? Virginia Online Casinos

Are there any casinos online in Virginia? VA online casino real money sites are not going to be legal in the state for quite some time. USA online casinos and mobile sportsbooks available in different states follow a model where they tie up with retail casino sites, tribal casinos, and/or major league sports franchises. Virginia brick-and-mortar casinos are just coming up, so it will take some time before the state considers opening doors to online casinos such as BetMGM, Caesars, FanDuel, Golden Nugget, DraftKings, and BetRivers.

Once the land-based casinos start taking off, you can expect more activity and progress to get VA online casinos. That can be many years away as the state has forayed into iLottery sales recently and residents can buy lottery tickets with online ticket sales.

All said and done, VA players would be happy to know that there are multiple legal options to play casino games online even if there are no regulated Virginia online casinos for real money gambling. BonusFinder has researched the state of online casinos in Virginia. You can play at top sweeps casinos and play sweepstakes casino games such as the most popular table game Blackjack, progressive jackpot slots, Bingo, and other games online. You can use payment methods such as a credit card, debit card, Visa, PayPal and other banking options and withdraw real money to your account if you win at sweepstakes games. Not all sweeps casinos offer real money prize redemption; you may also get operators who let you play for fun and claim gifts from reward points.

The best part about VA mobile casinos apps and sites is that you do not need to deposit any money to play at social casino apps and sites. You literally play for free with the gold coins you get in new user welcome promotion offer. You have the option to buy additional gold coins and get free sweesptake coins (SCs) with purchase. You can win cash prizes only at sweeps games and with sweeps coins on valid games subject to terms and conditions.

? Top Rated Online Casinos in Virginia 2024

Best best online casinos in Virginia right now are the various social casino sites which legally operate under sweepstakes laws. Pick and choose a sweepstakes casino without the need for a purchase or a cash deposit to gamble online. Play for fun, play for free, play sweepstakes games online.

? VA Online Casino Bonuses

Online casinos provide you with all kinds of welcome bonuses meant for new customers or players. You can redeem different bonus offers subject to wagering requirements.

• Online casino real money Virginia no deposit: You can claim 3.3 sweepstake coins in Virginia online casino no deposit bonus. You also get 5,000 gold coins at Pulsz and Wow Vegas. You can redeem sweepstakes prizes for real money and withdraw cash to your bank account.
• Free Spins No Deposit: Gambino Slots gives 200 Free Spins offer in Virginia along with 100,000 coins for online casino gaming.
• Gold Coins: You get no deposit gold coins at almost every social casino site listed here. You do not need to make a purchase at any site.
• Sweepstake coins: You get them in promotions around the year at online sweepstake casinos. Pulsz Casino, for example, gives you the opportunity to claim 2,000 SCs every week in social media contests, giveaways, leaderboard competitions, jackpot slots, and so on.

Cashbacks, 24 hours free play, and deposit match bonuses seen at real money mobile casinos are not offered at legal sweepstakes casinos as the latter are not deposit and withdrawal gambling sites.

Virginia Online Casino No Deposit Bonus

Players can claim 100,000 gold coins and 5 sweeps coins for free when they create a new account. Pulsz and Wow Vegas casino give you 5,000 no deposit bonus gold coins when you create your new account. Gambino Slots gives 200 free spins. Use the no deposit bonuses to redeem prizes for real cash playing sweeps games. All VA sweeps casinos offer no deposit bonuses; you do not need to make a deposit or make a real money purchase. Pick a no deposit bonus you like and play hundreds of casino games.

? Casino Gaming in Virginia

You can play all kinds of casino games online in Virginia casinos such as Pulsz and Wow Vegas online casino apps. The range and selection of games is not as rich as real money casinos, but it is still an impressive range. VA social casinos are constantly adding to the list of games, and you can expect new games every week. Here is a lowdown on different kinds of Vegas casino games that you can enjoy.

Slots

Video Slots are hugely popular across all casinos anywhere in the world. Real money jackpot slots are sought after for a reason, as a high RTP (return-to-player) slot can deliver even a six-sum figure to players.

Pulsz casino has over 300 games in its online lobby. Some popular slots are Starburst, Starburst XXXtreme, Sugar Rush, Wolf Gold, Hot Triple Sevens, and Big Bass Bonanza.

