{"id":98868,"date":"2019-02-20T14:37:10","date_gmt":"2019-02-20T22:37:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=98868"},"modified":"2019-02-20T14:37:10","modified_gmt":"2019-02-20T22:37:10","slug":"big-fish-social-casino-targeted-in-new-class-action-lawsuit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/big-fish-social-casino-targeted-in-new-class-action-lawsuit\/","title":{"rendered":"Big Fish Social Casino Targeted by New Class Action Lawsuit in Washington State"},"content":{"rendered":"

Seattle-based social casino Big Fish is facing a fresh class-action lawsuit that accuses it of operating \u201cillegal online casino games.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Big
A federal court appeals court in Washington State ruled last year that Big Fish social casino offered illegal gambling, prompting a slew of consumer lawsuits. The ruling is expected to be appealed. (Image: Big Fish)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The play-money site was hit by several similar lawsuits last year after a federal court in Seattle ruled<\/a> that the virtual chips used in Big Fish\u2019s casino games could be considered to be \u201csomething of value,\u201d which meant they could be defined as gambling under Washington State law.<\/p>\n

The state defines gambling as \u201crisking something of value on the outcome of a contest of chance or a future contingent event not under the person\u2019s control or influence to receive something of value in the event of a certain outcome.\u201d<\/p>\n

Big Fish to Fry?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The new suit names Big Fish\u2019s former owner, Churchill Downs, and new owner, Aristocrat Technologies, as defendants. The social games developer was acquired by Australian slots manufacturer Aristocrat in January 2018 — three months before the court\u2019s ruling — for almost $1 billion.<\/p>\n

While Big Fish\u2019s games are ostensibly free to play, extra chips can be acquired through in-app purchases.<\/p>\n

Curiously, the new lawsuit accuses Big Fish of using practices similar to casinos to reap \u201chuge profits\u201d while never paying out anything of monetary value — an accusation that appears to be self-defeating, since the virtual chips players win must have \u201cvalue\u201d in order to be considered gambling.<\/p>\n

As we allege in our complaint, the mobile gambling industry, by design, preys on consumers by bringing additive gambling opportunities directly into their homes,” Christopher Dore, an attorney representing the plaintiff, Florida resident Manasa Thimmegowda, told Komo News.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

“We look forward to proving that companies are aware that many of their customers fall victim to these gambling games, with significant negative impacts on their lives financially and otherwise.”<\/p>\n

Appeal Expected<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The original case against Big Fish was brought in 2015 by former player Cheryl Kater, who claimed she had spent $1,000 topping up chips on the site. She argued Big Fish violated several Washington State statutes, including the Recovery of Money Lost at Gambling Act and the Washington Consumer Protection Act.<\/p>\n

The case was tossed in 2016, but Kater appealed. The resulting verdict was a shock to the social gaming industry<\/a> and could have ramifications not just for social casinos but for any game that employs microtransactions and an element of chance.<\/p>\n

In April last year, Aristocrat vowed to work with Churchill Downs to appeal the verdict, emphasizing there were\u00a0\u201cmeritorious legal and factual defenses against [Kater\u2019s] allegations and requests for relief.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Seattle-based social casino Big Fish is facing a fresh class-action lawsuit that accuses it of operating \u201cillegal online casino games.\u201d The play-money site was hit by several similar lawsuits last year after a federal court in Seattle ruled that the virtual chips used in Big Fish\u2019s casino games could be considered to be \u201csomething of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":98873,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[19,60,20],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nBig Fish Social Casino Targeted in New Class Action Lawsuit<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Big Fish social casino owner, Aristocrat Technologies, and former owner Churchill Downs face a new class-action lawsuit that accuses the companies of offering illegal gambling in Washington State.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/big-fish-social-casino-targeted-in-new-class-action-lawsuit\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Big Fish Social Casino Targeted in New Class Action Lawsuit\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Big Fish social casino owner, Aristocrat Technologies, and former owner Churchill Downs face a new class-action lawsuit that accuses the companies of offering illegal gambling in Washington State.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/big-fish-social-casino-targeted-in-new-class-action-lawsuit\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-02-20T22:37:10+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/big-fish.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1334\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"750\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Philip Conneller\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@casinoorgphilc\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Philip Conneller\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/big-fish-social-casino-targeted-in-new-class-action-lawsuit\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/big-fish-social-casino-targeted-in-new-class-action-lawsuit\/\",\"name\":\"Big Fish Social Casino Targeted in New Class Action Lawsuit\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/big-fish-social-casino-targeted-in-new-class-action-lawsuit\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/big-fish-social-casino-targeted-in-new-class-action-lawsuit\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/big-fish.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-02-20T22:37:10+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-02-20T22:37:10+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/58769b72851c8cf117fb58ca150ebf8b\"},\"description\":\"Big Fish social casino owner, Aristocrat Technologies, and former owner Churchill Downs face a new class-action lawsuit that accuses the companies of offering illegal gambling in Washington State.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/big-fish-social-casino-targeted-in-new-class-action-lawsuit\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/big-fish-social-casino-targeted-in-new-class-action-lawsuit\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/big-fish-social-casino-targeted-in-new-class-action-lawsuit\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/big-fish.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/big-fish.png\",\"width\":1334,\"height\":750,\"caption\":\"A federal court appeals court in Washington State ruled last year that Big Fish social casino offered illegal gambling, prompting a slew of consumer lawsuits. 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