Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier has filed lawsuits against sweepstakes casino operators VGW and Stake. Payment processors serving both companies are named as defendants.
Uthmeier said VGW and Stake 'do not follow the safeguards and do not provide the guarantees for consumers that are required of licensed casinos under Florida law'. The suit against Stake includes processors Breeze Labs and Praxis Tech, owners Ed Craven and Bijan Tehrani, and streaming platform Kick. Rapper Drake is mentioned in the filings for promoting Stake but is not a defendant. The case against VGW names Yodlee, Trustly and Worldpay, which process payments for Chumba Casino, Global Poker and LuckyLand Casino. VGW founder Lawrence Escalante recently stepped down as CEO over personal legal issues.
Bill failed, lawsuits follow
Florida legislators tried to ban the sweepstakes model this spring through bill SB1580. The Senate passed it, the House amended it, and time ran out before a second vote. Most operators continue to serve Florida; only Carnival Citi and GoldSlips block residents. Why Uthmeier singled out VGW and Stake is unclear.
The suits were filed in Hillsborough County Circuit Court. The attorney general argues virtual currency functions as casino chips and the bonus wrapper is simple camouflage. VGW has already closed access in 16 states, Stake in 22. The Money Factory and CoinFrenzy shut down in October. Novig and Fliff are shifting to prediction markets — if Florida wins, more may follow.