You can play Power of Thor Megaways and other casino gambling games at Wow Vegas casino site online. Progressive Jackpot slots remain very popular, and every social casino provides a separate section in the games lobby for jackpot slots.

Megaways

Megaways slots can pay you in many ways. Popular games include Great Rhino Megaways, Extra Chilly Megaways, Buffalo King Megaways, Extra Juicy Megaways and others. Wow Vegas casino offers over a doze Megaways games for Virginians.

Video poker

Online poker is hugely popular among live casino games. You can play Texas Holdem Poker at Pulsz. The poker game has a medium volatility (5/10).

Table Games

You can play Single Deck Blackjack, the popular table game Baccarat, Multi-hand Blackjack and American Blackjack at Wow Vegas casino online in Virginia. Live casino games with a dealer are also available at a few sites.

? Social and Sweepstakes Online Casinos Explained

You can play real money casino-style games using the different sweepstakes casinos in Virginia. Social gaming slots or social casinos are similar to real online casinos in some ways, and they let you play Vegas slots for free. On some social casino sites, you can also redeem prizes for real money and withdraw real cash prizes to your bank account, subject to sweepstakes terms and conditions. Game suppliers at social casinos include the popular game softweare providers such as Pragmatic Play or Betsoft, and others.

Legal sweepstakes has been popular in the US: Publishers Clearing House, McDonald’s, Pepsi and other corporations have used it in some form and popularized it.

Sweepstakes sites do not require you to make a purchase. Social casinos are not the usual deposit and withdrawal sites. You cannot be forced to deposit real money or make a purchase. Similarly, you do not get real cash awards directly that you can withdraw to online banking channels.

You get free gold coins when you register your new account. You can play slots, table games, Megaways and other games for free using the gold coins.

Casino customers can optionally buy virtual gold coin packages that allow them to play their games but have no value outside them. Gold coins like Wow Vegas coins, or Pulsz coins have no monetary value.

Buyers of most gold coin packages get bonus sweeps coins, which can be used to play the sweeps games. These are redeemable for cash in most of the US and Canada. So the sweeps coins given for free count as trade promotion and are legal sweepstakes.

You can never purchase sweepstakes coins (SCs). You get them for free in promotions, contests, or when you make an optional purchase of a gold coin package. You cannot affect your chances of winning or game odds by buying or making a purchase.

Valid sweepstakes games played with sweepstakes coins, or SCs, can be redeemed for real money prizes at sites like Pulsz casino and Chumba casino. There are limitations on the amount of money that you can redeem per day/slot with sweepstakes in some states such as Florida (maximum $5,000). Cash withdrawals are always subject to taxes on gambling winnings, verification and processing times.

Social online casinos follow the sweepstake laws in the US so that they are not classified as gambling or online lottery. You can play at social casino sites in about 47 states in the US, including in the Commonwealth of Virginia.

? Pulsz Casino in Virginia

Pulsz is among the best online casino options for Virginian players. Other popular VA casinos online include Wow Vegas Casino, BetRivers.net, and Gambino Slots. You get to play with free gold coins, and you get promotional sweeps coins or sweepstake coins.

• Gold Coins: Gold coins is a virtual currency that you get for free for creating a new account to play casino-style games. Pulsz or Chumba casino give a certain number of free gold coins to players without the need for any purchase. These coins or virtual chips have no monetary value and you can use them for online casino gaming.
• Sweeps Coins: You can play sweepstakes games with sweeps coins and redeem them for real money prizes at sites like Pulsz, Chumba online casino, and Wow Vegas Casino. You cannot buy sweepstakes coins with money. You get them for free when you buy gold coin packages, or you get them by mailing hand-written sweepstakes requests or by entering in social media contests on Twitter or Facebook or weekly promotions by casinos. There are many ways to get free SC coins at Pulsz and other sites.

Other VA online casino options are:

Wow Vegas Casino: You can start your gameplay for free with 5,000 free gold coins (called Wow coins) and 1 free sweeps coin at Wow Vegas casino. You can play casino slots, table games like Blackjack and Roulette, and video poker online.

Gambino Slots Casino: Gambino Slots is popular home of online slots for social gaming. VA players get 200 free spins for online casino gaming and 100,000 coins for free at Gambino Slots.

