São Paulo court rejects lawyer's R$163m damages claim against Blaze over gambling losses

A São Paulo court has dismissed a compensation claim brought by lawyer Willer Tomaz against the betting platform Blaze over gambling losses he said he suffered. Judge Guilherme Madeira Dezem of the 44th Civil Court of São Paulo ruled that the losses stemmed from risks Tomaz took on voluntarily.

In his decision, the judge said Tomaz was not a passive player. According to the ruling, he personally asked for and obtained private, exclusive betting tables with very high values, described as Blaze VIP Blackjack, and requested repeated increases in operating limits until they reached up to R$500,000 per bet. The judge added that distress and anguish caused by large losses in electronic gambling are direct consequences of the risk a gambler accepts when engaging in a highly volatile, random activity.

Figures supplied by Tomaz's lawyers show that between January 2025 and July 2026 he deposited R$325 million, and his wagers generated about R$6.6 billion in turnover. The defense put net losses at R$188.5 million and said the real total could be higher because it lacked betting records from before 2025. It said most losses came from online casino games with rounds lasting about 30 seconds.

The defense also criticized Blaze's payment model, saying deposits were allowed up to R$500 per transaction while withdrawals were capped at R$100. It said that on one night Tomaz tried to withdraw R$1.9 million in 16 transactions within a few minutes before the system blocked further attempts, and that the account ended the night with R$0.29. It further claimed that Tomaz had reported a gambling addiction to the platform several times and requested three permanent account freezes, and that Blaze set up a WhatsApp support group for lawyers in April 2023.

Blaze rejected the idea that deposits equal financial damage, arguing the calculation ignores withdrawals and other credits made during the period.

Separately, Brazil's Federal Police are investigating whether Tomaz was involved in money laundering through betting. The probe began in Rio Grande do Sul as an inquiry into alleged currency evasion and money laundering involving Blaze, and was later passed to the Supreme Federal Court after e-mails referred to Senator Flávio Bolsonaro. Tomaz's defense denies any laundering and says all transactions went through his own bank account in a traceable manner.