Every day, thousands of American minors are accessing offshore online gambling platforms with nothing more than a false birthdate. No ID. No verification. No protection.

Bovada — one of the largest offshore gambling platforms operating in the United States — allows users to create fully functional gambling accounts by simply checking a box certifying they are 18 or older. No government-issued ID is required at signup. No biometric confirmation. No liveness check. A child with a parent's name and birthday can be gambling within minutes.

We know this because it happened to our family.

A minor accessed Bovada using a parent's California driver's license. The platform accepted it without any verification that the person creating the account matched the ID submitted. The result was devastating — financially, emotionally, and physically. When we contacted Bovada to report the situation, we received an automated reply and no meaningful response.

This is not an isolated incident. Bovada has received formal cease-and-desist orders from Ohio, Michigan, Colorado, and Connecticut for nearly identical conduct. Regulators in Massachusetts and Louisiana are actively investigating. Yet the platform continues to operate freely, targeting American families while hiding behind offshore incorporation in Curaçao.

This is not a gambling issue. It is a child safety issue, a consumer protection issue, and a public health issue. A leading Northern California pain management physician has documented this firsthand — watching parents arrive in his clinic physically unwell, their conditions traceable not to injury but to the sustained stress of a child's gambling addiction.

We are demanding action on three fronts:

1. MANDATORY BIOMETRIC AGE VERIFICATION — All online gambling platforms operating in or targeting U.S. residents must implement biometric, identity-verified age verification at account creation. A checkbox is not a safeguard. It is an abdication.

2. BOVADA'S REMOVAL FROM U.S. MARKETS — The California Attorney General and the Federal Trade Commission must pursue enforcement action against Bovada's continued operation targeting U.S. consumers, consistent with actions already taken by Ohio, Michigan, Colorado, and Connecticut.

3. FEDERAL LEGISLATION ON OFFSHORE GAMBLING — U.S. Congress must close the regulatory gap that allows offshore platforms to operate freely in American markets without meeting the consumer protection and age verification standards required of licensed domestic operators.

The industry designed the trap. It is not acceptable to ask children and their families to simply avoid it.

If your family has been affected, visit BovadaMinors.com to share your story confidentially. Every account submitted strengthens the case for change.

Sign this petition and demand that regulators, prosecutors, and legislators act now.