High 5 Casinos has moved to end its operations in Pennsylvania, as per an update to customers.
First reported by The Closing Line, the move comes amid intensified regulatory scrutiny for the firm, as it was recently ordered to pay over $24.94m in damages following a landmark verdict in court.
Despite the operator emphasising its belief that there was no wrongdoing, evidence shown to the jury alleged that High 5 had targeted high-risk customers in Washington who were prone to losing large amounts of money on its website.
The Pennsylvania exit followed the decision of Virtual Gaming Worlds (VGW) to enhance its player protection through the increasing of age limits from 18 to 21.
The changes will be applied to VGW brands such as Chumba Casino, LuckyLand Slots and Global Poker brands. Any players under the age of 21 won’t be able to engage with their multiple sites, but they can reopen their accounts upon turning 21.
The decision of VGW comes after the Mississippi Senate continued in its pursuit of a bill to ban sweepstakes after it received a 44-1 approval.
The bill is seeking to make adjustments to the Mississippi Code of 1972 and implement a statewide ban on sweepstakes gambling platforms.
As a result of the bill’s initial approval in Mississippi, it will now progress to the House of Representatives for further consideration.
Providing his statement to the floor, Senator Joey Fillingane emphasised that the bill comes from the efforts of the Mississippi Gaming Commission (MGC) and representatives of existing licensed brick-and-mortar casinos.
Fillingane stated: “One of the major problems is that many Mississippians have no idea when they’re on their device that they’re even breaking the law because it looks completely legitimate.”
The environment for sweepstakes and social casinos is embodied by the ongoing volatility between the AGA and the SPGA.
Most recently, the SPGA accused the AGA of “trotting out the same tired canards about social sweep social sweepstakes that self-interested critics have peddled for months”.
During the AGA’s State of the Industry presentation, CEO Bill Miller described the sweepstake sector as a “newer category of unregulated actors”.
He added: “These entrants deploy legal acrobatics to avoid calling themselves betting or gambling, only then to offer products that most would most universally would agree are gambling, yet without the safeguards and regulatory constraints that build consumer trust, promote responsibility and support state budgets.”
