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The Florida Gaming Control Commission (FGCC) has raided three locations, seizing 231 illegal gambling machines and over $157,000 in illegal gambling proceeds in Lake County.
Conducted under the code name ‘Calvin Coolidge,’ the FGCC operation targeted three locations believed to be housing unlawful gambling houses in Lake County’s Umatilla and Leesburg on Thursday (January 8). The raid saw the seizure of 231 illegal gambling machines and over $157,000 in illegal gambling proceeds, one of many recent raids as the state cracks down on illegal gambling operators.

FGCC and the Lake County Sheriff’s Office shut down three locations and seized illegal slot machines and cash. Read more here: https://t.co/hOOukO2olG pic.twitter.com/TevCQA67wo
— Florida Gaming Control Commission (@FLGamingControl) January 9, 2026

The three locations were identified through the joint means of complaints, intelligence gathering, and investigative efforts from the FGCC.
“These enforcement actions demonstrate our commitment to protecting Florida communities and preserving the integrity of the state’s gaming laws,” said FGCC Executive Director Alana Zimmer. “Illegal gambling operations undermine lawful businesses and exploit patrons. FGCC will continue to work proactively with law enforcement partners to shut them down.”
A joint effort tackle illegal gambling in Florida
The FGCC partnered with the Lake County Sheriff’s Office to raid the House of Treasure in Umatilla and two locations – Hot Seats and The Hub – in Leesburg. Investigators seized 56 illegal gambling machines, including slot machines and fish tables, along with $75,619 in cash, at the House of Treasure. Hot Seats is one of the gaming spots tied to the criminal case involving Osceola County Sheriff Marcos Lopez.
Rows of illegal gambling machines seized during the FGCC’s Lake County raid. Credit: WESH 2 News via YouTube
At the other two locations, 77 illegal gambling machines and $35,621 in suspected gambling proceeds were seized at Hot Seats, while 98 illegal gambling machines and $46,597 in cash were found at The Hub.
Notices to Appear were issued at all of the locations for possession of slot machines and keeping a gambling house.
According to Florida gambling laws, gambling machines are permitted only in legal gaming facilities. What’s more, there are only eight licensed facilities in Miami-Dade and Broward outside of those operated by the Seminole Tribe of Florida under their exclusive tribal rights. The punishment for illegal possession of slot machines ranges from second-degree misdemeanor for a first conviction to a third-degree felony for repeat offenders, which can result in anything from financial fines of up to $5,000 to up to five years in person, or both.
Keeping a gambling house is typically a more serious crime in Florida, often being classified as a third-degree felony and carrying penalties of up to five years in prison, a financial fine of up to $5,000, or both.
Featured image: Google Maps
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A bill in Mississippi seeks to ban all online sweepstakes casinos, with felony penalties of up to $100,000 fine, 10 years in prison, and asset forfeiture.
Mississippi’s Senate Bill 2104 aims to amend official state law to includes “any online, interactive, or computerized version of games within the prohibition on betting, gaming, or wagering”. That would effectively ban any online sweepstakes casinos, going one step further than some other states that are pursuing similar legislation but focused on dual-currency games. Six other states – New York, Indiana, Florida, Maine, Iowa, and Virginia – have already enacted bans of their own.

A bill has been filed in Mississippi to expressly ban online sweepstakes casinos. Bill language not limited to dual-currency. Each violation would be a felony, subject to $100K fine, up to 10 years in prison + forfeiture of assets. Link to SB 2104: https://t.co/eybCiB4mNx pic.twitter.com/QtEdNqaiid
— Daniel Wallach (@WALLACHLEGAL) January 10, 2026

This isn’t the first time that Mississippi itself has pursued such a bill, with similar legislation failing to progress in April 2025, after sports betting was added to the bill.
SB 2104 also seeks to increase the criminal penalty from a misdemeanour to a felony. The penalty for violating the ban could therefore be as much as a $100,00 fine, 10 years in prison, and forfeiture of assets in connection with the prosecution of any violations if proven guilty.
Mississippi’s current approach to sweepstakes games
At the moment, brick-and-mortar internet sweepstakes businesses are already banned in Mississippi. While this change would cement online sweepstakes casinos as illegal, two cases have already effectively done so, with a state court finding that online sweepstakes games were also illegal in Moore v. Mississippi Gaming Comm’n and Mississippi Gaming Comm’n v. Six Electronic Video Gambling Devices.
If the ball was passed, Mississippi prosecutors would be able to choose whether to try cases either in the county where the offense occurred or in Hinds County. The Mississippi Gaming Commission would also be able to enter into contingency-fee agreements for prosecuting forfeitures tied to illegal gaming, putting more power into the hands of the Commission and prosecutors alike.
Featured image: Wikimedia Commons, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0
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Rep. Dina Titus of Nevada said on Thursday (January 8) that her gambling tax reform bill, the FAIR BET Act, is picking up steam, after House Appropriations Committee Chairman Tom Cole signed on as a co-sponsor.
In a post on X, the Democratic lawmaker said, “Exciting news for the #FAIRBETAct and the gaming community. The Chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, @TomColeOK04, has just co-sponsored my legislation to rightfully restore the tax code for gamers. Nobody should have to pay taxes on phantom income. Let’s get this done.”

