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MONTGOMERY, Ala (Gambling911.com) - Republican Alabama Governor candidate and current sitting Senator Tommy Tubberville received $30,000 from one of the country's largest sweepstakes casinos back in March.
Campaign finance reports show Boulder, Colorado-based VGW Luckyland Inc. made that donation. VGW is the owner of popular sweepstakes casino brands Chumba, Global Poker and Luckyland.
While Alabama does not currently regulate any form of online gambling, sweepstakes casinos are accessible.
Unlike a real money online casino, sweepstakes - or social casinos - is an online platform that allows users to play casino-style games, including slots, bingo, table games, and even live casino games, using virtual currency instead of real money. These types of online casinos rely on additional real money purchases once the free play component is exhausted. In contrast, real money online casinos require a small deposit that can be increased through wins. Free play and cash bonuses are typically offered as well.
Over a dozen U.S. states have either passed laws to prohibit the dual currency payment model tied to most sweepstakes casinos or are attempting to do so.
Alabama is not among the states that have pushed to eradicate these so-called social casinos. Nevertheless, Alabama has an old gambling-loss recovery statute, Ala. Code § 8-1-150, that allows recovery of money lost through illegal gambling. Plaintiffs have increasingly attempted to use that law against online/sweepstakes casino companies. One current industry tracker reports dozens of Alabama lawsuits against operators, including a substantial wave filed in 2026.
Interestingly, in August of last year, B-Two Operations updated its terms, allowing players in Alabama to once again engage with platforms like McLuck, Hello Millions, SpinBlitz, and PlayFame. Chumba and its associated brands never left this market.
While someone like Tuberville would have little power to prevent such lawsuits as long as Ala. Code § 8-1-150 remains on the books, having a powerful political ally in their corner certainly can't hurt sweepstakes casino operators.
So it may come as little surprise that news broke this week that VGW pumped another $100,000 into Tuberville's campaign.
That six-figure contribution on Monday, helped Tuberville raise more than $533,000 in August from over 1,400 donations and maintain a commanding fundraising advantage over Democratic rival Doug Jones, according to AL.com.
Recent polling shows Tuberville ahead of Jones in the reliably red state by a margin of 8 points (49% to 41%).
T.C. Jackson, Gambling911.com
