<iframe width="640" height="360" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/0DAKmmG_ecQ" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen style="float:left;padding:10px 10px 10px 0px;border:0px;"></iframe><p>The smiling faces of Paris Hilton and Ryan Seacrest made surprise appearances before the Louisiana Senate for Friday's hearing on unlawful gaming.</p>
<p>No, they weren't personally in participation, however the world-famous celebrities were conspicuously included in a slide presentation on social and sweepstakes gambling establishments - the questionable sites using both free casino-style video games and profitable rewards, such as cash, gift cards or cryptocurrency. In one advertisement, the fist-pumping Seacrest is seen plugging Chumba Casino, where anyone can 'bet complimentary,' while a crop-topped Hilton holds a chip for <a href="
http://video.marketingelite.ro/@danewarfe4953?page=about">sweepstakes</a> operator, Wow Vegas, in the other.</p>
<p>The sites are just two cogs in the multibillion-dollar market that now discovers itself besieged by suits. In the eyes of lots of video gaming corporations, not to <a href="
https://movieplays.net/@jamikahuey1853?page=about">mention lawsuit</a> plaintiffs and state regulators, sweepstakes casinos serve as conventional gambling establishments, only without the oversight, consumer securities and tax laws. So not only can they prevent the steep 24-percent federal <a target="_blank" href="
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<p>One operator, Australia-based Virtual Gaming Worlds (VGW), reported $4 billion in earnings in 2015 alone. Now the business faces <a href="
https://viddertube.com/@araweiland4861?page=about">accusations</a> of unlawful gaming in a New york city lawsuit that claims VGW utilizes celebrity endorsers to 'develop a veneer of authenticity' around its product. (See VGW's declaration listed below)</p>
<p>'I'm unsure" if you do not trust us, you can trust Paris Hilton" is a winning message for business operating multibillion-dollar illegal operations out of places like Malta, Isle of Man, or US mail drops,' Friday's speaker, Howard Glaser of video gaming corporation Light & Wonder, told DailyMail.com.</p>
<p><a href="
https://evlendirmeservisi.com/@kamjacquetta80">Sweepstakes endorsers</a> include a series of stars from <a href="
https://goalsshow.com/@consuelobold83?page=about">sports betting</a> enthusiasts Drake and DJ Khaled to swimmer Michael Phelps, along with NBA stars Karl-Anthony Towns and Paul George - none of whom use any differences in between standard gaming and sweepstakes play.</p>
<p>Paris Hilton is seen plugging Wow Vegas, among lots of sweepstakes casinos discovered online</p>
<p>Ryan Seacrest advises fans to dip into Chumba Casino, where lots of - but not all - video games are totally free</p>
<p>Drake has an offer with social sweeps gambling establishment, Stake, that he regularly promotes on social media</p><a href="
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<p>Instead, advertisements typically center around the social aspect of the casinos, while omitting the capacity for real gambling losses.</p>
<p>Others tempt consumers with guarantees of rewards. One such operator, Stake, ran a social media advertisement revealing off Drake's cars, airplanes and <a target="_blank" href="
https://haitianpie.net/@luann98w405621?page=about">mansions</a> before rotating to footage of the rap artist playing online casino-style video games.</p>
<iframe width='640' height='360' src='
frameborder='0' allowfullscreen title='sports betting (c) by N/A'></iframe><div style="clear:both;"></div><p>'Daddy, why do we have so much cash?' check out the first caption on the screen.</p>
<p>Another caption explained: 'Because I never gave up.'</p>
<p>The inconsistency in between gambling sites and social or sweepstakes gambling establishments is a bit complicated, but operators of the latter insist they're not involved with the previous.</p>
<p>A spokesperson for a market trade group, the Social and Promotional Gaming Association (SPGA), discussed its members are not in direct competition with online gambling establishments and sportsbooks. Furthermore, according to SPGA information, many of the players on social-sweepstakes casinos are <a href="
https://kohentv.flixsterz.com/@sherylfullwood?page=about">sports betting</a> totally free.</p>
<p>'Most social sweeps clients never ever purchase,' the SPGA spokesperson informed DailyMail.com. 'The minority of customers who make purchases do so in quantities far smaller sized than the typical deposit or wager size at real-money online gambling sites.'</p>
<p>Social casinos use customers a chance to play casino-style video games with friends. Players have the alternative to buy valueless currency often referred to as 'gold coins,' which can not be exchanged genuine money, but can be used to open numerous features within the video games.</p>
<p>But within the world of social casinos exists sweepstakes gaming, enabling consumers to acquire other currency referred to as 'sweeps coins' that can be exchanged for cash or other rewards.</p>
<p>And therein lies the capacity for monetary losses, like the ones declared by complainants in Florida, Georgia, New Jersey and New York. One gamer told the Washington Post he lost more than $100,000 on sweepstakes gambling establishments in the past year after continuing to purchase more coins in pursuit of money and other things of value.</p>
