Maryland puts sweepstakes casino giants in gun
Two Australian-linked sweepstakes casino giants have been hit with a major lawsuit in the United States, with the City of Baltimore accusing the operators behind Chumba Casino and Stake.us of running illegal online gambling operations in Maryland.
The legal action targets Virtual Gaming Worlds, owned by Perth billionaire Laurence Escalante, and Easygo, the Melbourne technology company behind Stake.us and billionaire Ed Craven’s wider Stake gambling empire.
Maryland currently allows online sports betting and daily fantasy sports, with operators such as BetMGM and FanDuel active in the state, but online casinos remain unregulated.
The lawsuit alleges the companies exploit sweepstakes casino loopholes by using dual virtual currencies that can ultimately be redeemed for real-world value, including cryptocurrency payouts. Stake.us users, for example, can redeem Stake Cash for crypto after meeting minimum balance, identity verification and playthrough requirements.
Baltimore claims the model effectively mirrors real-money online casino gambling while operating outside Maryland’s regulated gambling framework. The city is seeking financial penalties and an order shutting down the operations in the state.
VGW has previously been in hot water in Delaware, when they were sent a halt operations order in July 2024, with the company withdrawing from the state.
Stake is headquartered in Melbourne Australia, but is licensed in Curacao, while VGW is based in Perth, but is incorporated in the tax-friendly Guernsey.
Neither Stake or VGW operate their brands in Australia, with no framework to allow iGaming having been developed, despite a massive offshore industry targeting this market.
