Florida has sued the operators behind Stake.us and several VGW-owned casino-style sites, accusing them of running illegal online gambling businesses under the cover of sweepstakes and social gaming. The cases were filed in Hillsborough County Circuit Court and also name payment companies involved in processing transactions.
The state says the defendants, including Chumba Casino, LuckyLand and Global Poker, violated Florida gambling law and the Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act. The complaints seek to shut the operations down in Florida, recover money lost by consumers, strip away alleged profits, and impose civil penalties and attorneys’ fees.
According to the attorney general’s office, the sites use a dual-currency model built around packages of “Gold Coins” that come with “Stake Cash” or “Sweeps Coins.” In that structure, the second currency can be used to play casino-style games and, in some cases, redeemed for cryptocurrency, gift cards or cash after play-through requirements.
The state says that design is meant to make real-money gambling look like a lawful sweepstakes. The complaints describe games that mirror traditional casinos, including slots, blackjack, roulette and poker, while being promoted as free, safe and legal social entertainment.
The attorney general’s office also says the companies marketed the platforms to Florida residents while avoiding the licensing, taxation and consumer-protection rules that apply to legal gambling businesses. In one filing, the office says the defendants used deceptive claims such as “free,” “100% safe” and “100% legal,” offered easy 24/7 access, accepted credit cards and Apple Pay, and used influencers to bring users in.
James Uthmeier said the companies were “preying on Floridians, including minors and seniors,” and argued that if a site “looks like a casino, takes real money like a casino, and pays out like a casino,” then it is an illegal casino under Florida law.
The complaint filed against VGW-owned entities also lists Yodlee, Trustly and Worldpay Holdco as defendants. It says the attorney general is bringing the case under FDUTPA and Florida’s gambling statutes, and is seeking injunctive relief, disgorgement, consumer restitution, actual damages, civil penalties, attorney’s fees and costs in an action worth more than $50,000.
The filing also leans on Florida’s narrow treatment of gambling, saying the state broadly prohibits unregulated gambling devices and allows slot machines only in limited circumstances at licensed facilities. It cites the 2004 constitutional amendment that opened the door to slot machine referenda in Miami-Dade and Broward counties, and the 2005 law known as Chapter 551, which governs slot machines there.
