VGW Keeps Operating in Arizona After November 2024 Cease-and-Desist Order

Virtual Gaming Worlds (VGW), the company behind Chumba Casino, Global Poker, and Luckyland Slots, is still operating in Arizona nearly two years after state regulators told it to stop. For payment and gambling operators, the point is not just the dispute itself, but the fact pattern: a regulator says the activity is illegal, the company keeps going, and formal enforcement still has not landed.

1. According to an Arizona Republic investigation, the Arizona Department of Gaming issued a cease-and-desist order against VGW in November 2024, but the Australian company has continued its Arizona business. Regulators previously said VGW’s platforms offered illegal gambling and warned that the company could face civil or criminal charges, but no such action has followed.
2. The Department’s position is that VGW’s model violates state law because users can buy virtual currency, play games, and redeem winnings for cash or other prizes. The agency said the presence of free-to-play options does not change the underlying nature of the activity. VGW disputed that reading and argued that sweepstakes platforms do not fall under Arizona gambling laws.
3. Despite repeated demands to stop, the matter has not produced concrete enforcement. Department of Gaming spokesperson Jessica Roza said the agency still considers VGW’s activities illegal and is assessing possible enforcement action. The company’s overseas base also makes starting a case more difficult, which is the sort of practical detail that tends to matter more than the legal theory on paper.
4. VGW’s political spending is part of why the story is getting attention. The company and its reported businesses reportedly spent roughly $350,000 lobbying Democrat and Republican officials. That does not prove influence, but it does mean the company has been spending money while remaining visible in the state and staying in the crosshairs of regulators.
5. VGW spokesperson Michael Bennet previously said the company believed it complied with relevant laws and regulations and was willing to speak with states about potential regulatory frameworks for its dual-currency offerings. The company has not commented on its continued operations in Arizona despite the regulator’s warnings.

This comes as dual-currency sweepstakes face rising backlash across the USA. Several states have already banned sweepstakes casinos, and others are taking legal action against the sector, which makes VGW’s Arizona file relevant well beyond one state: if a large operator can keep going after a cease-and-desist order, every PSP, bank partner, and merchant risk team in this corner of the market has a practical enforcement question to answer.