{"id":322812,"date":"2024-06-17T17:53:47","date_gmt":"2024-06-17T22:53:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=322812"},"modified":"2024-06-18T08:48:23","modified_gmt":"2024-06-18T13:48:23","slug":"high-5-social-casino-ruled-illegal-in-washington-state","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/high-5-social-casino-ruled-illegal-in-washington-state\/","title":{"rendered":"High 5 Social Casino Ruled Illegal in Washington, Players to Be Paid Back"},"content":{"rendered":"

A federal judge in Washington state<\/a> has ruled that two social casino apps operated by New York-based High 5 Games constitute illegal gambling in the state.<\/p>\n

\"High
Washington state residents plowed $21.6 million into High 5 Casino, above, and its sister app, High 5 Vegas, between 2014 and 2023, according to court documents. But the amount to be paid back to players will be determined by a jury at a later date. (Image: High 5 Games)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The June 11 ruling by Western Washington District Court\u00a0Judge Tiffany Cartwright\u00a0could put the company on the hook for millions in damages under the state\u2019s Recovery of Money Lost at Gambling Act (RMLGA). That\u2019s real money, not play chips.<\/p>\n

Cartwright agreed with the plaintiff in the case, former player\u00a0Rick Larsen,\u00a0that the games violated Washington\u2019s Consumer Protection Act (CPA), as well as RMLGA.<\/p>\n

Damages to be Determined <\/strong><\/h2>\n

Larsen first filed the class-action lawsuit against High 5 Games in 2018. High 5 Casino and High 5 Vegas players receive virtual coins for free when they register on tech platforms like Facebook, Google Play, and the App Store.<\/p>\n

Once they blow through their virtual bankroll, they need to purchase additional coins with real money if they want to continue playing. Larsen spent $7,470.50\u00a0while playing the apps, according to court documents.<\/p>\n

As a class-action lawsuit, anyone who purchased virtual currency for one of the apps in Washington after April 9, 2014, could qualify to receive a damages payout.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The RMLGA states that all \u201cpersons losing money or anything of value \u2026 on any illegal gambling games shall have a cause of action to recover \u2026\u00a0 from the proprietor for whose benefit such game was played \u2026 the value of the thing so lost.\u201d<\/p>\n

Subpoenas served by Larsen\u2019s lawyers on Amazon, Apple, Google, and Facebook revealed that Washington residents spent more than $21.6 million on the apps between 2014 and 2023. However, the judge didn’t accept this as a definitive figure and determined damages should be decided by a jury pending further discovery.<\/p>\n

Something of Value <\/strong><\/h2>\n

Cartwright relied on a legal precedent in making her decision. In March 2018, federal judge Milan D. Smith of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the virtual play chips used in the games of another social casino, Big Fish, could be considered to be \u201csomething of value,\u201d under Washington State law.<\/p>\n

\n

That\u2019s crucial because Washington describes gambling as \u201crisking something of value on the outcome of a contest of chance or a future contingent event not under the person\u2019s control or influence to receive something of value<\/em> in the event of a certain outcome.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Washington differs from other states where similar cases have been brought in ascribing \u201cvalue\u201d to virtual playing chips.<\/p>\n

Plaintiffs in the Big Fish case ultimately shared a $155 Million settlement<\/a>. High 5’s virtual coins \u201cfunction identically\u201d to those of Big Fish, Cartwright determined.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A federal judge in Washington state has ruled that two social casino apps operated by New York-based High 5 Games constitute illegal gambling in the state. The June 11 ruling by Western Washington District Court\u00a0Judge Tiffany Cartwright\u00a0could put the company on the hook for millions in damages under the state\u2019s Recovery of Money Lost at […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":322813,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[88702,60,22988],"tags":[84735,91333,91330,91332,91331,82370,86566,82181],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nHigh 5 Social Casino Ruled Illegal in Washington State<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"High 5 Casino and High 5 Vegas social casino apps constitute illegal gambling in Washington state, federal court rules.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/high-5-social-casino-ruled-illegal-in-washington-state\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"High 5 Social Casino Ruled Illegal in Washington State\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"High 5 Casino and High 5 Vegas social casino apps constitute illegal gambling in Washington state, federal court rules.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/high-5-social-casino-ruled-illegal-in-washington-state\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-06-17T22:53:47+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-06-18T13:48:23+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/High-5.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"615\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Philip Conneller\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@casinoorgphilc\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Philip Conneller\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/high-5-social-casino-ruled-illegal-in-washington-state\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/high-5-social-casino-ruled-illegal-in-washington-state\/\",\"name\":\"High 5 Social Casino Ruled Illegal in Washington State\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/high-5-social-casino-ruled-illegal-in-washington-state\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/high-5-social-casino-ruled-illegal-in-washington-state\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/High-5.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-06-17T22:53:47+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-06-18T13:48:23+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/58769b72851c8cf117fb58ca150ebf8b\"},\"description\":\"High 5 Casino and High 5 Vegas social casino apps constitute illegal gambling in Washington state, federal court rules.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/high-5-social-casino-ruled-illegal-in-washington-state\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/high-5-social-casino-ruled-illegal-in-washington-state\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/high-5-social-casino-ruled-illegal-in-washington-state\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/High-5.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/High-5.jpg\",\"width\":1000,\"height\":615,\"caption\":\"Washington state resident plowed $21.6 million into High 5 Casino, above, and its sister app, High 5 Vegas, between 2014 and 2023, according to court documents. 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