DoubleDown Casino settlement (USD 415M): What Was Paid, Who Was Covered, Status

The DoubleDown Casino settlement is a USD 415 million nationwide class settlement that Judge Robert S. Lasnik finally approved on June 1, 2023, and its claim period closed on April 11, 2023.

It is the largest social casino settlement we track. The case is Benson v. DoubleDown Interactive, LLC and International Game Technology, 2:18-cv-00525, in the Western District of Washington.

Two IGT subsidiaries and DoubleDown Interactive funded the settlement, and the court record we read does not show what was actually paid out. This page separates what the court documents establish from what players and the company have reported about payments.

How we source and check every case: methodology.

Fund and fee figures from the final approval order of June 1, 2023; net is derived and administration is a cap.

What this case is about

Benson v. DoubleDown Interactive, 2:18-cv-00525, was filed on April 9, 2018 in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington. It pleaded RCW 4.24.070, RCW 19.86 and unjust enrichment. A complaint states one side's allegations; in this case the orders that exist are procedural and approval orders.

What the complaint alleged about DoubleDown's virtual chips

The complaint, filed on April 9, 2018 after the Ninth Circuit's Kater decision, alleged that DoubleDown's chips were a thing of value under Washington law, one side's account, not a finding. The named plaintiffs were Adrienne Benson and Mary Simonson, represented by Edelson PC and Tousley Brain Stephens PLLC.

The case settled before any ruling on the merits, so the court never decided in this docket whether the chips are gambling. It is one of the social casino lawsuits we track, and the legal reasoning on that question belongs to the Kater case.

Why the arbitration clause did not stop the case

DoubleDown's motion to compel arbitration was denied, and the Ninth Circuit affirmed the denial on January 29, 2020 (No. 18-36015). That keeps the case in court rather than in individual arbitration.

The full ruling sits on the page for the DoubleDown arbitration appeal. Judge Ronald B. Leighton handled the case from 2018 to 2020, and Judge Lasnik later handled the settlement approvals.

Who is covered

Everyone in the United States who played DoubleDown Casino, DoubleDown Fort Knox, DoubleDown Classic or Ellen's Road to Riches on or before preliminary approval in November 2022 was in the class.

The settlement class and the four games

The class was nationwide, but the claims arose under Washington law. Those claims are RCW 4.24.070, the loss-recovery statute, and RCW 19.86, the consumer-protection act.

Class counsel were Edelson PC and Tousley Brain Stephens PLLC. For how Washington treats social casino games more broadly, see Washington gambling lawsuits.

Who was not covered

Seven people excluded themselves, and players who started after preliminary approval in November 2022 fall outside the class definition. The final approval order records no objections.

Other suits sit outside this settlement. A Kentucky case, Jenkins v. DoubleDown, W.D. Ky. 4:24-cv-00090, was dismissed on March 26, 2026 for lack of standing. DoubleDown Interactive's 20-F of March 31, 2026 reports a Washington Attorney General civil investigative demand from August 2024 and no suit filed.

Is there a payout?

A payout was set at a nationwide fund of USD 415 million, the claim period closed on April 11, 2023, and no claim can be filed now; the court record we read gives no distribution totals, only reader reports. The USD 415 million is a gross fund, not a per-person figure.

The payout formula: fund, fees, administration and tiers

Gross fund = USD 415,000,000 (IGT subsidiaries USD 269,750,000 + DoubleDown Interactive USD 145,250,000)
Less attorney fees awarded = USD 121,485,000 (29.3%)
Less administration (stated cap) = up to USD 3,000,000
Less incentive awards = USD 15,000 (USD 7,500 each, two named plaintiffs)
Net for approved claims = about USD 290,500,000 (derived; upper bound because administration is a cap)
Member share = lifetime in-app spend x escalating marginal tier rate x (net fund / sum of approved claims)
  tier rates and the sum of approved claims: not in the record read

Fees took 29.3 percent of the fund, more than the 25 percent awarded in the other Washington social casino settlements. The court awarded USD 121,485,000 in fees, capped administration at USD 3,000,000 and approved incentive awards of USD 7,500 each.

Each member's estimated share was paid pro rata on lifetime in-app spend, using escalating marginal tiers. Payout per person depends on fund, fees, claim rate and caps, as our guide to class action payout per person shows across settlements.

Worked estimate: what a net fund of about USD 290M means

After fees, the administration cap and incentive awards, about USD 290 million was left for approved claims, which is an upper bound because administration is stated as a cap.

Derived from the final approval order; estimated; administration shown at its cap.

A per-person figure needs two numbers the record does not give: the total of approved claims and the tier rates. Without them, any average would be invented, so we state none.

What the record shows about payments actually made

The court record we read contains no distribution totals, claim counts or payment dates, so every payment figure below is a reader report, not an administrator figure.

Readers told Top Class Actions of a first distribution in October 2023 of up to USD 806,831.91 and a second in March and April 2024 of up to USD 5,978.66.

