WOW Vegas Class Action Lawsuit Claims Online Casino Operations Are Illegal in Illinois

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A proposed class action lawsuit claims that WOW Vegas operates an unlicensed and illegal online casino in Illinois where players risk real money on games of chance in hopes of winning prizes.

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According to the 30-page lawsuit, WOW Vegas attempts to skirt Illinois state laws prohibiting online gambling by falsely advertising itself as a “free-play” “social casino” providing entertainment-only games. In reality, the case claims, the platform’s casino-style games are “unmistakably games of chance” on which players can wager virtual currency purchased with real money.

“By offering these games of chance, Defendant is operating unregulated online casinos in violation of Illinois law, which explicitly prohibits gambling on games of chance conducted over the internet,” the complaint reads.

WOW Vegas, per the complaint, has two virtual currencies, WOW Coins and Sweeps Coins, with which users can bet on games. While WOW Coins cannot be exchanged for items of real-world monetary value, Sweeps Coins can be redeemed for cash prizes and gift cards, the case says. Each Sweeps Coin, per the suit, is worth $1 USD and is therefore a stand-in for real money.

The lawsuit claims that WOW Vegas users can come by Sweeps Coins in a variety of ways, but that they are most commonly acquired as free add-ons to a purchase of WOW Coins. The complaint alleges that the Sweeps Coins are bundled with WOW Coins in order to mislead consumers and “obscure the real-money nature of the exchange.”

According to the complaint, WOW Vegas requires players to wager Sweeps Coins in one of its chance-based gambling games before being allowed to redeem or withdraw them for cash or gift card prizes. This “coercive mechanism,” as the filing calls it, “forces continued gambling activity… while obscuring the difficulty of actually obtaining monetary rewards.”

“In effect, players are wagering a valuable currency (Sweeps Coins) on games of chance in order to obtain prizes of greater value—a textbook definition of gambling,” the complaint summarizes.

The WOW Vegas class action lawsuit seeks to represent Illinois residents who have lost money wagering on WOW Vegas’ online casino games within the applicable statute of limitations period.

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