As a member of the Virginia Council on Problem Gambling and former executive director of the National Council on Problem Gambling, I’ve spent decades advising policymakers about the importance of making responsible gambling the foundation of any gaming legalization framework.
Virginia’s proposed iGaming legislation (SB 118 and HB 161) doesn’t just address responsible gaming — the proposed provisions would become the gold standard of consumer protections for the United States.
Both bills draw from New Jersey’s extensive online gaming regulations, which were recently enhanced using data and insights from over a decade of regulating licensed online gaming with stable problem gambling rates.
At the bill’s core, licensed platform operators are required to use player data and technology to help identify potential problem gamblers, with escalating levels of intervention for players identified as at-risk.
Every licensed operator in Virginia would have to develop a detailed plan for using player data and automated triggers to flag accounts showing signs of problem gambling. When a player is flagged, operators would then be required to reach out to the player directly, sharing responsible gaming tools and resources. If concerning behavior continues, the player must be shown a video tutorial, walking them through the available resources in more depth.
If the situation warrants a third intervention, the operator would then connect that player with an actual responsible gaming professional who can work with them to correct and address their behavior. This kind of progressive, human-backed intervention would be the first-of-its-kind to be mandated by law in the U.S., and it will play an important role in protecting players.
Beyond the first-in-the-nation intervention provision, the bill prohibits credit cards, requires players to be 21 or older (unlike the Virginia Lottery offering mirroring online game to 18+ adults), mandates real verification of age, identity and location before anyone places a wager, gives players the tools to set their own deposit limits and cooling-off periods, and direct unprecedented new funding to Virginia’s Problem Gambling Treatment and Support Fund.
Together, these conditions are the top-of-the-line consumer protections. Critics of iGaming expansion raise appropriate concerns about the potential of increased gambling harm. Certain aspects of online gambling are indeed associated with higher risk for gambling problems, which is why these best-in-class provisions are essential to harness the power of technology to better mitigate gambling-related harm and make online gambling safer.
But critics must also understand that Virginians are already playing online — both through the Virginia Lottery’s online products and on internet table games and slots — just through unregulated, offshore platforms without any of these protections.
Sweepstakes casino operators, for instance, have built a multi-billion-dollar industry on misleading marketing that deliberately obscures the gambling nature of their product, exploiting legal gray areas to operate. Chumba Casino, which is banned in nearly 20 states, had its logo splashed across the winning car at this year’s Daytona 500 — a national audience of millions, with no consumer protections attached to any of it.
Most Americans have no idea these are illicit operations. These platforms use celebrity spokespeople, VIP hosts, and flashy advertising to appear legitimate — but unlike regulated, licensed operators, they aren’t beholden to any of the rules that come with that legitimacy.
And the problem doesn’t stop at deceptive marketing. These sites actively undermine every consumer protection that critics cite; Virginians who have self-excluded from legal operators, for example, are targeted by offshore operators who face no tangible consequences for doing so. Age verification on these platforms is often no more than simply checking off a box, and there is little to no legal recourse, as these servers are located beyond U.S. jurisdiction.
The question before Virginia’s legislature isn’t whether online gambling should occur in the commonwealth — that is very clearly already happening here. It’s whether this activity will take place with the highest level of protections — under the strict oversight and control of Virginia regulators — or without them.
Bringing consumers into a regulated market with mandatory safeguards, funded treatment services, and technology-driven intervention helps all stakeholders — from players to operators to the state government itself–maximize the benefits and minimize social costs. Virginia has a chance to stop predatory, offshore operators who target the most vulnerable, and to replace the illicit market with a legal framework that mandates the strongest consumer protections in the country.
Keith Whyte, president of Safer Gambling Strategies, serves on the Board of Directors of the Virginia Council on Problem Gambling and advises a number of organizations, including the Sports Betting Alliance. He can be reached at [email protected].