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In today's Alabama gambling news, U.S. Sen. Tommy Tuberville received a series of big campaign donations last month but few were more controversial than the $150,000 from a Birmingham businessman and $30,000 from an online gambling company, VGW Luckyland Inc., a subsidiary of a huge Australian gambling company.
Alabama is one of only five states without a lottery. Gambling is illegal in the state and occurs only in facilities controlled by the Poarch Band of Creek Indians.
Just because gambling is illegal in Alabama now does not mean that it will be illegal forever,” said Robert Jarvis, professor of law at Nova Southeastern University in Florida, and an expert on gambling and sports law, in an interview with AL.com.
“VGW is looking to the future and hoping to buy good will with a candidate who may in the future be in a position to help change Alabama’s gambling laws.”
VGW owns the sweepstakes casino LuckyLand Slots, Chumba Casino and Global Poker.
In February, VGW Chief Executive Officer and founder Laurence Escalante was was charged with aggravated assault, engaging in family violence, destruction of property, and possession of cocaine and MDMA with intent to sell or supply. He is accused of assaulting his girlfriend.
Escalante denies any wrongdoing.
“From the little I know of the allegations at this stage, I can only say that they are untrue and will be defended. I ask that both mine and my family’s privacy be respected, and thank them for their support.”
VGW cut ties with Escalante, at least temporarily, shortly after the charges were announced.
VGW said at the time Escalante will be taking a “leave of absence from his role as CEO and Executive Chairman of VGW.”
“We are aware of the serious charges made against Mr Escalante. These are unrelated to VGW and personal in nature. However, we can confirm Mr Escalante will be taking a leave of absence from his role as CEO and Executive Chairman of VGW. In the interim, we have installed experienced leadership from our existing executive team to take on those responsibilities and it remains business as usual for VGW. The company takes any allegations of this nature extremely seriously. As this is a private matter and remains before the courts, we cannot comment further.”
Interestingly, Alabama has filed 40+ civil lawsuits against sweepstakes casino operators since 2025, more than any other state. Alabama has become a hotbed of civil litigation against sweepstakes operators, including VGW (Chumba, LuckyLand, Global Poker).
Tuberville has said he thinks a state lottery and gambling package should be handled by the legislature, not the governor.
Tuberville’s office did not respond to a request from AL.com for comment about the contribution.
- Jagajeet Chiba, Gambling911.com
