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Washington State is well known for its archaic online gambling laws, but no one could have anticipated the ruling that came down from a federal appeals court last week.
In a ruling that has reverberated throughout the gaming and social gaming worlds, Judge Milan D. Smith of the Ninth Circuit of U.S. Court of Appeals found that Big Fish Casino’s play money social app constituted illegal gambling. Smith elaborated in his opinion:
“Without virtual chips, a user is unable to play Big Fish Casino’s various games. Thus, if a user runs out of virtual chips and wants to continue playing Big Fish Casino, she must buy more chips to have ‘the privilege of playing the game.’ Likewise, if a user wins chips, the user wins the privilege of playing Big Fish Casino without charge. In sum, these virtual chips extend the privilege of playing Big Fish Casino.”
Cheryl Kater originally filed the case in 2015. Kater sued Big Fish parent company Churchill Downs. However, Churchill Downs has since sold Big Fish, the old adage of “it looks like a duck and quack like a duck,” seems to come into play.
At the end of the day, these games may not fall into the “gambling” category, but it’s a pretty safe bet they will see stiffer regulations down the road.
