023. Retail and online sports betting was legalized in 2020 and in January of next year, sportsbook apps began their official life in the Old Dominion. Laws in the state regulate these two forms of gambling nowadays.
All of this suggests that playing in a Virginia online casino for real money and totally legally is not that far away. Meanwhile, you can entertain yourself with daily fantasy sports, the lottery, and horse racing, as long as you are at least 18 years old. If you want to play in a land-based Virginia casino, you need to be at least 21 years old – the same age as the required for online sports wagering in the state. However, if you simply want to visit a casino, that minimum age does not apply.
How To Bet’s view is that the VA lawmakers will be more than happy with the tax revenues from the online sportsbooks and land-based casinos. This will prompt them to legalize real-money Virginia online casinos sooner rather than later. So let’s take a look at which may be the first to open in the Old Dominion.
Potential Virginia Online Casino List
While we still don’t know whether there will soon be an online casino Virginia sanctions, nobody will be surprised to see this become a reality by the end of this decade. After all, who would have guessed just a few years ago that Old Dominion would change its long-time anti-gambling stance and approve licensed sports apps within its state borders?
We at How To Bet envisage four likely candidates for approval if the state allows online casinos to function there. DraftKings and FanDuel are the first on the potential list as they both are already available to Virginia residents for daily fantasy sports. BetMGM is also a likely choice to be approved.
Other possibilities include Golden Nugget, Caesars, and BetRivers, which is already operating in the state for sports bets. See the candidates who top our online casino index.
DraftKings Online Casino
DraftKings will most probably jump at the chance to be one of the first apps to offer a legal Virginia online casino after doing the same in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Michigan. This is one of the pioneers in terms of offering both daily fantasy sports and sports wagering. Logically, DraftKings is one of the biggest sportsbook apps in the nation. It is well regarded for its excellent website that makes it easy for gamblers to handle their banking and betting needs.
DraftKings provides a plethora of options when it comes to providing the different American and international sports you can bet on, as well as the types of wagers that can be made. It is also known for having some of the best odds in the industry and a welcome bonus up to $1,000. Furthermore, it offers a deposit bonus up to $500, which is available for both existing and new account holders.
DraftKings is consistently rated as one of the best for fantasy sports. Its other attractions include live betting on the phone and fast cash-out features. As for casino-type games, you name it and DraftKings probably has it. It has over 100 games available including slots, table games such as blackjack, baccarat, poker and roulette, and live dealer games. It also has some in-house games that are unique to its site.
FanDuel Online Casino
FanDuel will surely want to keep up with its leading competitor if DraftKings expands and adds a Virginia online casino to its portfolio.
A real heavyweight in the industry, FanDuel was one of the first sportsbook apps in the country. It is famous for its $1,000 risk-free bet on its sports app as well as providing a multitude of casino games. This extensive list includes online slots as well as online table games like blackjack and baccarat. In addition, it offers video poker and specialty games like keno.
FanDuel started offering fantasy sports in 2009 and is considered an expert in providing gambling advice and analysis. It is also known for offering betting opportunities on the full range of United States professional and collegiate sports, as well as international sports. In addition to the risk-free bet, it has many other bonuses and promotions that can easily be found on its user-friendly website. Among its fantasy sports perks are instant payoffs and no commitments.
Keep in mind that FanDuel Online Casino uses its partner company Betfair in New Jersey. This is a realistic possibility for Virginia as well.
BetMGM Online Casino
BetMGM is also a heavy hitter in the world of gambling. If MGM becomes an operator of the sanctioned land-based casino in the fifth city – Richmond, no one would bet against BetMGM Online Casino entering the Commonwealth. And certainly, nobody would bet against it becoming a total hit in the state.
Among its many casino games are a full range of slots, and table games like blackjack, roulette, and poker. All kinds of video poker game options are available along with specialty games and scratch-offs. In addition to risk-free bets and deposit bonuses, BetMGM provides various discounts, rewards, and other bonuses at its land-based MGM resorts for those who create an online account. BetMGM has a mobile app that makes it very easy for you to handle your banking needs, place bets and play casino games.
How We Pick the Potential Top Virginia Online Casino Sites
There are a few fundamental factors when How To Bet creates its lists for top online casino sites. Virginia isn’t an exception even though we’re still talking hypothetically until the state legalizes online casinos. See all the criteria that sites and apps have to follow in order to make our list of the selected few.