They put the gap from final approval to payment at about 136 days, measured from final approval to payment; how long gambling lawsuits and settlements take puts that gap in context. These are reader-reported figures, not docket entries.

Deadlines and how to claim

The claim deadline was April 11, 2023 and the exclusion deadline February 14, 2023; both have passed. Filing was free; this site is not a law firm and not the administrator, and we never host a claim form.

The claim deadline of April 11, 2023 has passed

No claim can be filed now, and the record we read shows no late-claim route. The administrator was JND Legal Administration, and DoubleDownSettlement.com now redirects to JND's inactive-case page. Lapsed settlement domains are a known risk, so treat any message pointing there with caution.

What to do now if you did not claim

If you did not claim, the settlement is over for you; what remains open is a new claim in a different case, not a late claim here. The claims that are open now are listed under open gambling class action settlements by deadline.

Mass arbitration campaigns listed DoubleDown among the operators they invited players to sign up for in April 2026, and those are leads, not settlements. Any site that asks for a fee to release a DoubleDown payment is not this settlement; see how to spot fake settlement and claim sites.

Timeline

The case ran for just over five years from complaint to final approval.

Dates from court and SEC documents; payment dates are reader reports, not administrator figures.

What the court has decided so far

The court's orders were procedural and approval orders: the denial of arbitration affirmed on January 29, 2020, preliminary approval in November 2022 (Dkt. 511) and final approval on June 1, 2023 (Dkt. 549).

There is no ruling on whether DoubleDown's chips are gambling. Approving a settlement is not a finding of liability. The final approval order awarded fees of USD 121,485,000, capped administration at USD 3,000,000 and recorded seven exclusions and no objections.

We found no appeal from the final approval order. As of June 1, 2023 the status is settled-final, and no later court event appears in the record we read.

Documents and sources

Every date and figure on this page comes from the final approval order, the SEC exhibit of the settlement announcement and the administrator's notice, listed here with the copy we read.

• Final approval order, Dkt. 549, June 1, 2023: a third-party copy of the court document hosted by truthinadvertising.org.
• Ninth Circuit memorandum, No. 18-36015, January 29, 2020: court copy.
• DoubleDown Interactive 6-K exhibit of the August 29, 2022 announcement: SEC filing.
• Docket index for 2:18-cv-00525: Docket Alarm, secondary.
• JND inactive-case page: administrator, shows the case is no longer active.
• Top Class Actions closed-settlement card: secondary, supports the reader reports only.

Related cases

Seven related cases show where this settlement sits in the Washington line.

Other Washington social casino settlements

The same two firms brought each of the Washington social casino class actions, and the six settlements together total USD 651 million per Edelson's tally, which is counsel's own figure.

• Big Fish Casino settlement (USD 155M): the first Washington settlement.
• Playtika Slotomania settlement (USD 38M)
• Huuuge Casino settlement (USD 6.5M)
• Zynga social casino settlement (USD 12M)

SciPlay's USD 24.5 million settlement is the sixth in that tally. All settlements are compared by size in gambling settlements by year and amount.

Other DoubleDown and IGT cases

DoubleDown's other cases are a 2016 Illinois dismissal, the Ninth Circuit arbitration appeal in this case and a 2026 Kentucky dismissal.

• DoubleDown arbitration appeal: No. 18-36015.
• DoubleDown Illinois dismissal: 2016, another state's statute.
• DoubleDown Kentucky loss-recovery suit: dismissed March 26, 2026.

Every case against the company is on the page for DoubleDown Interactive lawsuits.

Questions people ask

Is the DoubleDown Casino settlement still open?

No; the claim deadline passed on April 11, 2023. The gambling settlement eligibility checker shows which claims are open now.

How much did DoubleDown players get?

There is no published average; each member's share depended on lifetime spend, the tier rates and the total of approved claims. The net fund was about USD 290 million, derived. The formula is explained in class action payout per person.

Is there a second round of DoubleDown payments?

The court record we read shows no second distribution; reader reports describe one in March and April 2024 of up to USD 5,978.66. That is a reader-reported figure, not an administrator figure.

Is DoubleDownSettlement.com legitimate?

DoubleDownSettlement.com was the administrator's site and now redirects to JND's inactive-case page; a site asking for a fee to "release" a payment is not this settlement. The claim site check walks through the signs.

Who paid the USD 415 million?

Two IGT subsidiaries agreed to pay USD 269.75 million and DoubleDown Interactive USD 145.25 million, announced on August 29, 2022. That split comes from the SEC exhibit of the announcement.

Are DoubleDown settlement payments taxable?

Whether settlement payments are taxable is covered on the tax-references page, not here. See are gambling settlement payments taxable.

Is DoubleDown Casino legal in Washington?

A settlement approval is not a ruling that DoubleDown is legal or illegal; the Washington status sits on the state page. See Washington gambling lawsuits for every gambling lawsuit in that state.