<p>The Philadelphia 76ers' Paul George is seen promoting a Worldwide Poker occasion</p>
<p>Social sweeps gambling establishment Stake ran an ad displaying Drake's cars, airplanes and mansions</p>
<p>Karl-Anthony Towns of the New York Knicks is another NBA star plugging VGW's Global Poker</p>
<p>Traditional online casinos are prohibited in all but seven states, which has actually assisted to fuel the appeal of sweepstakes casinos.</p>
<p>Anyone over the age of 18 can access the sweepstakes sites, which do not need usually need identification. However, sites like Chumba will request for IDs from gamers trying to withdraw any funds.</p>
<p>Many sites, like the crypto-compatible Stake, enable clients to send mail-in demands for complimentary sweeps coins, <a href="
https://901radio.com/@stephenglockne?page=about">offered</a> the players follow painfully particular guidelines. What's more, gamers are typically rewarded with sweeps coins just for signing up, therefore providing them a reason to try their hands at any number of <a href="
https://www.cupidhive.com/@dakotaabney15">casino video</a> games for a chance to win - or lose <a href="
https://sugarmummyarab.com/@darrenbramblet">- genuine</a> money.</p>
<p>So why are sweepstakes sites enabled to run in 48 states, while online casinos are banned in all but 7?</p>
<p>According to the stakeholders, their item is the totally free casino-style gaming, and the real-stakes competitors is simply a method of promoting their support.</p>
<p>'Social sweepstakes video games are just a type of online entertainment,' an SPGA representative told DailyMail.com by email. 'No purchase is required to dip into social gambling establishments with sweepstakes rewards. Consumers never ever have to spend for an opportunity to win prizes. That absence of a purchase requirement - or" factor to consider" - is a <a href="
https://naijascreen.com/@angelinahutchi?page=about">crucial difference</a> in between social sweeps and standard online <a href="
https://tube.itg.ooo/@stephan88x662?page=about">sports betting</a> websites like casinos.'</p>
<p>Think about the manner in which McDonald's utilizes its yearly Monopoly game to promote its food: Customers aren't paying to gamble, but rather they're purchasing hamburgers and fries that use them the opportunity to win profitable rewards, such as a $1 million jackpot.</p>
<p>And without a <a href="
https://snapfyn.com/margerykilgore">purchase</a> requirement, or 'factor to consider', the game itself does not meet the meaning of gambling in the US.</p>
<p>'Sweepstakes are a long-standing approach for promoting all sort of everyday businesses in the United States, everything from hamburgers to magazine subscriptions to coffee and home improvement stores,' the SPGA spokesperson told DailyMail.com. 'Sweepstakes promos are frequently used by a who's who of home names like AT&T, Chase, Home Depot, Marriott, Starbucks, and Wal-Mart.'</p>
<p>But to numerous <a href="
https://jvptube.net/@leandroschurr0?page=about">sports betting</a> industry experts, that argument does not cut it.</p>
<p>For beginners, video gaming attorney Daniel Wallach mentions, McDonald's <a href="
https://www.beyoncetube.com/@candacesoria59?page=about">Monopoly video</a> game doesn't run forever. Rather, it has a well-defined beginning and end, thus recommending the sweepstakes is not the fast-food giant's primary product. Instead, the sweepstakes is being used to promote real items like french fries, shakes, and the Filet-O-Fish.</p>
<p>'They don't last permanently and they're typically not connected to casino-style video games of opportunity,' Wallach told DailyMail.com. 'They're just money giveaways.</p>
<p>'The sweepstakes [gambling establishments] have none of the qualities commonly associated with McDonald's-style sweepstakes promotions,' Wallach continued. 'Besides running in all time, the sweepstakes gambling establishments provide" casino-like" payments, normally 80 percent or more of incomes, whereas the common payout percentage for a short-term advertising sweepstakes is an insignificant share of the earnings earned by the company [usually less than one percent]'</p>
<p>Wallach fasts to compare the online social sweeps casinos to the <a href="
http://rishost.com/@brigidahillard?page=about">internet cafes</a> that emerged in Florida, using consumers the opportunity to play casino-style video games for real rewards. A number of those brick-and-mortar establishments have considering that been shuttered over allegations of prohibited gambling.</p>
<p>DJ Khaled is among several celebrity spokespeople for VGW's Global Poker brand</p>
<p>Now, Wallach argues, social sweeps gambling establishments must deal with comparable examination.</p>
<p>'These differences are not approximate,' Wallach stated of social sweeps gambling establishments. 'They have actually repeatedly been pointed out by courts and state chief law officer as essential elements in determining that a sweepstakes promotion was in fact a guise for unlawful gambling.'</p>
<p>Among the gambling establishment industry's leading trade companies, the American Gaming Association, is now pressing legislators to examine sweepstakes operators and, in some cases, enact new legislation on the issue.</p>
