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Rolling the Dice: Bringing a casino to Hampton Roads

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casino-picHAMPTON ROADS, Va. – The bright lights, the sounds, the tables, the slots – all have a hand in making casinos what they are.

Each casino — worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

Democratic Sen. Louise Lucas has been trying to get one to Portsmouth for years.

“I’m losing count on the number of years I’ve introduced casino bills but each year I get a little bit closer,” she said.

The December opening of the MGM Grand National Harbor outside of Washington D.C. is making this push more urgent for Lucas and Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe.

“Of course we’re leaving money on the table. My friend was up [at MGM Grand] the other day. He counted the number of license plates from Virginia,” said Gov. McAuliffe in January. “People should be concerned. Our money is going over to Maryland to the beautiful new MGM facility.”

Just how much money would a casino bring to the region? Watch ‘Rolling the Dice’ Friday on News 3 at 11 to find out.