High 5 Games has been ordered to pay nearly $25 million in damages as part of a class action lawsuit filed in Washington state.
The case stretches back to 2014 when Washington resident and plaintiff, Rick Larsen started playing on High 5 Casino on Facebook. Despite the state’s strict anti-gambling laws, this online game required payment for chips to participate in the game of chance. Larsen wasn’t the only player to lose money on this game in Washington, and the class sued successfully, with a summary judgment passed in June last year.
More recently, a jury trial was held to decide the extent of the damages; it was determined players from Washington state had lost more than $17 million in total on the game. Earlier this month the jury submitted this figure must now be repaid by High 5 Games, along with an extra $7 million in damages.
High 5 Sweepstakes Casino Does Not Break the Law
To be clear, the Facebook game was not part of High 5’s sweepstakes casino, launched in 2022 under High 5 Entertainment LLC. This sweeps site uses two types of virtual currency, including a free one, which allows members to play casino-style games completely for free. On top of this, High 5 Casino does not operate in the Evergreen State, as with all other sweepstakes sites.
However, in the older Facebook game, players had to buy credit to play, and this mechanism became central to the case. Judge Tiffany Cartwright ruled the virtual chips held value because they had to be purchased to allow continued play. Even if the chips could not be exchanged for cash afterward, the system was determined to constitute online gambling, which is prohibited in Washington.
The ruling reflects other previous cases in Washington state. One such example is the case involving Big Fish Games from 2018, which resulted in a settlement and a $155 million payout fund for any affected players. Unlike Big Fish, High 5 chose to take its case to trial rather than settle, making this recent ruling and payout order all the more significant.
High 5 tried to argue that, since there was no way to redeem winnings, players were not engaged in gambling, but the jury rejected this. Following this ruling, High 5 has restricted sweeps play access in several states, most likely as a safety measure against future lawsuits.
Ongoing Legal Buzz Around Social & Sweepstakes Casinos
This verdict could lead to more lawsuits filed by players who feel they are entitled to losses from online casino-style games. That said, with multiple such cases being filed across the United States, not all are falling in the plaintiffs’ favor. Take the recent case in Georgia against VGW, the operator of Chumba Casino. This case was dropped in December when a judge ruled there was no jurisdiction in Georgia for the complaint.
Even the Washington Big Fish case was initially rejected in 2016, but scored victory two years later via an appeal. All this goes to show how accusations of gambling against social gaming sites are not always easy to prove. With multiple ongoing cases involving social and sweepstakes casinos, plus lawmakers in states like Maryland pushing to outlaw sweeps casinos completely, 2025 is certainly shaping up to be an interesting year.
Author: Jon Ridehalgh
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