Seven days ago the temporary Ceasar’s casino tent, located in Danville, Virginia, opened its doors at 10:00 AM on 5/15/2023. Visible from just outside the parking lot surrounding it is ongoing construction of what will be a very large gambling and entertainment facility called Caesar’s Virginia. It’s expected to open by late 2024. You can see a live cam of the temporary casino and construction activities by clicking this link here.
Since it opened, the parking lot has been starting to fill up around noon. It isn’t so full that one can’t get in, because the temporary casino tent has a capacity for 3,000 people, but people all over are going to it. I checked it out myself the day after it opened and saw that what looked like well over 60% of the vehicles were coming from North Carolina. I saw some license plates from Florida, West Virginia, and even New Jersey. There were many cars coming from Burlington, Greensboro, and the entire region of Piedmont, North Carolina by the looks of it.
People have been talking about their experiences in a Facebook group called Caesars Danville VA Casino. The group has over 6,500 members in it and you can find it with this link. One person in it just wrote, “Finally made it to the casino yesterday! Parking lot was full but lots of games open for play! Had a great time and even came home with a little more than I went with! Everyone was having a good time and polite, only once went to a machine and it did have a couple of empty cups on it but thought it was free and when I was looking to put my ticket in saw it had money on it and here comes this little woman saying I’m playing there, I politely got up and apologized. Just saying it’s dangerous to walk away like that without flipping up your chair or have someone watching it! Other than that we had a great time and look forward to going back!”
Before I show you what more people said about their visit, let me tell you the bad about this temporary casino.
First of all, there is no bar you can sit at and the only place inside serving food is basically a snack bar with sandwiches.
Of course, all that will change when the big casino is complete.
Secondly, there is no poker room.
Of course, that will change too when the big casino is complete. Their plan is to have a World Series of Poker Room with over 20 tables.
I didn’t see any live music or bands in there, but they had music pumping that made the place lively inside.
Of course, when the big casino is complete there will be musical entertainment, conference rooms, hotel rooms, and a swimming pool, and all kinds of fun things. This temporary casino does have eight sports betting terminals, but no giant sports book to watch games at. That too will come in time.
This temporary casino is already drawing at least hundreds of people to Danville now every single day and the big one when it opens will simply draw even more. It’s exciting for the area and from what I saw from the people there, and in the Facebook group, people all over are excited to go to it now.
If you are going to visit from out of town let me give you some tips on food. Right across the street from the casino is the high end Schoolfield Restaurant and it is one of the best places to eat in Danville. They got great steaks and seafood. If you want sandwiches and coffee, I’d suggest checking out Crema & Vine located at 1009 Main Street. And, if you are coming to the casino from highway 29, if you take the last left before you get to the casino and go down Bishop Avenue you’ll find Frank’s Italian Restaurant on your right, not even half a mile away the intersection with Memorial Avenue. They got a nice bar too and it’s great.
Here are what some people who visited the casino are saying about their visit in that Facebook group:
“We’ll call this a heads-up to help you prepare: bring your cash in with you! ATM fees are always high inside casinos, but I was surprised to see an $8.99 fee assessed for a checking withdrawal here. Granted, it could have been the online bank debit card I intended to use.”
“Loved the casino. We got in about 11pm Saturday night. Super busy. Stayed until 3:30 am. All Black Jack tables were $50 min except 1 for $25. Lost everything and then came back at the end and won big lol. Played slots too. Saw a few handpays. Won on slots too but only like $100. Will be back!”
Note – when I went I saw blackjack minimums of $15 and $25, but it was at 12:00 PM on Tuesday. It looks like the crowds start to come at noon and then the table games start to get busy. The minimums likely go up and down based on how busy the place is.
“Comps: Hubby is Diamond plus so we were hoping for some welcome attention. Talked with player representative, and all that’s available now is open to all — free play based on previous days play. As for my question about lodging benefits, she said they’ll be working on relationships with local hotels but nothing yet. She was apologetic about current level of comps, but we’ll look forward to offers coming based on yesterday’s play. I encourage Caesar’s newcomers to use their cards — we’ve found them generous with free play & lodging offers once you’ve established yourself as even a moderate player.”
“Visit the casino in Danville, VA today. My 23 year old granddaughter went with me. It was her first visit to a casino. We arrived at 8 and left at 6. We had a wonderful time. Staff was very friendly and lovely to converse with. We are so excited that you are 2 hours away from Benson. NC. We will make this a monthly trip. I did not come home a loser, which made me very happy.”
“I don’t know if y’all understand the magnitude of what’s about to come to Danville I went last night to check it out lost about $60 and left I don’t have anything bad to say, I know this is all temporary, but I’m waiting on that resort experience, I’m looking for that full bar with unlimited drinks experience, endless entertainment, great dining, and although I want that room on the 23rd floor I live here. Danville not just bringing a casino to your hometown they’re bringing a resort everything around here better stop sleeping or this will be a dead resort. If you got any money to be an investor or if you have any ideas or businesses you can start you better do it now. As my grandma would say, Danville didn’t just buy the milk they bought the whole cow.”
“Yes, this is smoking casino – But the smoke smell was light to non-existent during my visit. It is not like every single person in there is a chain smoker or anything close to that, so don’t worry about smoke. The “tent” is conditioned with both heating & cooling, and there are exhaust fans / air scrubbers installed for the smoking issue. Beers are $7/each. Alot of people complain about this but I don’t understand why when a Carolina Hurricanes game charges $12+ for beer and no one bats an eye about that.”
From my experience checking it out that one day it was better than expected. I have been to many casinos and did not know what to expect with one that is a temporary tent casino, but I sat down and played video poker for about 30 minutes. I found that I felt like I was in a “real” casino when I was playing it. It looked like everyone was having fun.
One tip – you gotta manage your fun going to casinos and how much you are willing to spend and lose at them, especially if you live close by to one. You have to figure out how many times a month or year you want to go to them as you don’t want to just go all the time every time you are bored as doing that could get very expensive. Sometimes you win, but when I went I put in $40 into the machine I came out with $8.45 when I was done. As they say, the casinos are not all built from profits made off the winners. Keep it fun!
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-Mike
