Rivers Portsmouth will turn into the primary everlasting on line casino to open in Virginia subsequent week on Monday, Jan. 23. The on line casino’s first visitors will have the ability to gamble on slot machines and desk video games — and as introduced as we speak — sports activities.
Invited visitors enter Rivers On line casino Portsmouth in Virginia through the on line casino’s first check day on Jan. 19, 2023. The on line casino is slated to open to most of the people on Monday, Jan. 23. (Picture: Rivers On line casino Portsmouth)
Rivers On line casino Portsmouth is a $340 million growth adjoining to Tidewater Group Faculty’s Portsmouth campus. The on line casino is simply south of I-264 between Missy Elliott and Victory boulevards.
Portsmouth was one in all 5 Virginia cities that certified to think about a on line casino growth by way of 2020 laws. The industrial gaming invoice is to assist economically distressed cities.
Rivers comes from Rush Road Gaming, a Chicago-based gaming developer that operates casinos in Illinois, New York, and Pennsylvania.
Rivers Portsmouth is ready to open this Monday with 1,448 slot machines, 57 desk video games, and a poker site with 24 tables. Rush Road introduced as we speak that the on line casino’s BetRivers Sportsbook will moreover be open on the property’s first official day in enterprise.
Testing Nearly Full
Rivers On line casino Portsmouth is holding its second testing day as we speak. The primary check passed off final Thursday, with invited visitors taking part in for actual cash.
Revenues through the two testing days, nevertheless, usually are not being stored by the on line casino however as a substitute donated to 3 native nonprofits: Youngsters’s Hospital of The King’s Daughters, USO Hampton Roads and Central Virginia, and Wesley Group Service Middle.
Virginia’s gaming regulation requires that each one video games, from slots to tables to sports activities wagering kiosks, bear impartial third-party testing earlier than the on line casino opens. Reps from the Virginia Lottery Board, the state’s gaming regulator, have been on-hand through the testing days.
Assuming no glitches are incurred throughout this morning’s testing, the BetRivers Sportsbook will open to the general public the identical day the on line casino opens — Jan. 25 at 10 am EST.
The sportsbook includes a 750-foot video wall that may present 30 totally different video games without delay. The BetRivers house is provided with 27 self-service wagering kiosks. A TopGolf Swing Suite with three bays in a position to accommodate eight gamers every can be on the sportsbook.
First in Virginia
Arduous Rock Bristol’s momentary on line casino house inside the previous Bristol Mall was the primary authorized on line casino to function in Virginia. The interim gaming house will function till the everlasting $400 million Arduous Rock Bristol resort is full, which isn’t anticipated till someday subsequent yr.
Rivers Portsmouth opted to bypass the momentary on line casino concept in favor of constructing its everlasting gaming facility. Rivers doesn’t have most of the facilities that Virginia’s three different on line casino resorts in growth could have, however opening first offers the good thing about constructing market share whereas freed from competitors. Rivers’ main competitors will are available close by Norfolk the place a $500 million on line casino resort is being constructed.
Being the primary within the state… it’s surreal,” Roy Corby, Rivers On line casino Portsmouth basic supervisor, informed WTKR. “Working with the state of Virginia … to get issues completed has been a incredible voyage.”
As for nongaming facilities, Rivers On line casino Portsmouth options 5 eating places and a Starbucks. The property additionally has an occasions heart and music venue, plus assembly house.
