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Florida’s gaming regulator says its enforcement teams pulled a record amount of cash and equipment from illegal gambling locations in 2025, as the state widened cooperation with local and federal agencies and stepped up investigations across multiple regions.
In a year-end enforcement update dated December 30, 2025, the Florida Gaming Control Commission (FGCC) said it seized $14,474,336 and confiscated 6,725 illegal slot machines during actions targeting unlicensed casinos and other prohibited gambling activity statewide. The figures represent a sharp rise over 2024, when the agency reported $7,110,613 seized and 1,287 machines recovered.
FGCC Executive Director Alana Zimmer attributed the ramp-up to stronger institutional backing for enforcement and resources, saying in the commission’s statement:
“I thank Governor Ron DeSantis and the Florida Legislature for their ongoing support of the Florida Gaming Control Commission. Their actions strengthen Florida’s gambling laws and help protect our communities. FGCC has been working diligently to halt illegal gambling through enforcement actions across the state, demonstrating the dedication of FGCC’s law enforcement officers.”
A bigger enforcement footprint: 29 new cooperation agreements in 2025
Alongside the higher seizure totals, the commission said it broadened its formal coordination with other agencies during the year. FGCC reported it entered into 29 new memoranda of understanding with local, state, and federal law enforcement partners in 2025, steps it said helped “magnify” enforcement reach.
That expansion appeared repeatedly in case announcements throughout the year, including joint actions with sheriff’s offices, municipal police departments, and federal agencies such as U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).
One example came earlier in December, when FGCC assisted Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) in a coordinated action dubbed “Operation Funny Money.” According to an FGCC release dated Dec. 17, 2025, investigators executed search warrants on Dec. 11 at three locations in Northeast Florida, one in Jacksonville and two in Orange Park, as part of an illegal gambling probe.
During that operation, FGCC said personnel seized major equipment, including 230 slot machines and 23 fish tables, along with digital media and other related components. The commission said the seized machines were transported for evidentiary storage and that proceeds recovered from the devices were documented as part of an ongoing federal investigation.
Zimmer framed that joint-work approach as central to the commission’s playbook.
“We will take the vital, necessary steps to shut down illegal casinos that are popping up across Florida,” she said in the Operation Funny Money release.
“There’s only so much money to go around”: the push for tougher deterrence
In a January 21, 2025, press release summarizing testimony to a Florida House subcommittee, FGCC officials and law enforcement partners argued that existing statutory classifications and penalties were not sufficient to slow illegal gaming.
Then-Acting Executive Director Ross Marshman said, “There’s only so much money to go around. If a dollar does not go to a licensed facility or a tribal facility, it’s going into a criminal’s pocket. It’s as simple as that.”
FGCC says legal slot gaming is limited to eight licensed pari-mutuel facilities located in Miami-Dade and Broward counties, along with certain gaming facilities operated by the Seminole Tribe of Florida. Outside those authorized facilities, the commission says offering slot-machine gaming or other unauthorized gambling activity is illegal.
Enforcement beyond storefront machines: online gambling and the “lawful” sportsbook message
While the 2025 year-end totals focused on illegal slot machines and cash recovered from physical locations, the FGCC also spent part of the year targeting online gambling activity it views as illegal in Florida.
Earlier this year, FGCC said it sent cease-and-desist letters to three overseas operators, BetUS (Milvus Ltc), Bovada (Harp Media B.V.), and MyBookie (Gaming Services Provider, N.V.), arguing the sites offered illegal wagering accessible to Florida residents and visitors.
In that release, Marshman stated: “The only online sportsbook operating lawfully in Florida is the Seminole Tribe of Florida’s Hard Rock Bet. Anyone in Florida betting on the Big Game needs to know this. Bettor beware.”
The latest snapshot: what the FGCC says 2025 proved
The FGCC continues to draw a sharp line between regulated slot gaming and the machines found in unlicensed storefronts, arcades, bars, or other unauthorized locations. The commission says illegal slot machines are not tested or regulated by the state, leaving players without assurances around fair play, accurate payouts, or consumer protections.
Taken together, the 2025 releases paint a picture of an enforcement apparatus that expanded in frequency, geography, and partnership structure, while keeping its public messaging tight: illegal machines are outside the regulated framework, and enforcement is intended to protect the integrity of legal gaming.
The commission’s year-end statement also flagged how it wants the public and businesses to interact with enforcement going forward, directing reports to its online portal, email tipline, and phone line, and noting it publishes a state map of authorized locations.
And with 2026 approaching, that December 30 update put a clear marker down: Florida’s primary gaming regulator is measuring success not only in prosecutions and shutdowns, but also in the raw totals of cash seized, machines removed, and partnerships formed, numbers that, for 2025, landed well above the prior year.
Source: Newsmax
