Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier has filed two lawsuits against operators of major online sweepstakes casinos and their payment processors, accusing them of running illegal gambling operations that target vulnerable Floridians, including minors and seniors, through deceptive marketing. The complaints, filed in Hillsborough County Circuit Court, name platforms like Chumba Casino, LuckyLand Slots, Global Poker and Stake as defendants alongside financial technology companies that help move money in and out of the games.
According to News4JAX, the lawsuits allege that VGW's Chumba Casino, LuckyLand Slots and Global Poker, along with Stake, operate illegal online gambling enterprises that violate the Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act and the state's gambling laws. Florida law limits gambling and authorizes slot machines only under narrow circumstances at licensed facilities, and Uthmeier's office contends these platforms sidestep that framework entirely while still offering slots, blackjack, roulette and poker around the clock.
Uthmeier's office specifically named financial technology and payment processing companies Yodlee, Trustly and Worldpay Holdco as co-defendants alongside VGW and Stake, according to Local 10 News. The move signals that the state is targeting not just the gaming platforms themselves but the financial plumbing that lets Florida users deposit money and redeem winnings around the clock.
How the Dual-Currency Model Works
Per the complaints, the defendants use a dual-currency model built around gold coins bundled with either stake cash or sweeps coins. Players purchase packages of gold coins that come paired with the secondary currency, and that stake cash or sweeps coins functions as redeemable wagering credits. After minimal play-through requirements, players can cash out those secondary currencies for cryptocurrency, gift cards or cash, the complaints allege.
The companies market the platforms as free, safe and legal social entertainment, and promote large purported wins through celebrity and influencer campaigns, per the lawsuits. Uthmeier's office alleges the companies allegedly avoid Florida licensing, taxation and consumer-protection requirements while marketing themselves this way, and that they allegedly target Floridians, including minors and seniors, with deceptive marketing.
What the State Is Asking Courts to Do
The lawsuits seek a broad set of remedies: forfeiture and recovery of money lost by Florida consumers, restitution, disgorgement of ill-gotten gains, civil penalties under the state's deceptive trade practices act, attorneys' fees, and permanent injunctions barring the defendants from operating or soliciting business in Florida. Under Florida Statutes Section 501.2075, willful violations of that consumer protection law carry civil penalties of up to $10,000 per violation, according to Justia Law, on top of potential attorney fees, restitution and injunctions.
The lawsuits arrive weeks after Uthmeier's office issued cease-and-desist warnings to Visa, Mastercard and American Express in June, demanding the card networks stop processing payments for illegal online gambling operations or face legal action, including potential RICO charges, according to 10 Tampa Bay. That effort to cut off financial rails for gray-market gambling now appears to have expanded from the credit card networks themselves to payment processors like Yodlee and Trustly that facilitate deposits directly on the sweepstakes platforms.
A Bigger Crackdown, and a Big Revenue Stake
The lawsuits follow a wave of physical enforcement earlier in 2026. Joint operations led by the Attorney General's office and the Florida Gaming Control Commission seized 3,114 illegal gaming machines and $1.7 million in illicit proceeds while arresting 81 people statewide, according to a June press release from the Office of the Florida Attorney General. A separate multi-agency sting dubbed Operation Sunset Stakes in Lee and Collier counties confiscated 479 unlicensed gambling machines and nearly $294,150 in illicit cash across Southwest Florida.
Florida also has a financial stake in shutting down unlicensed competitors. The state's 2021 gaming compact with the Seminole Tribe, which grants exclusive rights to online sports betting through Hard Rock Bet, is projected to generate $4.4 billion in state revenue through 2030, as reported by Florida Politics. Lawmakers have also advanced Florida House Bill 189 this session, which would elevate illegal gambling offenses to third-degree felonies and redefine internet gambling to explicitly target sweepstakes-style platforms, according to Gaming Today.
The stakes extend well beyond Florida. Industry research firm Eilers & Krejcik Gaming projected national sweepstakes casino gross gaming revenues would reach $11 billion in 2025, up from $3.1 billion in 2022, as reported by iGaming Business. VGW, the Australian parent company of Chumba Casino, LuckyLand Slots and Global Poker, generated roughly AU$6.1 billion in annual revenue and nearly half a billion Australian dollars in net profit, according to Waterhouse VC. States including California, Michigan, Connecticut, Montana, Nevada and New York have moved to ban or restrict dual-currency sweepstakes platforms, with California's AB 831 imposing $25,000 fines and jail time, iGaming Business reported in July.
Whether Florida courts will ultimately rule that dual-currency sweeps coins amount to illegal wagers under state law remains an open question, as does whether payment processors will voluntarily cut ties with social casinos under the mounting legal pressure. How VGW and Stake plan to defend their business models in the Hillsborough County litigation has not yet been made public.
