The Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection (DCP) Gaming Division has issued a summary suspension for an online gaming company that ran an illegal casino, highlighting the continued dangers that exist in the online gambling space even four years after its legalization.
An DCP investigation that began in January 2025 found that High5Games, which is licensed to provide online slot content for the two legal online casinos in Connecticut – Foxwoods Online and Mohegan Sun Online – also ran an unlicensed casino known as the High5Casino. There consumers could access online slot machine games that were nearly identical to those found at the legal online casinos.
According to the DCP summary suspension order, High5Games is accused of beginning to operate the online casino in 2012 and tying it to its Sweepstakes model in early 2023. The order states that “High 5 Casino is not licensed by the State of Connecticut to provide such gaming.”
High5Casino recently informed consumers that it would be leaving the state on March 14th and that it would prevent new player accounts starting on February 18th. However, DCP investigators were able to create an account by switching the state of their Google account to Massachusetts. The DCP investigation determined that “there was no meaningful process to verify the account owner, such as Know Your Customer, nor did there appear to be any Geolocation or IP location services being used to verify the location of the account creator.”
Connecticut licensed operators are required to meet a specified return-to-player rate, a requirement that ensures the integrity of the game and provides a safeguard to consumers. DCP investigators were concerned that the similarity between games on High5Casino and games on licensed online casinos would lead consumers to believe – incorrectly – that High5Casino operated under the same rules.
“Thank you to our Gaming Division team for their hard work to hold this licensee accountable,” DCP Commissioner Bryan T. Cafferelli stated. “It is a privilege to hold this license, and we expect our credential holders to take that responsibility seriously. High5Games took advantage of their credential 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.”
During their investigation, DCP found that nearly 1,100 Connecticut consumers made approximately $3,154,972 in purchases from the unlicensed casino. Of those, 911 consumers lost approximately $937,598. Additionally, 117 of the consumers who lost money were on the state’s voluntary self-exclusion list (VSEL), which is supposed to keep state residents who sign up away from gambling.
“We are disappointed that a licensed gaming service provider took advantage of Connecticut consumers by operating an illegal casino platform,” said DCP Gaming Division Director Kris Gilman. “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.”
High5Gaming’s license has been immediately suspended and DCP is pursuing 1,100 counts of professional gambling violations by the company’s leadership.
The fact that High5Casino allowed consumers who had placed themselves on the state’s VSEL list highlights the addictive nature of online gambling and the dangers that can arise from unlicensed casinos operating in the state.
Paul Tarbox, director of public policy and communications at the Connecticut Council on Problem Gambling, said that his organization has seen a doubling of number of people calling for assistance since the legalization of online gambling in October 2021.
“We still get calls from traditional casinos, horse betting or the lottery, but the large influx that we’ve received has been primarily targeted to online casino play as well as sports betting,” he said in a phone interview.
He also said that the council has noticed the demographics behind the phone calls they receive have shifted. Prior to the legalization of online gambling, generally people in their late 40s to 50s were calling. Now they are hearing more from 18- to 35-year-old males. One thing that has remained constant, he said, is that problem gambling continues to cut across socioeconomic lines.
“It’s the ability to have an incredibly addictive device that now has an addictive platform on it in your own home” that accounts for the changes, he said. “It’s more of a challenge when you have to physically go to a location than when you just have to roll over in bed to access these services.”
Still, Tarbox said that a large portion of the state’s population can gamble responsibly but that it’s incumbent upon the state to assist those who can’t.
“It is a responsibility for the state – for that percentage of the population that can’t gamble responsibly, that are prone to gambling-related harm – to have a robust, problem-gambling safety net, where we have proper funding and we have treatment options in order to get people and their families help,” he said.
If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, you can reach help at 1-888-789-7777 or online at responsibleplayct.org.
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