Others: FunzPoints, Global Poker (for poker games and slots), Slotomania, Fortune Coins, BetRivers.net, LuckyLand social casino, House of Fun, DoubleDown casino, and others are available for Virginia gaming industry.

? The legality of VA Online Gambling

Real-money online casinos are definitely not legal in Virginia at this time. Also, there is no plan to make legislative changes to give licenses to real money online casino operators within the Virginia commonwealth. Currently, licensed USA online casinos are only available in NJ, PA, MI, WV, CT and Delaware.

Virginia has not been very receptive to any form of gambling in the past. It is not uncommon to find VA license plates in West Virginia casinos or Maryland because Virginia gambling legislation are a bit strict with respect to casinos.

The Virginia legislature and Gov. Ralph Northam actually enacted a bill in February 2020. The bill allowed five Virginia cities, namely Bristol, Danville, Norfolk, Portsmouth, and Richmond, to hold referendums seeking the construction of a casino within city limits.

Virginia does not have racinos or horse betting. It has only one land-based casino site. State lottery named Virginia Lottery is the primary source and destination for bettors. There are five VA betting locations.

At the same time, it can be said that casino gambling is gradually in the mind of the state and its lawmakers. We may as well find BetMGM online casino, DraftKings online casino and other options in the future someday.

? Play Safe and Avoid Offshore Online Casinos

Real money VA Online casinos found through a simple search on the internet are not legal. Offshore casinos or poker rooms are not licensed by Virginia Lottery, and they may not be legal sweepstakes.

You should avoid playing at sites claiming to be Virginia online casino sites because they are not regulated for business in the US. You may lose your money or may not get the promised bonus when you play at offshore casinos or poker rooms, which may be dishonest when it comes to revealing full terms and conditions and wagering requirements.

When you play at legal Virginia online casino sites or retail sports betting sites you have access to clean, regulated online gambling sites approved by the Virginia Lottery Board. Responsible gambling measures are also promoted reasonably by the government.

? Play Casino Games for Free

You can play online casino games for free without paying any real money in demo mode on real money sites or sweepstakes sites. You can play for free in the demo mode or with free gold coins you get at social online casinos.

Playing free casino games has its own advantages: you do not need to risk real money or own cash. You can practice, test-drive, check and learn the ropes in demonstration mode before you buy a gold coin package or deposit real money to play online. With that learning and practice in a non-monetary environment, you will more comfortable when you play real cash games.

However, when you play real money casino games, you get VIP points, loyalty points, and leaderboard benefits. Social casinos such as Pulsz also give you free sweepstake coins bonus with tier movement within the loyalty prize structure. The more you play, the more you can win free SC coins at online casino gaming.

Casino Apps

Online casinos provide you with dedicated Android and iOS apps that you can download for your Android devices or Apple smartphones. Downloading the mobile casino apps is totally optional, as you can play with the mobile website quite satisfactorily.

VA Social casinos are often also available for Windows, Amazon, and as a Facebook app apart from being available on the Google Play Store and Apple App Store. You can play in the app or in the no-download website mode.

You can play at social casinos online from Virginia and most other states where sweepstakes are not prohibited by law.

? Virginia Lottery Board

The Virginia Lottery regulates and licenses casinos and online sports betting in the state.. The VA Lottery board mainly oversees the lottery games sales and promotions in the state. There are a number of board members supervising different aspects of work of the Board. Board members are citizens and residents of the Commonwealth.

• Kelly T. Gee: Executive Director: Kelly T. Gee was appointed by Governor Glenn Youngkin in June, 2022. She serves as the Executive Director of the Virginia Lottery. Ms. Gee has spent the last decade before this position in public services. Kelly joined the Lottery Board in 2018; she served on the Lottery’s leadership team as the Manager of Government Relations. She studied at the College of William and Mary and has a Master of Arts in Political Science from Virginia Tech University.
• Hamid Ferhan: Ferhan Hamid (Vienna) is the President & CEO of Hamid Capital Partners.
• Cynthia D. Lawrence: Cynthia D. Lawrence is a special projects consultant in education and workforce development for Carilion Clinic.
• Vonda M. Collins: Vonda is the Director of Legal Operations for Altria.
• Orrin K. Gallop: Orrin K. Gallop is the Assistant Chief and Commander of Investigative Services for the Hampton Police Division.
• JP Powell: JP Powell has two restaurants in Ronaoke, Lucky and Fortunato. His term ends in 2023.
• Scott A. Price: Scott A. Price of Alexandria is the Regional Policy Director for Dominion Energy. His term ends in 2026.