<p>'Consumers are being deprived of defenses and states are forgoing significant tax and earnings opportunities as this gaming replaces that performed through controlled channels,' read a well-circulated AGA memo.</p>
<p>And after that there are the plaintiffs who have actually sued social casinos in more than a lots states.</p>
<p>Sweepstakes gambling establishment operators paid a combined $14.2 million in 4 separate cases in <a href="
https://inamoro.com.br/@britthague1711">Kentucky</a> without admitting any misdeed, according to the Washington Post. Meanwhile VGW accepted pay $11.75 million in one class-action claim, stating the settlement was made to prevent legal expenses and continued litigation.</p>
<p>Michael Phelps has actually signed a handle the VGW Group, which owns Global Poker</p>
<p>In the most recent lawsuit, which is mostly similar to its predecessors, New york city state citizens Lamar Prater and Rebecca Pratt both declare to have actually lost well over $1,000 to VGW, which is explained in the filing as an 'prohibited gaming business. '</p>
<p>Apple and Google have also been called as accuseds in suits for hosting the sweepstakes websites. But unlike VGW, neither tech company reacted to DailyMail.com's ask for remark.</p><a href="
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<p>'We typically do not comment on matters before the courts,' a VGW spokesperson informed DailyMail.com via e-mail. 'However, we note that this claim has actually only just been filed with the court and VGW has not been formally served.</p>
<p>'We have complete confidence in our compliance with all laws and regulations where we run, and remain positive about the future,' the spokesperson continued. 'We continue to provide our free-to-play games throughout the majority of The United States and Canada, as we have for more than a years, developing not only excellent games, user <a target="_blank" href="
https://flixtube.org/@tuyetdelgado5?page=about">experiences</a> and entertainment, but also ensuring this is done safely, properly and at the highest level of standards.</p>
<p>'More broadly, we 'd restate that class actions and other lawsuits and arbitrations are reasonably common across the online social games industry (and the US more broadly), and our standard practice is that we mean to intensely safeguard any claim which may be brought against us.'</p>
<p>The issues between standard online gaming and sweepstakes gambling establishments might show troublesome for some celebrity endorsers.</p><a href="
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<p>Towns, a star center with the Knicks, and the 76ers' George both endorse VGW's Global Poker brand while the NBA is partnered with standard video gaming titans like FanDuel and DraftKings.</p><a href="
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<p>'It's paradoxical that professional athletes are hawking prohibited <a href="
https://myafritube.com/@tarahrwo64794?page=about">sports betting</a> 'sweeps' sites while at the very same time the leagues desire to forecast a strong position against prohibited gambling - particularly when attempting to tamp down the occasional gaming scandal,' Glaser told DailyMail.com.</p>
<p>It was just 8 months ago that Toronto Raptors forward Jontay Porter received a lifetime ban from the NBA over accusations he conspired with gamblers. However, to be clear, Porter's scandal is unrelated to anything including social or sweepstakes gambling establishments.</p>
<p>In addition to VGW, Apple and Google are being sued for hosting apparently illegal <a href="
https://veedz.gluchat.com/@caitlyngomes6?page=about">sports betting</a> websites</p>
<p>Regardless, Glaser sees sweepstakes casinos as a significant concern for leagues such as the NBA.</p>
<p>'I 'd expect that a league crackdown on professional athletes endorsing sweepstakes sites is a matter of when, not if,' Glaser added.</p>
<p>Neither an NBA spokesman nor the gamers' agents reacted to DailyMail.com's ask for remark. For that matter, spokespeople for Drake, DJ Khaled, Hilton, Seacrest and Phelps also <a href="
https://crossborderdating.com/@colbymurnin598">disregarded</a> to react to DailyMail.com emails.</p><a target="_blank" href="
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<p>Asked if their celeb endorsers have a duty to explain to customers the distinctions and resemblances in between iGaming and sweepstakes gambling establishments, VGW insisted there is nothing more that requires to be done.</p>
<p>'We have complete self-confidence in our influencer and ambassadorial collaborations, and our business practices more broadly,' the representative said. 'A few of our worths are" our players precede" and" we do what's right", and we put our worths at the core of everything we do.'</p>
<p>Glaser, an outspoken challenger of sweepstakes websites, sees things differently.</p>
<p>'Celebrities who lend their names to dubious illegal <a href="
https://www.cupidhive.com/@dakotaabney15">sports betting</a> websites are, at a minimum, putting their track records at danger in addition to courting civil and class actions by consumers who allege harm,' Glaser said. 'There is likewise some risk that state regulators and state chief law officers rope celebrity endorsers into enforcement efforts for helping with illegal gaming.'</p>
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