What Is Stake?
Stake (Stake.com for crypto gambling, Stake.us for the US sweepstakes version) is one of the largest online casino and sports betting platforms in the world. Founded in 2017, it's known for its crypto-first approach, sponsorship deals with Drake, partnerships with UFC, and heavy presence on streaming platforms like Kick and Twitch. Stake offers both house-built original games and third-party slots from providers like Pragmatic Play and Hacksaw Gaming. Their original games use a provably fair system, while third-party games use traditional RNG from the game provider.
Stake's Provably Fair System
Stake implements provably fair verification on their original games (Crash, Plinko, Dice, Mines, Limbo, etc.) using a standard HMAC-SHA256 approach. Players can see a hashed server seed before betting, provide their own client seed, and verify results after each round. On paper, this is a legitimate provably fair implementation. The algorithms for their original games are documented and independently verifiable. For these games specifically, the cryptographic math prevents outcome manipulation. However, Stake also hosts hundreds of third-party slot games that do not use provably fair — they run on the game provider's own RNG, with fairness guaranteed only by the provider's license and periodic audits.
The Bloomberg Investigation
In 2023, Bloomberg Businessweek published an investigation that analyzed publicly available data from high-profile Stake streamers. The key finding: Drake's win rate on Stake-owned games showed statistically significant deviations from expected rates. Specifically, Drake hit 1,000x+ payouts roughly once every 2,500 spins on Stake's proprietary Easygo titles — approximately four times more frequently than the expected rate of once every 10,000 spins. Adin Ross showed similar anomalies. Critically, both streamers had normal win rates on third-party games — the anomalies only appeared on games built by Stake's affiliated game studio. Stake disputed the findings as "categorically incorrect," arguing the analysis ignored differences in game mathematics. The company faces ongoing class-action lawsuits related to these allegations.
The Third-Party Game Gap
A crucial distinction often missed in the "is Stake rigged" debate: Stake's provably fair system only applies to their original games. The platform also hosts hundreds of slots and table games from third-party providers (Pragmatic Play, Evolution, Hacksaw Gaming, etc.) that use traditional RNG. These games are not provably fair — their fairness depends entirely on the game provider's license and audit certifications. This creates a two-tier system. Original games can be verified. Third-party games cannot. Most of the controversy around Stake involves games where the distinction between these tiers isn't clear to players.
What This Means for Players
The Stake situation illustrates a broader point: even platforms that use provably fair technology can have trust gaps if the implementation is partial, if affiliated game studios operate differently for certain players, or if the platform mixes verifiable and non-verifiable games without clear labeling. A truly fair platform needs provably fair verification on every game, full algorithm transparency, no ability to treat different players differently, and clear separation (or elimination) of non-verifiable games. When evaluating any casino — Stake or otherwise — the question isn't just "does it claim to be provably fair?" but "can I verify every game I play?"
How Rookie Is Different
Rookie uses HMAC-SHA256 provably fair verification on every single game — all table games, all original games, and all 14 slot titles. We don't mix provably fair originals with unverifiable third-party games. Every game on the platform was built in-house, every outcome is committed before your bet, and every result is verifiable after. The algorithms are fully documented on our Fairness page. There's no two-tier system, no third-party black boxes, and no ability to deliver different results to different players. The math is the same for everyone, and everyone can check it.