The statute defines “gambling” as “(1) staking or risking something of value (2) upon the outcome of a contest of chance or a future contingent event not under the person’s control or influence, (3) upon an agreement or understanding that the person or someone else will receive something of value in the event of a certain outcome.”Ī “thing of value” is “any money or property, any token, object or article exchangeable for money or property, or any form of credit or promise, directly or indirectly, contemplating transfer of money or property or of any interest therein, or involving extension of a service, entertainment or a privilege of playing at a game or scheme without charge.” Pursuant to the RMLGA, “All persons losing money or anything of value at or on any illegal gambling games shall have a cause of action to recover from the dealer or player winning, or from the proprietor for whose benefit such game was played or dealt, or such money or things of value won, the amount of the money or the value of the thing so lost.” Kater claimed that Churchill Downs (the owner and operator of the platform) profited from the secondary market for virtual chips because it charged a transaction fee, priced in virtual gold, for all transfers.Ī district court judge dismissed the action with prejudice, holding that the virtual chips were not a “thing of value” as required by Washington state law and therefore the platform was not illegal gambling under the statute. She filed suit in 2015, alleging violations of Washington’s Consumer Protection Act and Recovery of Money Lost at Gambling Act (RMLGA). In 2013, Cheryl Kater began playing games on Big Fish Casino, eventually buying-and then losing-over $1,000 worth of chips.

Big Fish Casino’s terms of use state that virtual chips have no monetary value and cannot be exchanged “for cash or any other tangible value.” A mechanism does exist to transfer chips between users, however, on a secondary black market.

Big fish casino rules