Temporary Casino Site Opens in Norfolk, Virginia

^{Guests wait in line for the grand opening of The Interim Gaming Hall in Norfolk, Virginia on Friday, a step towards setting up a Boyd Gaming casino in the city. (Photo: WTKR News 3 / Facebook)}

The city of Norfolk, Virginia welcomed its first casino gaming venue with the opening of The Interim Gaming Hall last Friday. The facility is the first step towards the city’s ultimate casino ambitions, with a $750 million permanent resort set to open in 2027.

The current temporary facility will open at 10 a.m. each day and remain open until 2 a.m., with 132 slot machines available on a 3,600-square-foot gaming floor.

Boyd, Pamunkey Tribe Moving Towards Permanent Casino

The Interim Gaming Hall and the final casino are being developed by Boyd Gaming and the Pamunkey Indian Tribe. The building is meant to have a maximum capacity of about 100 gamblers at any time. To encourage players to visit and play at the new facility, Boyd is offering new Boyd Rewards members $300 in reimbursed free play for any losses on their first visit.

While The Interim Gaming Hall is small compared to other temporary casinos, like the 40,000-square foot temporary casino that Caesars opened in Danville, it's still an important step towards a permanent casino. Still, officials say this is an exciting step forward on the road to a full resort. 

“There’s a lot of people who’ve never even stepped foot into a casino before,” casino general manager Ron Bailey told reporters. “And so for us, it’s about creating a casino experience for them that’s going to make them feel comfortable, make them feel valued, and treat them like an individual as they should be, and make them want to come back and enjoy their time when they’re gaming.”

According to casino officials, popular slot titles like Dragon Link, Huff N’ Even More Puff, and Monopoly are among the titles featured in the temporary building. Food service at the venue is being handled by the Ghost Kitchen food truck during the temporary casino’s operation.

Norfolk Becomes Fourth Virginia City to Host Casino

The casino also has what Bailey said is a unique attraction: the first alcohol vending machine in the state of Virginia. The machine requires photo ID and uses AI-based age verification to ensure that users are over 21, something Bailey said can be an advantage.

“It’s more accurate than a human, as far as making sure we don’t overserve people,” Bailey said. “Hopefully, that machine gets utilized and authorized in other places across the commonwealth, because it’s just a cool piece of equipment.”

The permanent Norfolk casino is expected to include a 65,000-square-foot gaming floor that houses 1,500 slot machines and 50 table games. There will also be a 200-room hotel, a large outdoor deck, multiple dining options, and 13,000 square feet of meeting space.

Norfolk is the fourth city to open a casino in Virginia, joining Bristol, Portsmouth, and Danville. A temporary casino is also expected to open in Petersburg after voters approved a Cordish casino proposal in the city last year.