Exclusive: Stars Group withdraws PokerStars VR petition in Washington State over social casino uncertainty
Operator requests regulator resolves uncertainty around state law following Big Fish losing its social casino case in Seattle last March
The Stars Group (TSG) has withdrawn a petition asking the Washington State Gambling Commission (WSGC) to acknowledge that its PokerStars VR game is not considered gambling by state law.
Within the petition, TSG had requested the Commission “resolved the current uncertainty” around state law by issuing a declaratory order that PokerStars VR is not gambling.
The withdrawal notice alluded to a similar case not involving TSG which was addressing the same issue. TSG said it would “prefer to pursue the matter after resolution of the litigation” to ensure its petition did not impact the case.
A TSG spokesperson said the operator was pulling its petition while it assesses its position in the state.
PokerStars’ VR game uses virtual chips and is FTP
The game is available for download from the Oculus Store, Steam or Viveport and is free-to-play in all other 49 states in the US.
Players can make in-game purchases of additional virtual chips, although the chips have no real-world value.
In March 2018, a federal court in Seattle deemed Big Fish Games’ social casino product to be illegal gambling based on Washington State’s gambling laws.
Within the ruling, virtual coins were considered “something of value” under Washington State law and therefore conceptually equivalent to money.
In October 2018, the WSGC further declined a petition by Big Fish Games, to acknowledge its suite of social casino games was not considered real-money gambling.