A newly proposed class action lawsuit has been filed in Jackson County Circuit Court. It claims that the online gambling site Stake.us, influencer Adin Ross, and Canadian rapper Aubrey “Drake” Graham were running an illegal online casino aimed at people in Missouri.
The plaintiff, Justin Killham, is suing Sweepsteaks Limited, the company behind both Stake.us and the international gambling site Stake.com, along with Ross and Drake.
BREAKING: Canadian rapper Drake and online influencer Adin Ross have been sued along with sweepstakes casino website https://t.co/ZWPLa9WGvN for promoting illegal online gambling in Missouri. The class action seeks to hold Drake and Ross liable for class members’ gambling losses. pic.twitter.com/YILRTAWloM
— Daniel Wallach (@WALLACHLEGAL) October 27, 2025
Suit claims Stake.us used loophole to circumvent Missouri gambling laws
The lawsuit, reviewed by ReadWrite, argues that because online casinos are not allowed in Missouri, Stake.us was created as a disguised version of Stake.com to circumvent the state’s gambling rules. According to the filing, “Stake.us is a virtual clone of Stake.com, rebranded to mislead Missouri regulators and consumers into believing it offers harmless gameplay instead of an unlawful gambling platform.”
Killham alleges that Stake’s two-currency setup is really meant to hide the fact that people are gambling with real money. While the company says that Gold Coins “have no real-world value, and can never be cashed out,” every purchase includes a nearly dollar-equivalent amount of Stake Cash that “can be wagered on casino games and cashed out for real money at a fixed 1:1 ratio to the U.S. Dollar.”
The lawsuit states that “the true purpose of these transactions is to sell Stake Cash” rather than the Gold Coins that are advertised as the product.
The complaint says that because of this, Stake.us should be considered an illegal gambling device under Missouri law. It cites an April 2025 Missouri Gaming Commission alert warning the public that “Online casinos are illegal in Missouri” and that unregulated gambling sites put players at financial risk.
Adin Ross and Drake accused of promoting Stake.us
Ross and Drake are accused of promoting Stake’s gambling products on livestreams and social media while giving viewers the wrong idea about whether they were actually betting with their own money. The filing states that the influencers “often do not do so with their own money despite telling the public in Missouri and elsewhere the opposite.”
It adds that “These acts are deceptive, fraudulent and unfair and violate Missouri law.”
The lawsuit refers to public reporting about Drake’s gambling on Stake.com, citing a ReadWrite story that alleged the musician had been “playing with Stake’s house money” during an eight million dollar loss.
The complaint also cites research alleging that influencers including Ross are “sometimes given house money to gamble with, removing the actual risk associated with online gambling.”
The plaintiff says that Stake and the influencers working with it rely on high profile marketing to draw in impressionable users. According to the complaint, Stake “flooded social media platforms in Missouri and elsewhere with slick ads, influencer videos and flashy visuals” that create the impression that its games are safe and harmless.
The filing describes Drake’s role as Stake’s “unofficial mascot” and says that his public wagering “glamorizing the platform to millions of impressionable fans” is “quietly corrosive.”
The lawsuit asks for the return of gambling losses along with punitive damages, attorneys fees, and a court order to stop the alleged practices. It also requests that the case proceed as a class action on behalf of “All persons in Missouri who gambled and lost money in Stake’s online casino at any time during the five years preceding the filing of this action.”
Stake.us rejected similar claims in a suit filed in Alabama in May, which accused the popular sweepstakes casino site of offering unlicensed casino-style games.
The defendants have not yet responded to the allegations.
Featured image: Adin Ross via YouTube / Stake.us / Grok
