Portsmouth: Casino Grand Opening Draws Thousands. Q: Who Gets the Cash?
PORTSMOUTH, VA — Thousands arrived before 10 a.m. this morning to get in line to enter the new Rivers Casino in Portsmouth, Virginia located at 3630 Victory Boulevard in Portsmouth. The casino fight in Richmond and Petersburg makes even more sense after watching the events of today — if someone walked you into Rivers Casino blindfolded you would think you were in Las Vegas or maybe Atlantic City. Also, the recent revenue numbers reported out of the Bristol Casino, which reported $14 million in its first month, are all an indication that the casino fever in Virginia won’t be ending anytime soon.
After a few days of testing featuring appearances by State Senator L. Louise Lucas and House Minority Leader Don Scott this weekend, it was officially “go time” this morning as an endless number of elected officials, casino honchos, gaming officials and most importantly — a very interested public — celebrated the casino’s grand opening.
There was much excitement and glitz along with 1,490 slot machines, 24 poker tables as well as restaurants in a 24/7 facility that can hold 10,000 people. Many first-day visitors hoping to hit the jackpot we're in attendance. We asked: Who gets the money?
Today’s events in Portsmouth were years and millions in the making. At one point the customers waiting in line chanted LET US IN as speakers on the program — which included a presentation of the gaming license, ran a tad long. But with such a giant project to launch there were many people to thank.
Parts of the question of who will economically benefit can only be answered with the passage of time. Where do all these casino dollars go? Do casinos vacuum up cash from middle and lower class people? It’s understood that the house always wins.
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