A lawsuit filed in November 2024 against Apple, Google, and sweepstakes company High 5 Casino has been dropped by the plaintiff, Julian Bargo, who filed a notice of voluntary dismissal without prejudice with the New Jersey District Court.
Julian Bargo Argued That Sweepstakes Casinos Operate As Unregulated Online Casinos
In his suit, Bargo claimed he lost over $1,000 on sites ranging from High 5 to WowVegas. He also alleged that these sweepstakes casino brands amounted to illegal gambling. The filing came the day before the defendants were set to submit their motions to dismiss in the case.
Apple and Google were named in the suit and levied with Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) charges because Bargo said they were complicit since they listed the sweepstakes casinos in their app stores and allowed payments via their payment services.
RICO defines an enterprise as “any individual, partnership, corporation, association, or other legal entity, and any union or group of individuals associated in fact although not a legal entity.”
The plaintiff suggested that sweepstakes casinos disguise themselves as social casinos but operate as unregulated online casinos.
“The Gaming Defendants have succeeded in misleading regulators about the true nature of their operations for far too long,” the complaint reads.
Since the lawsuit was voluntarily dismissed without prejudice, Bargo does have the right to pursue legal action again in the future if he decides to take that route.
High 5 Games Was Ordered To Pay Nearly $25 Million In Class Action Lawsuit Filed In Washington State
High 5 Games, the developer behind High 5 Casino, was ordered to pay nearly $25 million in damages last month as part of a class action lawsuit filed in Washington state tied to its sweepstakes casino business model.
The court case stretched back to 2014 when Washington resident and plaintiff, Rick Larsen, started playing on High 5 Casino on Facebook.
Under Washington state law, gambling is defined as risking something of value on a game of chance. The lawsuit maintained that even though the digital chips used in these games held no direct monetary value, they were still valuable to players because the chips extended the gaming experience.
High 5 Games had structured its sweepstakes casino operations around the practice of selling virtual chips that allowed for continued gameplay without providing any avenue for real-money payouts. Court documents alleged that High 5 engaged in a revenue model constituting gambling.
Plaintiffs argued that while users could not withdraw real money from their wins, they needed to spend real money to acquire virtual money for continuing games.
Through betting slips and payment receipts, it was determined that players from Washington state had lost more than $17.7 million in total on the game. An extra $7.2 million in damage claims was then added to the ruling under Washington’s Consumer Protection Act.