Board’s Responsibilities

• The Virginia Lottery Board’s powers are defined in the Virginia Code 58.1-4007.
• The Board adopts regulations governing the establishment and operation of lottery games, including ticket prices, numbers and sizes of prizes, jackpot prize payment, drawings, and licensing. It can also decide on retail locations licenses and award suspension or revocation if needed.
• The Board holds regular public meetings. Usually meetings begin at 9:30 am in Richmond, VA. Next public meeting dates are April 12, July 12, and October 25, 2023.

? Casinos in VA

Virginia Approved Casinos include the following retail locations in the five cities: Danville, Bristol, Portsmouth, Norfolk and Richmond. Richmond voters rejected the proposal in Nov, 2021. Voters in the other 4 cities gave positive approval in Nov. 2020. A lot of temporary casinos are also coming up till permanent constructions are in place. State licensed casinos are being built in 4 cities and you will have soon more options for casinos near VA.

1. BRISTOL, VIRGINIA: HARD ROCK CASINO BRISTOL

• $400M casino
• under construction at the site of the former Bristol Mall.
• temporary casino, named Bristol Casino
• Future Home of Hard Rock casino
• opened on July 8, 2022

2. DANVILLE, VIRGINIA: CAESARS VIRGINIA

• Caesars Entertainment and Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians come together
• They build a $650 million casino resort in Danville.
• Former site of Dan River Mills’ Schoolfield Division.
• Temporary casino will open in mid-2023.

3. NORFOLK, VIRGINIA: HEADWATERS RESORT & CASINO

• The Pamunkey Indian Tribe enterprise
• $700M casino and hotel
• located at the Norfolk waterfront near the minor league baseball stadium
• Temporary casino opens March 2023
• permanent site: HeadWaters Resort & Casino will opens in 2024.

4. PORTSMOUTH, VIRGINIA: RIVERS CASINO PORTSMOUTH

• The Portsmouth casino cost :aboout $300 million
• Retail site along the Elizabeth River near the marina (earlier with Holiday Inn).
• Opening and Launch: February 2023.

5. RICHMOND, VIRGINIA: ONE CASINO + RESORT

• ONE Casino Resort proposal rejected by VA voters in the Nov. 2, 2021 election.
• Outcome uncertain.

6. PETERSBURG, VIRGINIA: LIVE! CASINO & HOTEL VIRGINIA

• The city of Petersburg wants the unused casino license assigned to Richmond.
• $1.4 billion casino proposal along with a hotel and entertainment district.

? Virginia Casino Update: Latest News and Future

• The first VA casino opened in Bristol in July 2022 . Hard Rock Casino & Resort in Bristol, Virginia, is open 24/7. The commercial casino has 870 slot machines, Blackjack table game, Craps, and real money live dealer games. Commercial casino gambling is on the rise as more commercial casinos will open in the state in four more cities.
• Virginia physical casino numbers are set to rise: Rivers Casino Portsmouth temporary casinos, joins Bristol Casino — the future site of Hard Rock on Jan. 23 after a delay (original launch date was Jan. 15). It will be a $340 million 250,000-square-foot casino site. It will be operated by the reputed Rush Street Gaming.
• The city of Norfolk and the Pamunkey Indian Tribe had plans for a temporary casino. They had announced it in 2020 when the Pamunkey Indian tribe proposed a $700 million casino along the Elizabeth River (Harbor Park). That plan was scapped following an address issue. The planned HeadWaters Resort & Casino is to be a temporary casino facility from the ground up on the parking lot with a possible opening date of Spring 2023.
• Are online casinos legal in Virginia? Is online gambling legal? Well, not currently for approved casinos. You can expect real money online casinos in future in Virginia when the state is on the path to legalize casino gaming. But for that to happen, the state will have to get used to land-based casino sites.
• The state has legal online sportsbooks, including the BetMGM, FanDuel and DraftKings sportsbooks. If the VA sports betting outlook is good, the tax revenue will prompt legislators to take a look at legalizing mobile casinos in Virginia. You can expect a casino regulation legislation just like the sports betting legislation which made mobile sports betting a reality.
• You can expect a number of real money casinos in Virginia when the Virginia Lottery Board starts awarding licenses for casino gaming: BetMGM, DraftKings, FanDuel, Golden Nugget, and BetRivers should be among VA online casino sites.