Trustworthy
How To Bet will never recommend a future Virginia online casino if we are not 100% sure it provides a legal, safe, and secure user experience. To gain our trust, casino sites and apps have to prove time and time again that they have the best systems and people around. Your personal and financial information must be secured at all costs. The online casino should have a section dedicated to security, high-level site encryption, and a two-step verification process. And last but not least, the games must be played in a fair manner.
Game Selection
We make sure that we put on our list only online casinos that satisfy the gamblers’ diverse personal preferences for games and who give them all kinds of options. In this case, more is better. Why? Because bigger choice means you could find more opportunities to increase your winnings. Furthermore, the choice is important because gamblers are often more comfortable with one game over another. For instance, a card player might very well understand the ins and out of blackjack as opposed to poker. The top online casinos usually offer as many games as possible for one simple reason: they want you on their sites and apps.
Ease of Use
We at How To Bet guarantee that each and every potential Virginia online casino on our selected list is pretty easy to use and navigate. Some require downloading and installing software, but others don’t. The ones that don’t help you to concentrate on having fun and hopefully making money, not wasting your time trying to figure out how it all works in terms of betting and your banking options.
It's best to educate yourself on the process before making bets or depositing money. Make sure you have access to the games you enjoy most before going any further. Another very good idea is to play some free games before betting real money. Free games are almost always available on these sites. It will give you peace of mind to practice a bit before putting your own real money on the line.
Promotions and Bonuses
The online casinos present on our list and expected to operate in Virginia one day must also be user friendly in terms of making the bonuses and promotions easy to find and understand. They will vary by website and most of them will change over time. If you use more than one online casino, it's a good idea to keep your eye on what is currently being offered around in order to secure the best deal. How To Bet always keeps you updated on this, so stick with us.
The list of available promotions and bonuses is long. Here are the main ones:
- Welcome Bonus – Offered by most operators, these are normally displayed quite prominently on the main page. Make sure you are aware of what is expected of you for receiving your bonus. If you are not sure you’ll be able to fulfill the terms of a bonus, you should consider taking one with fewer requirements.
- Deposit Bonuses – With these, the casino will match some of the money you place in your account.
- High Roller Bonuses – for players who wager large amounts of money.
- Free Bet Bonuses
- Reloading Bonuses
- Refer a Friend Bonus
Banking Methods
For every Virginia casino online banking methods should be ultrasafe to enter our list. See the most popular ones:
- Electronic wallets such as PayPal are an often-used method. These are usually very secure and don't require a lot of effort to set up.
- Debit/credit cards such as Mastercard, American Express, Visa and Discover.
- Prepaid cards in which you load the card with money from your bank and then transfer it to your online casino account.
- Banking transfers in which bettors use their bank accounts to put money in their online casino account.
- e-checks – electronic funds transfer (EFT) that uses the Automated Clearing House (ACH) network.
Making Deposits and Withdrawals
Depositing money should be easy to save you time and avoid headaches. The speed by which your money is deposited and withdrawn is usually pretty fast. However, withdrawals often take a little longer and tend to average around 48 hours. Electronic transfers normally occur faster than other ways such as a money order or check. The speed with which a withdrawal is processed can sometimes depend on any fees that are charged. It's often possible to receive your money faster by paying an extra fee.
24/7 Top Quality Customer Service
No matter what concerns may arise, any potential Virginia online casino on our list must be quick to respond to any of your questions and supply answers that are easy to understand. They should have shown that they fully comprehend the importance of top-quality customer service in every other state where they operate. Here are the three main factors for them to fulfill this criteria:
- 24/7 service 365/366 days in a year
- Ultrafast, helpful and useful responses via multiple channels – live chat, phone, email, social media, contact form, etc.
- Capable agents fluent in English, but also other languages – mainly Spanish, French, Italian, Dutch, etc.
Mobile Betting Options
When you eventually start gambling legally at a Virginia casino online, you might not have the time to do it on your computer at home. We are sure that you are on the move more often than not, right? The good news is that the best online casinos offer you the option of mobile betting through their apps which are free to download, compatible with both iOS and Android, and easy to use.
This convenience allows you to play your favorite games from your smartphone or tablet wherever you may be, as long as there is a good Internet connection. Nowadays Wi-Fi is accessible in almost every point in the Commonwealth. That’s another important factor How To Bet acknowledges when making our list of potential top Virginia online casinos.
Remember: Playing Games at Offshore Casinos is Illegal
Some online gambling sites allow people from Old Dominion to play casino games at the moment. The first and most important thing to say straight away is that these offshore casinos are not legal, so putting your money in them brings multiple risks. As they are located outside of the USA, your eventual complaint against them will most likely end in disappointment. Not to mention that, while there is little probability for this to happen, playing in offshore casinos might bring unwanted interest in you from US law enforcement.
