Chavdar Vasilev is a gambling news writer with several years of experience in the iGaming industry. He started creating promotional content but soon found he loved reporting on the industry itself. Since then, he’s delivered...
Read Full BioA New Jersey law firm has filed a class-action lawsuit against High 5 Entertainment, seeking to recover losses incurred by state residents through illegal gambling on High 5 Casino.
High 5 Casino ceased operations in New Jersey in February. Despite that, the state’s loss-recovery statute allows individuals who have lost money or property from illegal gambling to seek recovery of their losses within six months.
US gaming law and sports betting lawyer Dan Wallach brought the lawsuit to light through a post on X. According to the post, J. Meyers Esq, a Denville, New Jersey law firm, brought the suit in the Bergen County Superior Court.
The law firm seeks to recover losses suffered through gambling by Mitchell Dallas from Kansas City, Missouri, Julian Bargo from Cliffside Park, New Jersey, and “John/Jane Does 1 through 100, an unknown number of individuals, residency unknown.”
The New Jersey lawsuit comes a few months after a Washington jury ordered High 5 to pay $24.9 million in damages to players in the state.
CT Suspended High 5 Games’ License, Could NJ Do the Same?
High 5 Entertainment is in a unique situation compared to other sweepstakes casino operators. The company serves as a content supplier for regulated retail and online casinos through High 5 Games. Some of the most popular games by High 5 Games include the DaVinci Diamonds slot series.
High 5’s unique situation landed the company in hot water in Connecticut. In March, the state’s Department of Consumer Protection Gaming Division suspended the content supplier’s license as a result of the company operating an illegal gambling activity via High 5 Casino.
Shortly after, slots like DaVinci Diamonds Extreme, Beti the Yeti, Secrets of the Forest, and Dangerous Beauty disappeared from Connecticut casino libraries.
After the license suspension, High 5 Games committed to compliance and working with regulators. Subsequently, the company settled with the regulator for nearly $1.5 million at the end of May, and had its supplier license reinstated.
That sum included $643,000 in restitution to customers who lost money on High 5 Casino. Additionally, nearly $800,000 would be allocated towards consumer complaint resolution programs, education, protection, enforcement, and litigation.
Given that High 5 Games holds a supplier license in New Jersey as well, the state could follow Connecticut’s lead. Although the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement has not taken an active role against sweepstakes platforms, mounting regulatory pressure is building.
An active bill to ban sweepstakes casinos, endorsed by the New Jersey Responsible Gaming Task Force, could lead to higher pressure on the sector, particularly on High 5 Games.
High 5 Casino Has Exited all iGaming States
Scrutiny of sweepstakes casinos has been building across the US. This year alone, lawmakers from a dozen states introduced legislation to ban the platforms. So far, only Montana has passed a ban. However, others, such as Louisiana, Nevada, and Connecticut, are just a governor’s signature away from a ban.
While it has faced issues in Connecticut and now New Jersey, High 5 Casino has been one of the most active platforms in terms of exiting states with potential bans or following regulators’ requests.
In February, the platform exited Connecticut, Delaware, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and West Virginia. What’s notable about these states is that they have all legalized real-money online casinos. High 5 Games holds a content license in each of them.
A month later, High 5 Casino was also among a large number of sweepstakes operators that exited New York in anticipation of a potential ban.