Virginia State Lottery

Virginia Lottery was the first online gambling site in the state. You can play instant play games on their site, as well as buy tickets to big cash prize draws like Mega Millions. You can play lottery games, jackpots, Mega Millions, Powerball and others.

Lottery Profits in Virginia: In 2020, the Virginia Lottery had sales of nearly $2.15 billion in sports betting revenue. 27.7% of the sales or over $595 million went for K-12 public education and 61.3% of the total went back to Virginia bettors and players in the form of prizes for playing lottery games. All lottery profits from sports betting industry are used solely for educational purposes.

? Virginia Betting Sites

Many sportsbooks have obtained a Virginia sports betting license so far. Fanduel Sportsbook got a head start with their partnership with Washington Football Team. DraftKings Sportsbook, BetRivers and BetMGM Virginia were the next sports betting sites to follow. Virginia betting sites give players up to $4,000 in bonuses including instant bet bonuses from time to time.

WynnBET entered VA online gambling market in March 2021.

Historical Horse Racing

The Virginia gambling boom started with Historical Horse Racing or HHR. In 2019, Colonial Downs racetrack in New Kent County opened up a gambling facility with more than 600 HHR machines (historical racing machines similar to slot machines). In HHR, you bet on historical horse races without knowing their outcome. The HHR machine itself resembles a slot machine, and they are the closest to casino gaming you can get in Virginia. You can access HHR machines at the Colonial Downs racetrack, and four other off track betting locations in Virginia.

Horse Racing

Virginia only has one race track, Colonial Downs, which offers pari-mutuel horse race betting. Offtrack betting is not allowed at the moment. However, with the legalization of sports gambling, Virginia residents can now place horse race bets across the United States. Dog racing is not available in Virginia. In the year 1989, the Virginia Racing Commission was created to versee pari-mutuel betting in the state.

Daily Fantasy Sports

Virginia was the first state to outright legalize daily fantasy sports in the US. This means that operators like Fanduel and DraftKings have a strong foothold in Virginia. Fantasy sports are not seen as online gambling in the Virginia gambling law, so any Virginia resident above the age of 18 can play online daily fantasy sports.It is seen as a game of skill.

? Online Gambling in Virginia

Virginia residents can enjoy several forms of online gambling, including online betting, daily fantasy sports, horse racing, and games of chance provided by the Virginia State lottery. Virginia was the first state to legalize daily fantasy sports acknowledging the activity as a game of skill. However, online casino games for real money are not yet available in the Old Dominion.

Virginia does not currently have many land-based casinos, and real money online gambling sites and licensed online casinos are still illegal, with the exception of sports betting. However, several land based casinos have been allowed in cities across the state, as long as the cities satisfy certain requirements. So the options beyond just lottery games are rising.

• The poverty rate in the city is 20% or higher.
• Unemployment is 4% higher or more than the state’s overall rate.
• The population in the city has decreased by 20% or more in the past year.
• More than 40% of city real estate is tax-exempt.

Sports Gambling Laws

The gambling law that regulates online gambling in the State of Virginia quite similar to other states. In order to participate in regulated online gambling, you must be 21 years of age (21+). For daily fantasy sports the gambling age limit is 18. Operators must have preferred casino partners. Furthermore, any Virginia resident above the age of 18 can purchase Virginia lottery tickets. If you want to play at Virginia gambling sites, you must be located within the state borders. Out of state play is not allowed.

The U.S Supreme Court removed the ban on sports betting (PASPA) back in 2018. Virginia betting law passed in 2020. Online sportsbooks in Virginia finally opened in 2021. Interestingly, Virginia gambling laws allow betting on a professional sports venue to be built in the state. This could include a potential NFL, NHL, NASCAR, NBA, or MLS venue. Betting on college sports teams located in Virginia is not allowed in the state.

Responsible Gambling
Virginia Problem Gambling Helpline is availble for gamblers at 1-888-532-3500 and the Virginia National Council on Problem Gambling is freely available for help for those with a gambling addiction. You can also contact the customer support team in your casino account.

Last updated: 08/20/2024