Another Casino in Virginia is Ready to Open, Marks Fifth Slots Venue in Commonwealth
Posted on: January 16, 2026, 11:23h.
Last updated on: January 16, 2026, 11:35h.
- A casino in Petersburg will open later this month
- Cordish Companies and Bruce Smith Enterprise are behind the Live! Casino Virginia project
Virginians will soon have a handful of casinos to choose from when a fifth slots and table games location opens later this month.
Baltimore-based Cordish Companies secured privileges to operate a casino in Virginia through a November 2024 referendum, where Petersburg voters strongly backed its plans to build a $600 million resort there called Live! Casino & Hotel Virginia. More than eight in 10 voters signed off on the project, which is to include subsequent mixed-use development phases.
Virginia’s gaming law allows licensed projects to operate a temporary casino during construction of the permanent resort. Next week, Cordish says it will open a provisional casino in Petersburg.
Petersburg Casino
On Thursday, January 22, Live! Casino Virginia will open its doors with more than 900 slot machines and 30 live-dealer table games. The casino will feature a full bar and a quick-service restaurant called Luckies. Free parking is available at the pavilion tent located at 301 Wagner Road.
The temporary Live! Casino Virginia was initially slated to open at the end of 2025, but Cordish announced a delay in November due to unspecified reasons.
It’s been a long, hard month and a half of work to get it to where it is today. It’s a very true brick-and-mortar type of feel versus a tent. You won’t even know you’re in the tent unless you’re looking up at the ceiling,” Joshua Willet, the director of slots and guest services at Live! Casino & Hotel Virginia, told 12 On Your Side news.
The casino will hold a soft opening on January 20, where preregistered guests can gamble from noon until 8 pm. Live! will donate all money raised during the event to Feed More, a Central Virginia food bank, and the John Randolph Foundation, a Tri-Cities organization dedicated to building healthy communities. Registration for the charity day is here.
Cordish is building the Petersburg casino with NFL Hall of Famer Bruce Smith and his real estate development company.
Cordish and Bruce Smith Enterprise say the $600 million permanent casino will include 1,600 slots, 60 table games, and a sportsbook. The resort plan calls for a 200-room hotel with eight restaurants and bars, a pool complex, a fitness center, convention facilities, and a 4,000-seat theater.
The permanent Live! Casino & Hotel Virginia is expected to open late next year.
Virginia Casinos
With the forthcoming opening of Live! Casino Virginia, the commonwealth will be home to five physical casinos with slots and tables. The others are three permanent casinos: Rivers Casino Portsmouth, Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Bristol, and Caesars Virginia in Danville. A temporary casino in Norfolk opened in November.
Virginia is additionally home to slot-like historical horse racing (HHR) machines. Such gaming can be found at The Rose Gaming Resort in Dumfries, the Colonial Downs Racetrack in New Kent, and Rosie’s Gaming Emporium off-track betting locations.
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