Connecticut Gambling Regulator, High 5, Reach $1.5M Settlement

The Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection—the state’s regulator for all things gambling—has announced it reached a settlement with High 5 Entertainment and High 5 Games LLC, the parent company of High 5 Casino, a sweepstakes platform. 

This comes after a lawsuit in California against Stake.us was sent to arbitration, and Chumba Casino was named in a class-action lawsuit. 

More on the Settlement

The settlement is for $1.5 million. This comes after High 5 withdrew from the state earlier this year. 

It’s also worth noting that Connecticut is one of seven states in the United States that offer online real-money casinos. It’s awarded two licenses. 

Because the state allows online real-money casino play, it’s on a mission to push sweepstakes casinos out, as the state deems them illegal in the state, despite the potential gray area of the dual-currency system. 

The breakdown of the settlement includes $650,000 being paid back to past players. The language is for players whose “purchases on High 5 Casino exceeded the amount of sweepstakes redemptions”.

The remaining sum goes toward the Consumer Protection Enforcement Fund, which goes toward educating Connecticut residents on gambling issues. 

A hot-button issue in this battle was the voluntary self-exclusion list. High 5 did accept wagers and purchases from players on the list. However, the data wasn’t privy to them as High 5 wasn’t part of the regulated casino sphere. 

Not only did the state regulator go after the sweepstakes casino, but High 5 is also a game provider. Thus, in March, its license as a supplier was suspended, too. 

The license has been reinstated, though. 

“This case is just one example of the hard work our Gaming Division does to ensure a fair, safe, and legal gaming market in Connecticut,” said DCP Commissioner Bryan T. Cafferelli.

As part of the settlement, High 5 admitted no legal wrongdoing. It’ll also provide quarterly compliance reports until April next year and won’t offer games to other sweepstakes casinos in the state unless given permission. 

Right now, there are other sites like Zula, McLuck, and Fortune Coins still operating in Connecticut. 

Connecticut Legislation Against Sweepstakes Casinos

Amid this settlement, there’s also a bill in Connecticut, SB1235, which recently passed the Connecticut Senate. 

This bill would ban lottery ticket couriers, allow the state to enter into gaming pacts with other states, clarify gambling advertisement laws, and ban any unlicensed company that “facilitates participation in any real or simulated online casino gaming or sports wagering.” The latter would be designated as a felony. 

That said, there are just a couple of days between now and the current legislative session ending, so SB1235 appears unlikely to make it through in time. 

Will Connecticut become another state, like Montana, with SB555, to effectively ban sweepstakes casinos? We shall see.