Adam Roarty is a journalist covering sports betting, regulation, and industry innovation for CasinoBeats. His coverage includes tax increases in the UK, covering breaking stories in the ever-evolving landscape of US betting such as the...
Read Full BioStake owner Ed Craven is facing a lawsuit from a Swedish user who claims the Australian businessman encouraged him to gamble away as much as $1.5 million on the platform, starting when he was a teenager.
The man, identified only as Chris, claims Stake “made gross misuse” of his gambling addiction. Messages revealed by ABC News show Craven was in personal contact with the gambler and encouraged him to livestream his gambling sessions.
The Australian billionaire first contacted Chris in July 2020 when he was 17 years old, offering him a special bonus for being one of the top players on the platform. He had lost $150,000.
The online casino owner stayed in regular contact with Chris over the next four years. In 2025, Chris commenced legal proceedings seeking to reclaim $1.5 million of losses at Stake, using his conversations with Craven in support of a claim that the company had exploited his gambling addiction.
Craven: Slots Are ‘Designed to F*** Players’
In the messages, Chris admitted to losing €2.3 million ($2.68 million) at rival online casino Bitcasino. Craven replied, “Really, wow lol.” In another message, Chris revealed he had again suffered big losses on Bitcasino. Craven replied, “If you ever need Stake’s limits increased let me know,” and said they could allow him to wager $100,000 per hand on blackjack.
He admitted that he knew Chris had a gambling problem, stating, “I guess it’s dangerous having that available 24/7 I can set it for like 1 hour or 2 hours for you if you like”.
In another message, Craven stated that he knew Chris was losing a significant amount of money playing slots. He admitted that the games were “real hard to profit” and they were “designed to f*** players.“
Chris Livestreamed Gambling Sessions to Promote Stake
Despite seemingly knowing Chris was a gambling addict, Craven continued offering him bonuses and incentives to keep betting. Chris also livestreamed his gambling sessions under Craven’s encouragement. As the platform is banned in many jurisdictions, it is unable to advertise openly. Instead, it relies on streamers to promote the company.
Stake has enlisted some high-profile celebrities to stream their gambling sessions, including Drake. The rapper, along with Adin Ross, has been named in another lawsuit against Stake in New Mexico.
Craven urged Chris to attach affiliate links on his streams, stating that they would “pay for rest of ya life.” But Chris was unable to sustain the sessions without suffering massive losses. He said he felt pressure to perform and stated, “I would lose [everything] within the first five to seven minutes.”
Craven recommended he limit stakes to €10 per spin, but this seemed impossible for Chris. In 2023, Craven handed the player over to another Stake VIP host, writing, “If you reach out to @TejmanVIP he’ll be able to renew the reload + send cashback etc & set all bonuses going forward.”
Chris only contacted Craven sporadically after that, with the company owner reminding him he had his own host to manage his gambling. In their last message exchange in November 2024, Chris stated that he had lost $700,000 playing blackjack and requested that Craven refund a quarter of the losses.
Stake: Chris is Playing the ‘Gambling Addiction Card’
This year, Chris contacted the Foundation for the Representation of Victims of Online Gaming to file a lawsuit against the company and Craven. He prepared a letter with attorney Roelof Bijkerk, demanding that the company return all of his losses.
In response, Stake argued that Chris was a “professional gambler” who was merely playing the “gambling addiction card” to recover his losses.
It said the company continuously monitors player patterns that might indicate gambling addiction, and “there was no specific pattern in the timing of [Chris’s] deposits that would indicate such a problem.” If his claim were to be awarded, Stake’s lawyers say, “it would go against the principle of fair play.”
The only grounds for returning a player’s losses, they argue, would be if its games had been rigged against them. “In gambling, the fundamental rule is: if you lose, you lose; if you win, you win.”
The company has faced multiple lawsuits in the US, with users claiming it is operating illegally. In California, a judge sent a lawsuit against the company to arbitration, arguing that the user had accepted the terms of using the platform. The lawsuit filed by Chris may have a similar outcome.