So we at How To Bet strongly recommend having a little more patience and wait for the state law to sanction Virginia online casinos. Meanwhile, you can do some betting with your favorite online sportsbook – it’s totally legal in the Commonwealth and, most of all, so much fun.
Potential VA Online Casino Games
Online Slots
As for online slots Virginia definitely has all the attributes to be a state where you can have a great time playing. There will be hundreds of possibilities in terms of slot games in most online casinos in Old Dominion and you must explore all of them when the time comes.
Online Blackjack
The surge of popularity of online blackjack marks is enormous. One of the reasons for that is the minimum bets, which are usually lower compared to those in land-based casinos. Another benefiting factor for you to consider is that there’s no need to wait – when you play online blackjack in Virginia someday, there will always be an open seat for you at any time.
Live Dealer Games
With this feature, you will feel just like being in person at a real casino in Virginia. In live dealer games, you will play baccarat, roulette, blackjack, or maybe poker with an actual dealer and not with the computer.
Online Roulette
Online roulette will surely be available in Virginia online casinos when they open, with different variations of American, European, or French Roulette.
Online Poker
Online poker may be separated from traditional online casino gaming in Virginia when the law is voted on. Most casino sites & apps offer the possibility to play poker too though – live-dealer games with real competitors or with the computer.
Lottery
The lottery remains, for the moment, the only legal online gaming industry in the Commonwealth. You can buy tickets and play games online with your mobile device, as long as you are located in Virginia and are at least 21 years old.
Social Casino and Sweepstakes Sites
Until the state law allows the opening of the first legal Virginia online casino, there are two possibilities to recreate the rush of playing in a real casino: social casino and sweepstakes sites. They must allow free entrance and payout with play money and free redeemable currency.
The most popular sweepstakes site in Virginia – Funzpoints – uses Funzpoints and Premium Funzpoints. The most visited social casino sites – Chumba Casino and LuckyLand Slots – payout with the play-money Gold Coins and the redeemable Sweeps Coins. If you are patient enough to wait for your play currency, you will get it for free. But if you don’t have that much time, you can pay a small convenience fee.
Remember that playing on sites like Funzpoints, Chumba, LuckyLand, and, in case you want to play poker, Global Poker is absolutely legal in Old Dominion. And the feeling almost replicates the one at real online casinos without losing real money, so it’s basically a win-win situation. Slot games, roulette, table games, and much more: that’s what you will find at the social casino and sweepstakes sites.
Approved Virginia Casinos and Locations
In 2021 Bristol, Danville, Norfolk, and Portsmouth – four of the five Virginia cities approved for land-based casinos – began the developing stage. The fifth – Richmond – will enter this phase in 2022. Let’s take a look at the situation as of today, location by location.
Bristol: Hard Rock Casino Bristol
The opening date is expected to be in late 2022 or early 2023. With a $150 million investment and located on the Virginia-Tennessee border, the Hard Rock Casino Bristol is planned as a 90,000 square foot casino with up to 1000 hotel rooms. (And even a live concert venue for the music fans.)
Danville: Caesars Virginia
Caesars will build a casino in Danville after state law allowed it and the City Council voted unanimously in favor.
Norfolk: Norfolk Resort & Casino
The Pamunkey Indian Tribe will build a $700 million casino on the waterfront next to the minor league baseball stadium.
Portsmouth: Rivers Casino Portsmouth
Rivers Casino Portsmouth will be built near the marina on the Elizabeth River. Expectations are that BetRivers would also have a retail location there.
Richmond
The location of the new casino is still unknown at the time being and the city hasn’t voted yet on which operator will be allowed to enter Richmond.
Why Choose a Virginia Online Casino over a Land-Based One when They Open Eventually
- You can do online casino gambling at any time and from anywhere – The convenience of not going to a real land-based casino will save you s lot of money on gas, parking, food, etc.
- You will be calmer and more concentrated when playing – When you are not surrounded by real people and noise, you can increase your chances of winning.
- You will benefit from better bonuses and promotions plus a bigger variety of banking methods – The land-based casinos are more limited in that sense.
- You will be offered a wider variety of games and better time control – Sometimes you have to wait for a while until you get a seat on a table or in front of a machine in real casinos. You don’t get that treatment when you’re gambling online. Plus you do everything at the pace you like and don’t have to walk around searching the locations of different games. And let’s not forget the time wasted in driving to and back from the casino.
