Florida AG sues Stake and VGW over sweepstakes casinos, citing illegal gambling and consumer risk

Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier has filed two lawsuits targeting Stake and VGW’s Chumba Casino, LuckyLand, and Global Poker, arguing that the sweepstakes model already violates Florida gambling law. For PSPs and acquiring teams, the interesting part is not the courtroom language — it’s the state’s attempt to treat sweepstakes as unlicensed real-money gambling, which is the kind of framing that can quickly turn into processor, bank, and platform exposure.

1. According to the lawsuits, players buy packages of Gold Coins that include redeemable Sweepstakes Coins. Those coins can be used on virtual slot machines, blackjack, and poker, with winnings redeemable for cryptocurrency, gift cards, or cash.
2. Uthmeier alleges that the companies are exploiting vulnerable Floridians, including minors and seniors, while bypassing state licensing requirements and consumer protections. In the state’s telling, the model is not “social gaming” with a prize mechanic attached; it is gambling dressed up to look less like gambling.
3. The complaint says VGW’s sweepstakes casinos deprive Florida of licensing, tax, and other revenues that would otherwise come from properly regulated gambling operators. Stake is described as the main target, with the AG alleging that it uses the appearance of safe social gaming and celebrity endorsements to steer consumers toward illegal, unlicensed real-money gambling.
4. Stake co-founders Ed Craven and Bijan Tehrani are also named as individual defendants. Florida says both personally participated in and exercised control over the company’s marketing and expansion strategies, which is the part operators and their vendors tend to read twice.
5. The lawsuits are part of a wider US pushback against sweepstakes casinos. New Jersey recently passed Assembly Bill A5447, which aims to prohibit the sweepstakes wagering model, while Florida lawmakers earlier this year considered House Bill 591, sponsored by Rep. Berny Jacques, but it failed to advance out of committee before the legislative session ended in March.

Florida also said earlier this week that authorities busted several illegal gambling venues and seized a total of 60 slot machines. For high-risk payment players, the pattern is clear enough: sweepstakes is moving from a product-label debate to a law-enforcement and licensing issue, and that usually means more scrutiny on how money enters, moves through, and exits the business.