Virginia's casinos target border to attract residents from N.C.

A new casino on the Virginia-North Carolina border is attracting Triangle residents unable to gamble in their home state.

Driving the news: The Caesars Virginia casino opened last week in Danville, Virginia, in a temporary location before its permanent spot opens next year.

• It is being built in partnership with the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, who operate a casino on the Qualla Boundary in the North Carolina mountains.

• State of play: Many Triangle residents made the roughly one hour drive from Durham or 90 minutes from Raleigh for its opening weekend, ABC11 reported. In the past few years, Virginia has now legalized many of the traditional vices, from gambling to marijuana, that North Carolina still outlaws.
• The temporary Caesar's Virginia has more than 700 slot machines, 25 live table games, and sports betting.

Flashback: In 2020, Virginia lawmakers gave five cities around the state permission to hold referendums allowing casino gaming, Axios Richmond's Karri Peifer reports.

• Many of Virginia's proposed casinos are near the border with North Carolina, in cities like Bristol, Norfolk and Portsmouth.