Class Action Claims Game Show Network Has ‘Illegally Profited’ from Online GSN Casino Game in Washington

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Game Show Network, LLC is the latest target of litigation challenging whether the operation of an online casino game is illegal under Washington state law.

The 24-page lawsuit revolves around GSN Casino, for which players use bundles of “tokens” to play electronic slot machines on Android and Apple devices. Though the defendant positions GSN Casino as a free-to-play game, the lawsuit argues the descriptor isn’t entirely accurate, and that Game Show Network has reaped substantial profits from a game of chance that uses free, upfront tokens designed to “encourage players to get hooked and buy more tokens for real money.”

The case’s first count cites Washington’s “Recovery of money lost at gambling” statute (RCW 4.24.070) that provides: 

“ . . . all persons losing money or anything of value at or on any illegal gambling games shall have a cause of action to recover from the dealer or player winning, or from the proprietor for whose benefit such game was played or dealt, or such money or things of value won, the amount of the money or the value of the thing so lost.”

This same statue, the suit goes on, defines gambling as “staking or risking something of value upon the outcome of a contest of chance or a future contingent event not under the person’s control or influence.”

Considering that online gambling is illegal under Washington state law, the lawsuit seeks an order from the court to require Game Show Network to cease the operation of its gambling games and/or award lost money, with interest, and reasonable attorneys’ fees.