New York Fines VGW $8m Over Sweepstakes Casinos
New York Attorney General Letitia James has secured $8 million from VGW Holdings Pty Ltd and its affiliates, one of the largest operators of so-called sweepstakes casinos, over Chumba Casino, Global Poker and Luckyland Slots.
The Office of the Attorney General said on September 9, 2026 that the three platforms let New Yorkers play slots, blackjack and poker using virtual coins that could be exchanged for cash or prizes, in violation of state law barring platforms from offering gambling that risks something of value, including redeemable virtual coins.
VGW began offering Chumba Casino to New Yorkers in 2012, then expanded with Global Poker in 2016 and Luckyland Slots in 2018. All three platforms used a virtual currency called sweeps coins, which VGW described as free and therefore not gambling.
The OAG's investigation found players instead received roughly one sweeps coin for every dollar spent on the platform, the same mechanic as buying chips at a casino operator.
A Year-Long Enforcement Trail
The settlement follows a cease and desist letter the OAG sent VGW in June 2025, which stopped the company selling sweepstakes coins to New Yorkers. In December 2025, Governor Kathy Hochul signed New York's formal ban on sweepstakes casinos into law.
Attorney General James said: "Online sweepstakes casinos like Chumba Casino, Global Poker, and Luckyland Slots posed a dangerous threat to New Yorkers and their financial and mental health. My office took action to stop these illegal platforms last year, and now we are holding VGW accountable for the damage done."
The OAG said sweepstakes casinos carry particular risk because they sit outside the audits and consumer protections required of licensed operators, leaving players with no way to confirm games are fair or that a site can pay out a winning bet.
Some New Yorkers lost tens of thousands of dollars on VGW's platforms, according to the settlement. Under the deal, VGW will pay $8 million in disgorgement, penalties and costs, and New York's 2025 ban means none of the three brands can legally return to the state as sweepstakes-style products.
Part Of A Wider Sweep
The VGW settlement is the latest in a run of OAG actions against unlicensed gambling in New York this year: the office sued Kalshi in July 2026 over its prediction markets, sued Coinbase and Gemini in April 2026 over crypto gambling products, and sued video game developer Valve in January 2026 over in-game gambling promotion.
Attorney General James is encouraging New Yorkers to report unlicensed gambling platforms to the New York State Gaming Commission or the OAG directly.
The OAG's Assurance of Discontinuance details the mechanics behind VGW's model: users who paid $5 for a coin package received 5.05 sweeps coins alongside one million gold coins, while a $50 purchase yielded 51.50 sweeps coins and 15 million gold coins, with only sweeps coins redeemable for cash or gift cards.
VGW also offered a free-entry route, requiring users to request a code online and mail a hand-written postcard meeting specific size and format rules, after which a five-minute timer had to expire before another code could be requested. The filing notes VGW placed no limit on how many paid coin packages a user could buy in a single session.
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