Virginia Lottery Slot Machines

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Though the historical horse racing machines operated by Colonial Downs also resemble slot machines, they’re regulated by the Virginia Racing Commission. Unlike the skill games, the Colonial Downs. Owning a Slot Machine in Virginia While the state doesn’t want casinos within its borders, it appears to have no problem with private residents owning slot machines. According to Virginia Code 18.2-334, slots of any age can be owned by citizens. Owning a Slot Machine in Virginia While the state doesn’t want casinos within its borders, it appears to have no problem with private residents owning slot machines. According to Virginia Code 18.2-334, slots.

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Slot machines hit jackpot in stores around Va.

Jeremy M. Lazarus | 7/12/2019, 6 a.m. | Updated on 7/12/2019, 7:37 p.m.

Dr. Joann Henry plays at a bank of slot machines at the Quick N Easy convenience store in the 4100 block of West Broad Street. Jerermy Lazarus/Richmond Free Press

Andrea R. Hill is a self-confessed “slot machine grinder,” but she still hasn’t visited the new Rosie’s Richmond Gaming Emporium in South Side to try her luck on the array of slot-style machines.

Instead, the Richmond resident prefers to get her daily “gambling fix” at a convenience store near her job, the Quick N Easy in the 4100 block of West Broad Street.

Inside, past the chips and snacks and close to the coolers of beer and sodas, Ms. Hill has her choice of seven cash-operated, computer-controlled machines that mimic the push-button slots of Atlantic City and Las Vegas. The symbols revolve on the screen like slot machines.

Every now and then when the symbols line up right, a player can hit for a jackpot of $2,000.

The store has an arrangement that allows players to get their winnings almost immediately from a clerk.

“It’s fun and I win occasionally. Just the other day, I got a $120 jackpot, but it looks like I’ll be giving that back to the store,” said the 39-year-old pharmacy technician.

“Virginia has come a long way. When I was younger, I used to have to drive out of state to play. Now, these machines are everywhere.”

The convenience store, near Thomas Jefferson High School, is just one of the locations in which these machines have popped up in the past two years. Across the Richmond area and around the state, more than 4,000 similar machines can be found in gas stations, bars and mostly locally owned convenience stores eager for a new stream of revenue.

In a state that has long frowned on gambling, the Virginia Is for Gamblers movement is clearly moving beyond the state-run lottery and parimutuel betting on horse races.

The movement got a big boost two years ago when the General Assembly, seeking to revive horseracing, cleared the way for a $1 billion-plus operation involving machines like the ones at Rosie’s. Instead of random numbers, equipment at Rosie’s with slot-machine faces rely on the results of old races to fuel their results instead of random numbers that typical slots use, according to the regulatory Virginia Racing Commission.

But even before that action, ambitious private companies began exploiting a loophole in the anti-gambling laws in various states, most notably Duluth, Ga.-based Pace-O-Matic and its Richmond-based subsidiary, Queen of Virginia Skill and Entertainment, and Coleman Music and Entertainment of Jacksonville, Fla.

Those companies have been closely reading state laws on gambling to find a way to bypass them. In Virginia, they noticed the law only bans slot machines with three factors — a wager, the offer of a prize or cash and a win based solely on chance. Knock out one, and a machine can be legal.

And that’s what these companies say they are doing — creating machines that require “skill.”

For example, many of these machines do not generate wins for the player simply by the press of the play button. Instead, when two symbols of the same kind are visible, the player must touch the screen over a third symbol, usually a “wild card,” to get the third symbol in line to create a win.

It’s pretty simple, said Ms. Hill, but that small action is enough to allow the manufacturers to claim that skill is involved. Players must recognize the situation and act within a short time, 10 seconds or so, to win.

Others require players to use memory. For example, in one game, circles light up in a pattern that the player has to mimic to have a chance to win.

Courts in Ohio and Pennsylvania have ruled in favor of the manufacturers, and in Virginia, the state Alcoholic Beverage Control Board has cleared the Pace-O-Matic machines as meeting the “skill” test.

“A lot of times when people look at these machines, they say, ‘It looks like a duck, it quacks like a duck, so it must be a duck.’ But that’s not always the case. And certainly not when it comes to this equipment,” said Brent Jackson, a Richmond attorney who represents Gracies Technologies, a New York-based company that also distributes machines in Virginia.

The Virginia ABC decision is the main reason virtually all the machines are located in restaurants and stores that have licenses to sell beer and/or wine on and off premises.

In Virginia’s January General Assembly session, the state Senate rejected a proposal that would have created a new regulatory division to monitor the machines in the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.

Still, despite the ABC’s decision, the legality of the machines is questioned. To date, Virginia Attorney General Mark R. Herring has not issued a legal opinion, and so far no charges have been brought against businesses that have allowed companies to place machines in their stores.

In Richmond, former Commonwealth’s Attorney Michael N. Herring regularly received information from police and residents about these machines since they began appearing, but declined to take any action.

Assistant Richmond Commonwealth’s Attorney Joshua Boyles, whom Mr. Herring assigned to investigate, stated in response to a Free Press query that “our office hasn’t given a green light to any slot-style machines in the city,” except those now at Rosie’s.

However, he declined to suggest that any machines now operating in stores are illegal.

“Whether use of a given machine amounts to illegal gambling or a permissible game of chance is a very fact-specific inquiry,” he stated.

Mr. Boyles previously told the Virginia Mercury that the legal status of the machines “is uncharted territory.”

The first real test of that legality could come in Charlottesville, where Commonwealth’s Attorney Joe Platania on June 7 deemed them illegal and ordered businesses in that city to remove them within 30 days or face criminal charges.

