Cordish temp casino gets Virginia Lottery Board approval ahead of opening next week in Petersburg

Thursday, January 15, 2026 9:55 PM
Image aggregated from WRIC-TV.
  • Julia Broberg and Mariah Jallad, WRIC-TV

The Virginia Lottery Board approved a casino facility operator’s license for Petersburg’s new casino on Wednesday, with a supervised dry run taking place [next] week before the casino officially opens.

Live! Casino Virginia gave 8News and other outlets a final look inside the temporary facility before the grand opening on Thursday, Jan. 22 at 5 p.m.

Hundreds of the newly hired security guards, bartenders and table dealers were there wrapping up their training, preparing to welcome casino goers in just seven days.

President of Cordish Gaming Group Rob Norton said the casino extended more than 600 job offers, surpassing their staffing goal of 500.