Florida AG Sues Sweepstakes Casino Operators, Payment Processors in Escalating Crackdown

Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier is going on the offensive against sweepstakes casinos, filing two complaints Wednesday in Hillsborough County Circuit Court targeting Stake, VGW’s Chumba Casino, LuckyLand, and Global Poker “and the payment processors that enable them,” the AG’s office wrote in a release.

“These so-called ‘sweepstakes’ and ‘social casinos’ are illegal online gambling operations,” Uthmeier said. “If it looks like a casino, takes real money like a casino, and pays out like a casino, it is a casino — and it is illegal under Florida law. These companies have been preying on Floridians, including minors and seniors, with deceptive marketing, and 24/7 access, while dodging our state’s licensing, taxation, and consumer-protection requirements. They must be stopped. … Through the scheme, players would purchase packages of ‘gold coins’ that come bundled in ‘stake cash” or ‘sweep coins.’”

The complaints rely mainly on Florida’s gambling loss recovery statute and Florida’s deceptive and unfair trade practices act.

“Florida law strictly limits gambling and authorizes slot machines only under narrow circumstances at licensed facilities. The lawsuits seek permanent injunctions prohibiting the defendants from operating or soliciting in Florida, forfeiture and recovery of money lost by Florida consumers, disgorgement of ill-gotten gains, civil penalties under FDUTPA, restitution, and attorneys’ fees,” the press release said.

Slot machine parlors have been problematic in Florida as well. They are popular, prevalent, and problematic but difficult to enforce against, in part because it’s hard to distinguish legal versus illegal machines.

“The laws are pretty clear. The problem is resources,” Steve Geller, an attorney and former state senator, told Casino Reports previously. “If you’re the county sheriff, are you going to prioritize breaking and entry, rape, murder, or are you going to prioritize cracking down on the adult arcades? The answer is they’re not going to pay a lot of attention to them.”

Legislative efforts to crack down on sweepstakes casinos have previously fallen short in Florida. Some lawmakers attempted to have the Sunshine State join the ranks of California, New York, and eight other states in enacting legislation to ban sweepstakes casinos, but the proposal stalled out earlier this year.

Broader pressure on the sector has had some effectiveness. VGW announced last week that its brand Luckyland Slots, which had remained available in 44 states, would exit the U.S. effective Sept. 14.