Exciting news for the #FAIRBETAct and the gaming community. The Chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, @TomColeOK04, has just co-sponsored my legislation to rightfully restore the tax code for gamers.
Nobody should have to pay taxes on phantom income. Let’s get this…
— Dina Titus (@repdinatitus) January 8, 2026

FAIR BET Act introduced in reaction to Trump’s OBBBA bill
The FAIR BET Act, short for the Fair Accounting for Income Realized from Betting Earnings Taxation Act, would bring back a long-standing tax rule that lets gamblers deduct all of their losses from their winnings when figuring out what they owe. That changed in 2025 under President Donald Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill,” which capped those deductions at 90%.
Under the current law, someone who wins $100,000 but also loses $100,000 would still be taxed on $10,000, even though they didn’t actually make any money. Critics say that amounts to taxing losses and skews how gambling income is supposed to be reported.
Titus, who represents Nevada’s gaming-heavy 1st Congressional District, has made rolling back the cap a top priority. When she introduced the FAIR BET Act in July 2025, she called it a “common-sense fix” to what she described as a badly designed and harmful tax change.
In an interview on NewsNation’s The Hill last year, Titus warned the change could have broader consequences beyond individual gamblers. “It pushes people into the black market if they don’t do regulated gaming, because they have a tax disadvantage, and the black market doesn’t pay taxes, isn’t regulated, doesn’t help with problem gaming. So it’s bad for the industry as well as for the player,” she said.
Trump signed the Big Beautiful Bill into law on July 4, 2025. It was a massive budget package that extended parts of the 2017 tax cuts, cut Medicaid spending, changed how Social Security taxes work, and made a long list of other fiscal tweaks. It passed the House by a razor-thin 218–214 vote, with every Democrat and two Republicans voting no, and it’s expected to add about $3.3 trillion to the deficit over the next decade.
Titus has needed a co-sponsor for the FAIR BET Act
Once the gambling tax change kicked in, Titus started pressing the House Ways and Means Committee to move her bill forward. In a public letter sent in December 2025 to Committee Chair Jason Smith and Ranking Member Richard Neal, she wrote, “Now is the time to fix the unfair 90 percent tax deduction for gambling losses that negatively impacts professional and casual players.”
She’s argued that the current law ends up taxing money gamblers never really made and could push players toward offshore or unregulated betting sites. In that same correspondence, Titus said the policy shift “unfairly burdens professional gamblers and casual players alike and will inevitably drive players toward offshore and unregulated markets where consumer protections are nonexistent, thereby undermining responsible gaming efforts nationwide.”
Titus also tried to tack the bill onto the 2026 National Defense Authorization Act, but the Republican-led House Rules Committee wouldn’t allow the amendment. “Unfortunately, the GOP-controlled Rules Committee did not accept the FAIR BET Act as an amendment to the NDAA,” she said at the time. “This was an easy fix that should have been adopted. Nonetheless, I will continue to build support to restore the 100 percent gambling loss deduction.”

Today I am urging @WaysMeansCmte Chairman @RepJasonSmith to place the FAIR BET Act on the committee calendar. Now is the time to fix the unfair 90% tax deduction for gambling losses that negatively impacts professional and casual players. See my full letter to the Chairman below. pic.twitter.com/JJUozMnPTu
— Dina Titus (@repdinatitus) December 11, 2025

Cole signing on as a co-sponsor of the FAIR BET Act is a big step as it could give the proposal a boost in a divided Congress. The bill still has a tough road ahead in the tax-writing Ways and Means Committee, but supporters say the bipartisan support shows there’s growing awareness that the current deduction cap is creating real problems for both gamblers and the gaming industry.
For Titus, the goal remains restoring what she calls a fairer system that reflects actual net income. As she put it in her recent post, the issue comes down to a simple principle: “Nobody should have to pay taxes on phantom income.”
Featured image: Dina Titus on X / Tom Cole via X
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