Rivers Casino Portsmouth Celebrates One Millionth Visitor

Article ByDavid Weir

July 4, 2023

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Posted in: Virginia Gambling News

Rivers Casino in Portsmouth, Virginia, welcomed its one-millionth customer late last week, just five months after its grand opening.

The lucky visitor, Terri Powell from Norfolk, VA, was greeted with cheers, applause, and a shower of confetti as she walked through the casino doors (pictured).

The Portsmouth casino is the only fully operational venue in Virginia, with Caesars Entertainment and Hard Rock International both operating temporary venues while they build permanent resorts.

The 250,000-square-foot facility, located on Victory Boulevard on the edge of Portsmouth, features nearly 1,500 slot machines, two dozen poker tables, and nearly a dozen restaurants, among other amenities.

A Grand Celebration for the Millionth Customer

The casino pulled out all the stops to celebrate this landmark event.

Powell was awarded $1,000 in free slot play, a dinner for four at the casino’s award-winning steakhouse, Admiral’s Steak & Seafood, and four tickets to see Theresa Caputo of “Long Island Medium” live at the casino’s Event Center in August.

Roy Corby, the general manager of Rivers Casino Portsmouth, expressed his delight at hitting this significant number of customers.

“Rivers Casino Portsmouth has been committed to providing a superior customer experience since day one, and hitting this milestone within just six months of opening signals great progress,” he said, as reported in The Virginia Pilot.

“Congratulations to our one-millionth customer, Terri, and thank you to the remaining 999,999 who have selected Rivers Casino as their entertainment destination of choice.”

Revenue Trends

Despite the celebratory atmosphere, the casino is facing increased competition at the top of the Virginia casino list.

 According to the Virginia Lottery’s monthly casino activity report, the casino generated $20.6 million in May, a dip from the $21.3 million it made in April. The May revenue included $13.865 million from slots and $6.75 million from table games. The casino paid $3.7 million in taxes over that month.

In February, its first full month of operation, the casino raked in more than $24.5 million. This figure dropped to $23.6 million in March, and further to $21.3 million in April.

Some of that could well be down to increased competition from the two temporary venues in the state. Hard Rock Bristol and Caesars Danville, which pulled in $11.9 million over its first two weeks last month, both recently opened doors.

Competition Leveling Up

Rivers Portsmouth is comfortably the most popular casino in the state for now, despite revenue declines.

However, as the only fully operational casino in the state, its rivals approaching fast behind with only temporary casinos must be worrying.

Caesars is spending some $650 million on the permanent Caesars Virginia casino resort in Danville, and Hard Rock has put down $400 million for its own resort venue in Bristol.

Rivers Portsmouth was also the subject of some bad press back in May. Its owners, Rush Street Gaming, settled for $275,000 with the Virginia Lottery Board, avoiding a public investigation into alleged “sanctionable offences.”

As the first and only casino in Virginia at the time, it was also the first to receive a penalty from regulators.