When The Cordish Companies and Bruce Smith Enterprise opened the temporary Live! Casino Virginia in Petersburg on January 22, 2026, plenty of observers were curious whether central Virginia could sustain meaningful casino demand. Around the 100-day mark, those questions have a clear answer: the numbers are running well ahead of early expectations, and Petersburg city officials have been saying so publicly.
A City That Waited a Long Time for This
Petersburg’s path to a casino was anything but straightforward. Richmond voters twice rejected casino referendums in 2021 and 2023, and it took several years of political maneuvering before the state reallocated its fifth casino license to Petersburg. When Petersburg voters finally got their turn in November 2024, they approved the project by an overwhelming 81.5% margin — the highest approval rating ever recorded for a Virginia casino referendum.
The Cordish Companies and Bruce Smith Enterprise broke ground in March 2025 on the $1.4 billion Live! Casino & Hotel Virginia complex. While the permanent resort is slated to open in 2027, the developers launched a temporary 75,000-square-foot gaming facility on the same 100-acre site to get Petersburg’s casino economy moving immediately. That temporary venue — featuring 926 slot machines and 32 live-action table games, operating 24 hours a day — became the focus of statewide gaming watchers right from opening day.
The Early Revenue Numbers Are Turning Heads
The pace at which Live! Casino Virginia started generating revenue surprised even optimistic projections. According to Virginia Lottery data, the temporary Petersburg casino pulled in approximately $4.7 million in adjusted gaming revenue during just its first 10 days of operation, covering the final stretch of January. Slot machines drove about $3.9 million of that, while the 32 table games contributed roughly $800,000.
By March — the casino’s second full month of operation — the tempo had only increased. Petersburg’s temporary facility reported $15.19 million in adjusted gaming revenue for the month: $11.17 million from slots and $4.02 million from table games, according to Virginia Lottery figures. That placed Live! Petersburg fourth among Virginia’s five operating casinos for the month, ahead of Norfolk’s interim gaming hall by a wide margin.
March was also the first month Virginia’s statewide casino revenues crossed $100 million, hitting $100.1 million in total adjusted gaming revenue — a 17.46% jump year-over-year. Live! Petersburg’s contribution helped push the Commonwealth over that benchmark, and the temporary venue delivered $911,556 in direct locality tax revenue to the City of Petersburg for March alone.
What the 100-Day Mark Signals
Around the 100-day point — roughly the first week of May 2026 — Live! Casino officials touted the venue’s strong performance before Petersburg’s City Council, according to CDC Gaming reporting. The underlying data backs up any enthusiasm: a venue operating out of a temporary structure, with no hotel, no poker room, and no sportsbook, is generating mid-teen millions per month from central Virginia gamblers and regional visitors who are making the drive off I-95 at Exit 48B.
That performance validates the demand thesis that underpinned the entire Petersburg project. Before the casino opened, a Virginia state feasibility study estimated first-year revenues of around $204 million. At the monthly pace Live! Petersburg has been sustaining since opening, the temporary venue alone appears on track to approach those projections well before the permanent resort opens its doors. The casino has also delivered on employment: approximately 500 people are currently working at the facility, according to Virginia Business, spanning gaming operations, food and beverage, and support functions.
On opening day, The Cordish Companies and Bruce Smith Enterprise also presented $15,050,000 to the City of Petersburg and local charities as part of a broader financial commitment to the community. That kind of immediate, tangible economic impact — jobs, tax revenue, and direct contributions — has made the casino a centerpiece of the city’s economic development conversation.
The Permanent Resort Is Still the Main Event
The temporary facility is only Act One. Construction is actively underway on the full Live! Casino & Hotel Virginia, part of a $1.4 billion master plan that will ultimately reshape the Wagner Road corridor into a regional entertainment destination. When the permanent resort opens in 2027, it will feature 1,600 slot machines, 65-plus live table games, a 22-table poker room, and a dedicated sportsbook. A 200-room hotel, nearly 20 restaurants and bars, and a 70,000-square-foot convention and entertainment space round out the vision, along with a 4,000-seat live entertainment venue.
For anyone watching the broader Virginia sportsbooks and gaming landscape, Petersburg’s early trajectory is a strong data point. It suggests the market appetite in central Virginia — an area historically underserved relative to Northern Virginia’s proximity to Maryland casinos — runs deep. Gamblers who had been driving hours to play now have a local option, and they are showing up in real numbers.
The casino market in Virginia has grown steadily since commercial gaming launched in the state, and if Live! Petersburg’s first 100 days are any guide, the permanent resort will enter a market that has already proved its staying power. Between the slots revenue, the table games handle, and a city council now receiving meaningful tax dollars, the Cordish-led project has plenty of momentum heading into its most ambitious phase.
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