Efforts to legalize slot-like skill games in Virginia will likely head to a conference committee, the Richmond Times-Dispatch reported on Thursday. Members of the state’s Senate and House have struggled to come to a consensus on how to legalize the games, which are currently banned in Virginia. 

“They’re so far apart that it’s gonna have to go to conference,” Sen. Bill Stanley told the Times-Dispatch.

Virginia’s legislative session runs through March 9, creating a time crunch for legislators to come to an agreement. If they don’t, skill games will remain illegal in Virginia, at least in the immediate future.

Skill-game legislative push

Some Virginia small business owners have pushed for the legalization of the skill games this session. While the games have been banned for several years, a 2023 legal ruling led to increased enforcement of the ban.

Certain small businesses, often convenience stores and restaurants, previously allowed customers to play unregulated skill games in the state. The games were an additional revenue source for those businesses, which say they’re hurting without them. 

Other stakeholders argue that the unlicensed games should remain illegal, as it’s often challenging for small businesses to verify that the customers playing the games are of legal gambling age. Others simply believe the skill games unfairly cut into the state’s legal forms of wagering.  

Virginia allows for both legal online and retail sports betting, as well as casino gaming. There are currently three operational brick-and-mortar casinos in Virginia, although online casinos are illegal. 

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