VGW to Pay New York $8M Over Chumba, Global Poker Sweepstakes Games
New York AG Letitia James secures an $8-million settlement with VGW over its sweepstakes casino brands, as US prediction-market litigation widens.
This article was produced with AI assistance and edited by the ON360 newsroom.
New York Attorney General Letitia James has secured an $8-million settlement from VGW over its Chumba Casino, Global Poker and LuckyLand Slots sweepstakes platforms, closing an investigation into the company’s dual-currency gambling model in the state.
The Sept. 9 settlement caps a year of pressure on sweepstakes casinos across the United States. New York is one of roughly a dozen states that have moved against the sector, and it has since passed a law banning dual-currency sweepstakes operators outright.
What investigators found
According to the Attorney General’s Office, VGW offered casino-style games to New Yorkers through Chumba Casino starting in 2012, later adding Global Poker in 2016 and LuckyLand Slots in 2018. All three ran on a dual-currency system built around Sweeps Coins, which players could redeem for cash or prizes.
Investigators concluded players could obtain roughly one Sweeps Coin for every dollar spent on the platforms. That finding undercut VGW’s argument that the coins were given away free and therefore fell outside gambling law.
The state said VGW’s conduct violated laws against promoting gambling, possessing gambling records and engaging in repeated illegal or fraudulent acts. “Our state’s gambling laws are designed to protect New Yorkers,” 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.”
Terms of the deal
VGW must pay $8 million covering disgorgement, restitution, penalties and costs. The company must also give certain former New York customers, those who missed an earlier phaseout notice, a one-year window to request redemption of eligible Sweeps Coins held as of June 2, 2025.
VGW responded the same day, saying it “welcomes the conclusion of this matter.” The company noted it had voluntarily stopped New York players from collecting Sweeps Coins back in June 2025, and it pointed to language in the settlement stating the deal is not an admission of liability. VGW said it will keep running its social games in New York, but only through free-to-play Gold Coins.
The settlement follows a cease-and-desist letter James’s office sent in April 2025. Ontario players will not encounter Chumba, Global Poker or LuckyLand through iGaming Ontario’s regulated market, since sweepstakes-style dual-currency products sit outside the AGCO’s registered operator framework. Regulated Ontario sites are required to offer deposit limits and self-exclusion tools for anyone concerned about their play.
Prediction-market fights multiply
The same week brought fresh moves in the separate battle over sports prediction markets. Gaming attorney Daniel Wallach reported that Robinhood has filed a petition for certiorari asking the U.S. Supreme Court to review the Ninth Circuit’s ruling on sports event contracts, shortly after Kalshi asked the same court for an en banc rehearing.
Wallach called it a likely “tag-team strategy,” with Kalshi pressing its case inside the Ninth Circuit while Robinhood pushes for direct Supreme Court review. New Jersey has separately asked the top court to weigh in on a Third Circuit ruling that reached the opposite conclusion on federal preemption.
Arizona is meanwhile preparing to ask the court to vacate a May injunction that has blocked it from enforcing gambling law against Kalshi’s sports contracts. Underdog, days after surrendering daily fantasy sports licences in seven states, filed federal suits against regulators in Massachusetts, Ohio, Wisconsin, New Mexico and Washington over the same issue.
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