High 5 Casino Pulls Plug on California, Will Exit The State

Yet another sweepstakes casino is pulling out of California, and that sweepstakes casino is High 5 Casino. 

This comes as AB 831 is headed for a vote in the Senate and as High 5's request for arbitration in a civil case filed by plaintiff Thomas Portugal was denied. 

Its terms and conditions state that California will completely withdraw from the state on Sept. 15, 2025. 

Dismissal and Arbitration Motion Filings Both Denied

In this case involving High 5 and Portugal, High 5 filed motions to dismiss the claim and to send it to arbitration. 

Now, both have been denied. 

San Francisco Judge Anne-Christine Massullo denied High 5's arbitration request, and now that lawsuit is moving forward. 

Judge Massullo's ruling comes after another judge, Christine Van Aken, denied High 5's motion to take the case away altogether. 

Of course, California has been at the epicenter of "sweepstakes casino law" lately. 

AB 831 is headed for a vote in the Senate. The Los Angeles City attorney filed a lawsuit against Sweepsteaks, Ltd. (the operator of Stake.us) and numerous game/software providers, and more. 

Additionally, Playtech blocked its games from Chumba Casino and other Virtual Gaming Worlds properties in California, and Pragmatic Play is leaving the United States sweepstakes casino scene in its entirety.

It has been a contentious few months as AB 831 has moved swiftly through legislative channels. 

What's Next

The current legislative session in California is scheduled to end on Sept. 12. 

However, if it doesn't go through the Senate and pass, then this bill will be addressed in January 2026. 

California runs a two-year cycle, so we could see this bill potentially pass now or later. 

So far, as mentioned, it's sailed through legislative channels. 

In fact, the bill has yet to receive a "Nay" vote in the six channels it's gone through. 

The most recent was the Senate Appropriations Committee. It was placed in a suspense file, but on Aug. 29, it received a 7-0 vote. 

Between this and the lawsuit filed by Hydee Feldstein Soto, the Los Angeles City attorney, we may start seeing a lot of sweepstakes casinos and affiliated companies abandon ship sooner rather than later.