Washington Online Gaming Class Action Sets Sights on Scientific Games Corp

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Scientific Games Corp. is on the receiving end of a proposed class action in which the plaintiff claims the company’s operation of and profits earned from its online gambling games are illegal under Washington state law.

The defendant, which offers Jackpot Party Casino and Gold Fish Casino on Android and Apple devices, provides first-time users free bundles of “chips” with which they can wager on the company’s games. According to the case, after users “inevitably” lose their initial cache of chips, the defendant attempts to sell them more chips starting at $4.99 for 20,000,000 chips. The lawsuit claims that the defendant’s move to sell so many chips in a single bundle is no accident, but instead an attempt to lower the perceived cost of the chips while “simultaneously maximizing the value of the award,” and thereby inducing consumers to bet on games.

“These free sample chips offer a taste of gambling and are designed to encourage players to get hooked and buy more chips for real money,” the complaint states.

After detailing the particulars of how to play the defendant’s purportedly free-to-play offerings, the case then charges the company’s casino games are illegal under Washington law in that players “wager things of value”—chips—and by an element of chance are able to obtain “additional entertainment and extend gameplay.”