Are you curious about whether high rollers are wagering big bucks at the casino nearest you? Or maybe you’re more interested in how much tax revenue is going into local and state coffers from the state’s three casinos.
That information and much more is easily available to the public each month through the Virginia Lottery, which regulates casino gambling and sports betting in the state.
Around the middle of the month, the lottery issues a news release that details activity for the previous month at the three casinos, Hard Rock Bristol, Rivers Casino Portsmouth and Caesars Virginia. The lottery also releases a separate monthly sports wagering report.
These reports are posted on the lottery’s website. Click on the “winners & news” tab at the top and scroll down to find the latest release. You can sign up here to receive news releases via email about casino gaming and sports wagering.
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The total gaming revenue number for the three casinos is also reported. The latest casino activity report shows a total adjusted gaming revenue — wagers minus winnings — of $75.17 million in February. Caesars accounted for $31.14 million, the total for the Rivers Casino was $24.28 million and the Bristol casino had $19.74 million.
You can also see how many gaming machines each casino has and how much the different games — slots and table games — brought in.
The monthly report also details the total amount of taxes collected and how much was paid by each casino. For February, the three casinos paid $13.53 million in taxes: $5.6 million by Caesars, $4.3 million by Rivers and $3.5 million by Hard Rock Bristol.
The report also shows how much revenue goes to the host locality for the Portsmouth and Danville casinos. For the Bristol casino, however, the money is shared among 14 localities, including Bristol. From the beginning, the casino’s founders said they wanted all of far Southwest Virginia to share in the tax revenue that would come in from the casino. The money goes to the Regional Improvement Commission, which oversees its annual distribution to the two cities and 12 counties.