He has yet to follow through on charges for noncompliant businesses. Pace-O-Matic indicated to a Charlottesville newspaper that it believes its machines meet requirements of the law and that it stands ready to defend its interests.

Still, despite the spread of the machines, they have not generated the kind of buzz that Rosie’s sparked when it opened last week on Richmond’s Midlothian Turnpike. By contrast, empty chairs at the machines are a common sight in convenience stores and lines rarely, if ever, develop with players waiting to play.

The amount of money being wagered in stores also is a far cry from the Rosie’s gusher. With the opening of outlets in Richmond and Hampton, Rosie’s is on track to rake in from players $100 million or more per month before jackpot and tax outlays.

Pace-O-Matic and other companies are not required to report their earnings or the amount of wagering being done on their machines in Virginia.

Based on information Pace-O-Matic released on its website, the company’s machines in Virginia generated about $9 million between October 2018 and June 2019, before the payout of jackpots and taxes.

The split from machine’s revenues is advantageous to stores. Queen of Virginia reports its games return about 92 percent to players in terms of jackpots, which is typical for a slots operation. The remaining 8 percent of the revenue is split three ways: 40 percent to the location and the remainder evenly split between Queen and its parent, Pace-O-Matic.

Introduction to Virginia Slot Machine Casino Gambling in 2020

Virginia slot machine casino gambling does not exist … yet. Last year, the state legislature and Governor approved three new casinos, but each awaits approval by voters in their local municipalities.

This post continues my weekly State-By-State Slot Machine Casino Gambling Series, an online resource dedicated to guiding slot machine casino gambler to success. Now in its third year, each weekly post reviews slots gambling in a single U.S. state, territory, or federal district.

Keep Reading … Or Watch Instead!

Or … Listen Instead!

Relevant Legal Statutes on Gambling in Virginia*

The minimum legal gambling age in Virginia depends upon the gambling activity:

Land-Based Casinos: 21 (expected)
Poker Rooms: Not available
Bingo: 18
Lottery: 18
Pari-Mutuel Wagering: 18

On March 22, 2019, Virginia Governor Ralph Northam signed State Bill 1126 into law. This state law does not authorize casinos in Virginia. However, in effect, it establishes

A Commission to study casino gaming regulations
A framework for the Lottery Board to oversee gaming
How eligible cities conduct a local casino approval referendum

Details of the state bill suggest eligible cities are Danville, Bristol, and Portsmouth. Regarding timing, the city of Bristol has scheduled their referendum for November 2020.

*The purpose of this section is to inform the public of state gambling laws and how the laws might apply to various forms of gaming. It is not legal advice.

Slot Machine Private Ownership in Virginia

It is legal to own a slot machine privately in the Commonwealth of Virginia.

Gaming Control Board in Virginia

The framework included in the 2019 passing of Virginia State Bill 1126 includes giving oversight of sports betting regulations to the Virginia Racing Commission. This expansion of its responsibilities is in addition to its current responsibilities overseeing horserace pari-mutuel wagering.

The Virginia Lottery Board will obtain responsibility for casino gambling, but specific gaming regulations are not yet available. Establishing these gaming regulations is currently underway by Virginia’s Joint Legislative and Review Commission.

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Casinos in Virginia

There are currently no casinos with slot machines in Virginia.

Commercial Casinos in Virginia

There are currently no commercial casinos in Virginia. However, three eligible cities may have casinos after approval by voters. The Bristol referendum occurs first in November 2020.

These three potential casino locations include the cities of:

Danville located 144 miles southwest of Richmond near North Carolina
Bristol located 113 miles northeast of Knoxville near Tennessee
Portsmouth located 97 miles southeast of Richmond near Chesapeake

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Tribal Casinos in Virginia

The Pamunkey Indian Tribe gained federal recognition in 2015 and is pursuing establishing a tribal casino. They intend to have improved educational and employment opportunities to ensure the long-term success of the tribe.

At this time, the tribe is searching for a suitable site for a casino resort located within Virginia. Potential sites for a tribal casino now include Richmond and Norfolk.

Continual and effective opposition of tribal casinos in Virginia comes from the casino operator of MGM National Harbor in nearby Maryland.

Other Gambling Establishments

As an alternative to enjoying Virginia slot machine casino gambling, consider exploring casino options in a nearby state. Bordering Virginia is:

North: Maryland Slots and District of Columbia Slots
East: The Atlantic Ocean
South: North Carolina Slots and Tennessee Slots
West: Kentucky Slots and West Virginia Slots

Each of the links above will take you to my blog for that neighboring U.S. state to Virginia.

Colonial Downs Racetrack offers slot-like historical horse racing (HHR) electronic gaming machines. This horseracing facility is in the eastern part of Virginia located 30 miles east of Richmond.

Our Virginia Slots Facebook Group

Are you interested in sharing and learning with other slots enthusiasts in Virginia? If so, join our Virginia slots community on Facebook. All you’ll need is a Facebook profile to join this closed Facebook Group freely.

There, you’ll be able to privately share your slots experiences as well as chat with players about slots gambling in Virginia. Join us!

Payout Returns in Virginia

As Virginia casinos await voter approvals, the state legislature is working to establish slot machine gaming regulations. Therefore, it is not yet known if Virginia will offer theoretical payout limits or return statistics.

Summary of Virginia Slot Machine Casino Gambling in 2020

Virginia slot machine casino gambling does exist but is now on the horizon. Commercial casinos are awaiting approval by voters in Bristol, Danville, and Portsmouth.

Annual Progress in Virginia Slot Machine Casino Gambling

In the last year, there has been no change to the slots gaming industry in Virginia. However, potential changes are imminent.

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