The Department of Consumer Protection Gaming Division in Connecticut has suspended High5Games’ license with immediate effect. The company will face more than 1,000 criminal counts of conducting illegal gaming activity.

High5Games is a licensed service provider that provides content for legal platforms in Connecticut, FanDuel, and DraftKings. The company also ran High5Casino, which High5Games marketed illegally as a licensed casino and accepted wagers from Connecticut bettors. That included individuals who had signed on to the statewide Voluntary Self-Exclusion List.

The DCP Gaming Division investigated and found that 1,100 Connecticut players made deposits and gambled on the unlicensed platform. 911 players lost a combined total of $937,938, and 108 had signed up for the Voluntary Self-Exclusion List. Those players alone lost a combined $300,000.

High5Games will now face 1,065 counts of conducting illegal gaming activity. Each charge is a Class A misdemeanor punishable by a $2,000 fine and up to one year in jail. Connecticut’s Department of Consumer Protection will also seek restitution for any players who lost money at what they falsely believed was a legal online casino. 

“Thank you to our Gaming Division team for their hard work to hold this licensee accountable,” said DCP Commissioner Bryan T. Cafferelli. “It is a privilege to hold this license, and we expect our credential holders to take that responsibility seriously. High5Games took advantage of its credentials to mislead consumers into believing they were participating in gaming on a legal platform when, in fact, they were breaking the law. “

“We remind consumers that there are only two licensed online casinos in Connecticut — DraftKings/Foxwoods and FanDuel/Mohegan Sun — and if you choose to participate in online gaming, you should only utilize one of the legal platforms licensed to operate in our state.”

DCP Gaming Division Director Kris Gilman added: “We are disappointed that a licensed gaming service provider took advantage of Connecticut consumers by operating an illegal casino platform. It is difficult to recover funds for consumers from illegal platforms. We remind consumers that gambling on licensed platforms is the only way to guarantee recovered funds in the event of an issue with a game or platform.”

High5Games Online Gaming Service Provider license has been suspended with immediate effect, and both FanDuel and DraftKings will remove their games.