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A new lawsuit in the Southern District of Ohio is taking direct aim at Stake.us, accusing the platform of running an online casino without the licenses required by state law.
Filed on February 3, the proposed class action comes from plaintiff Brenda Krivatch, who is seeking damages and court orders on behalf of Ohio residents who say they lost money on the site.
The complaint argues that Stake.us misled players by presenting itself as a “legal sweepstakes” platform. That label, according to the filing, gave users the impression the site was permitted in Ohio, even though the company never listed the state as restricted and never obtained approval to operate there.
Lawsuit calls ‘Stake Cash’ real money and demand end to operations
At the center of the case is the way Stake.us structures its games. Players can spin slots or sit at virtual tables using free credits called Gold Coins, but the lawsuit says those coins are little more than a distraction.
The real value lies in “Stake Cash,” a currency that can be redeemed for cryptocurrency and, in practice, works almost like real money. Bundles of coins are sold directly to users, starting at $20 and reaching $300. For example, a $20 purchase provides 200,000 Gold Coins along with 20.05 Stake Cash.
The filing claims this setup meets all three conditions that Ohio law uses to define gambling: consideration, chance, and prize. By packaging it as sweepstakes gaming, the lawsuit says, Stake.us crossed into casino territory without a license.
The lawsuit filed on February 3 does more than accuse Stake.us of running an unlicensed casino. It also takes aim at the fine print in the company’s terms and conditions. Arbitration clauses and class action waivers, which normally limit how players can challenge a platform, are being contested.
The plaintiffs argue that under Ohio law, any agreement tied to gambling losses cannot stand, making those provisions unenforceable.
The filing also asks the court to declare Stake.us illegal in Ohio and to order its operations in the state closed. Refunds for player losses are part of the request, along with statutory damages, punitive damages, restitution, disgorgement of profits, and attorney fees.
Non-stop legal battles for Stake.us
Stake.us is facing a wave of lawsuits across the United States, with federal court records showing at least nine cases filed against its parent company, Sweepstakes Limited. The cases are in Illinois, California, Virginia, and now Ohio, each accusing the platform of running illegal gambling while posing as a sweepstakes site.
High-profile names like rapper Drakle and streamer Adin Ross have also been pulled into the legal battle. Last October, both were accused in Missouri and New Mexico of promoting the platform as a social casino while using “house money” to make losses look harmless online.
A later case in Virginia repeated the same claims and sought $5 million in damages by accusing Drake and Ross of using Stake’s tipping feature to move funds and inflate streaming numbers on services like Spotify.
Even the Ohio case is not the only one tied to plaintiff Brenda Krivatch, as ust months earlier, she filed a separate complaint against Social Gaming LLC, the operator of Fortune Coins, accusing it of marketing unlawful gambling to Ohio residents. Her dual filings highlight how sweepstakes casinos are being challenged on multiple fronts.
These cases are part of a much wider trend where over 100 class actions now target sweepstakes casinos nationwide. While operators have generally relied on arbitration clauses to slow down civil suits, regulators and attorneys general remain the bigger threat, with the power to shut platforms out of entire states.
Source: GamblingInsider
