Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier filed two lawsuits on August 19 against Stake and VGW, the company behind Chumba Casino, LuckyLand Casino and Global Poker, alleging their sweepstakes platforms run illegal online gambling in the state.
The complaints were filed separately in Hillsborough County Circuit Court. Each alleges violations of Florida’s gambling laws and the state’s Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act.
A casino chip by another name
Both companies sell packages of Gold Coins, which carry no cash value. Bundled alongside them is a second, redeemable currency: Stake Cash at Stake and Sweeps Coins at VGW’s sites. According to the complaints, players wager the redeemable currency on casino-style games and cash it out for cryptocurrency, gift cards or money once they meet play requirements.
Uthmeier’s office argues the redeemable currency is a casino chip by another name, and that both platforms lean on celebrity and influencer marketing to sell themselves as free, safe social entertainment. The Stake complaint also names the company’s streaming platform Kick and cites rapper Drake’s public association with the brand. Neither Kick nor Drake is named as a defendant.
“These so-called ‘sweepstakes’ and ‘social casinos’ are illegal online gambling operations. If it looks like a casino, takes real money like a casino, and pays out like a casino, it is a casino, and it is illegal under Florida law. These companies have been preying on Floridians, including minors and seniors, with deceptive marketing and 24/7 access, while dodging our state’s licensing, taxation and consumer-protection requirements. They must be stopped.”
James Uthmeier, Attorney General of Florida
Defendants and payment partners
The two complaints name different payment processors as co-defendants. Stake’s suit names Breeze Labs and Praxis Tech. VGW’s suit names Yodlee, Trustly and Worldpay. Stake co-founders Ed Craven and Bijan Tehrani are also named as defendants in the Florida complaint.
Both complaints seek permanent injunctions blocking the operators from doing business in Florida, along with restitution for consumers, forfeiture of the companies’ gains, civil penalties and attorneys’ fees.
No new statute needed, Uthmeier argues
Florida lawmakers tried and failed to settle the sweepstakes question through legislation earlier this year. House Bill 591 died in a House subcommittee in March, and a companion Senate bill passed its chamber before stalling over House amendments.
Uthmeier’s lawsuits sidestep that impasse. They argue Florida’s existing gambling law already covers the dual-currency model, so no new statute is required to shut it down.
Part of a broader state-by-state push
Florida joins a growing list of states moving against sweepstakes casinos. Indiana’s ban is already in effect. Oklahoma’s ban takes effect November 1, after lawmakers overrode a governor’s veto. Louisiana has signed measures this year that treat illegal gambling as racketeering. Michigan and Washington have pursued enforcement under existing law rather than new statutes.
Uthmeier’s approach also echoes Kentucky, where Attorney General Russell Coleman filed three separate lawsuits against VGW, Kalshi and Polymarket in Franklin Circuit Court in June, choosing litigation over a public warning first. Virginia took a different route in February, when its Senate Courts of Justice Committee pushed its own sweepstakes bill to 2027 in favor of a state-run study due by December.
Fallout beyond the courtroom
VGW is separately shutting down its LuckyLand Slots platform on September 14, a different product from the LuckyLand Casino brand named in the Florida suit. Founder Laurence Escalante resigned as chief executive in July, following an earlier leave of absence. He is not named in the Florida complaint.
The Hillsborough County cases give other state attorneys general a closely watched test of whether existing gambling and consumer-protection law can reach the dual-currency model without new legislation. They also add pressure on Congress to draw a clearer line between a sweepstakes promotion and a casino, a distinction state legislatures have so far failed to settle on their own.
Source: Florida Attorney General’s Office
