Simon told Fox 5 DC that given the proximity of the $1.4bn MGM National Harbor casino just minutes north in Maryland, it made sense for Virginia to attempt to claw back some of the dollars that leave the state. “We already see a lot of our residents’ dollars go across the river to MGM. We lose out on a lot of opportunities to capture some of that revenue,” Simon said. “I think there is an appetite for this. I think there is certainly a revenue opportunity in Virginia.” More at iGaming Business

Virginia Senator Louise Lucas (D-Portsmouth) had lost count on how many times she watched her gambling related bills flew straight in the garbage bin. But last Monday’s Senate General Laws Committee hearing was different for Lucas after of her bills, which would allow organizations that hold bingo games to also poker games, had finally been transmitted to the full Senate. The Daily Press reported that Lucas’ Senate Bill 1400 has hurdled the Senate Committee, albeit by a hairline. Voting 8-7, the Senate Committee approved her poker bill, thanks in-part to Sen. William R. DeSteph Jr., R-Virginia Beach, who surprisingly joined…

NOTE: This is not an online poker bill. Senator Louise Lucas has submitted an amended gambling bill that seeks to admit poker as a game of skill, therefore bypassing antiquated gambling legislation in the state. f the state of Virginia ever wakes up to the possibility that gambling is not as dangerous as selling tobacco by the aircraft carrier load then, citizens will have Democratic Senator Louise Lucas to thank. For the third successive year, Lucas has submitted her annual ditty that would legalize a form of gambling in the Old Dominion and this time her focus is on poker….

Washington Post – A Northern Virginia couple who bet that they could get away with using doctored chips at Maryland Live has been charged, just weeks after another pair were charged in a similar fake-chip scheme, authorities say. Ngan S. Nguyen, 29, and his girlfriend, Dung N. Vo, 35 — both from Herndon in Fairfax County — were each charged with one count of felony theft, one count of conspiracy to commit felony theft and two other felony-theft-related counts. The charges were issued by the Anne Arundel County District Court Commissioner’s office, though neither Nguyen nor Vo has yet been served with a criminal summons….