A Court authorized the notice because you had a right to know about a proposed Settlement of this class action lawsuit and about all of your options, before the Court decided to give final approval to the Settlement. The Notice explains the lawsuit, the Settlement, and your legal rights. The Honorable Karen L. Wilson, of the Henderson County Circuit Court, Commonwealth of Kentucky, is overseeing this case. The case is called Armstead v. VGW Malta Ltd., Case No. 2022-CI-00553. The person who sued is called the Plaintiff. The Defendants are VGW Malta Ltd and VGW Luckyland, Inc.

In a class action, one or more people called class representatives (in this case, Amy Jo Armstead) sue on behalf of a group or a “class” of people who have similar claims. In a class action, the court resolves the issues for all class members, except for those who exclude themselves from the Class.

The lawsuit claims that Defendant violated Kentucky’s gambling laws through the sale of virtual coins in Chumba Casino and Luckyland Slots. VGW denies all claims and that it violated any law.

The Court has not decided whether the Plaintiff or VGW should win this case. Instead, both sides agreed to a Settlement. That way, they avoid the uncertainties and expenses associated with ongoing litigation, and Class Members will get compensation sooner rather than, if at all, after the completion of a trial.

More information about the Settlement and the lawsuit are available on the “Important Documents” page of this website or by visiting the office of the Henderson County Circuit Court Clerk, 5 N. Main Street, Henderson, KY 42420, between 8:00 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding Court holidays.

The Court decided that everyone who fits the following description is a member of the Settlement Class:

All individuals who, in Kentucky (as reasonably determined by billing address information, IP address information, or other information furnished by VGW), spent $5.00 or more within a 24-hour period on Chumba Casino or Luckyland Slots, from March 17, 2017, through March 17, 2022.

Monetary Relief: Now that the Settlement has been approved by the Court, VGW will establish a Settlement Fund totaling $11,750,000. Settlement Class Member payments, as well as the cost to administer the Settlement, the cost to inform people about the Settlement, attorneys’ fees and costs awarded by the Court, and incentive award to the Class Representative approved by the Court will also come out of this fund (see FAQ 13).

Prospective Relief: VGW has also agreed to take or maintain measures designed to address video game behavior disorders, including providing self-service resources to players, providing for voluntary self-exclusion, and implementing in-game mechanics to ensure that players who run out of sufficient virtual coins will be able to continue to play the games without waiting an unreasonable amount of time.

A detailed description of the settlement benefits can be found in the Settlement Agreement on the Important Documents page.

If you are member of the Settlement Class, you must have submitted a Claim Form to receive a portion of the Settlement Fund. The exact amount of your payment can’t be determined at this time, but you can get an estimate by visiting the Settlement Payment Estimate page of this website. The amount of your payment will depend on, among other things, (1) the total dollar amount of in-game purchases you made while playing Chumba Casino and/or Luckyland Slots, with those who spent more money receiving a higher percentage back, and (2) how many Settlement Class Members submitted claims. If you would like more information about how Settlement Payments are determined, please review this website.

We anticipate that payments will be issued to eligible Class Members on May 5, 2023. If you elect to receive your payment via check, please keep in mind that checks will expire and become void 180 days after they are issued.  If appropriate, funds remaining from the initial round of uncashed checks, or electronic payments that cannot be processed, may be used for a second distribution to Settlement Class Members and/or may be donated to the Civil Rule 23 Account maintained by the Kentucky IOLTA Fund Board of Trustees.

If you are a Class Member and you wanted to get a payment, you must have completed and submitted a Claim Form by March 6, 2023. The deadline to submit a Claim Form has passed.

Now that the Settlement has become final, you gave up your right to sue VGW and other Released Parties for the claims being resolved by this Settlement. The specific claims you gave up against VGW are described in the Settlement Agreement. You “released” VGW and certain of its affiliates, employees and representatives as described in Section 1.26 of the Settlement Agreement. Unless you excluded yourself (see FAQ 14), you “released” the claims, regardless of whether you submit a claim or not. The Settlement Agreement is available through the "Important Documents” page.

The Settlement Agreement describes the released claims with specific descriptions, so read it carefully. If you have any questions you can talk to the lawyers listed in FAQ 12 for free or you can, of course, talk to your own lawyer if you have questions about what this means.

If you do nothing, you won’t get any benefits from this Settlement. But, unless you excluded yourself, you won’t be able to start a lawsuit or be part of any other lawsuit against VGW for the claims being resolved by this Settlement.

The Court has appointed two lawyers at the firm Bursor & Fisher, P.A. to be the attorneys representing the Settlement Class. Those lawyers – Philip L. Fraietta and Alec M. Leslie – are called “Class Counsel.” They are experienced in handling similar class action cases. More information about these lawyers, their law firm, and their experience is available at www.bursor.com. They believe, after conducting an extensive investigation, that the Settlement Agreement is fair, reasonable, and in the best interests of the Settlement Class. You will not be charged for these lawyers. If you want to be represented by your own lawyer in this case, you may hire one at your expense.

Class Counsel attorneys’ fees, costs, and expenses will be paid from the Settlement Fund in an amount determined and awarded by the Court. The fee petition sought no more than 30% of the Settlement Fund in attorneys’ fees, costs, and expenses. The Court awarded the requested amount.

As approved by the Court, the Class Representative will be paid an Incentive Award from the Settlement Fund for helping to bring and settle the case. The Class Representative will receive $7,000 as an incentive award.

If you wished to exclude yourself from the Settlement, you must have mailed or otherwise delivered a letter (or request for exclusion) stating that you wanted to be excluded from the “Armstead v. VGW Malta Ltd., Case No. 2022-CL-00553 settlement.” You must have mailed or delivered your exclusion request no later than December 15, 2022 to the Settlement Administrator. The deadline to exclude yourself from the Settlement has passed. 

No. Unless you excluded yourself, you give up any right to sue VGW for the claims being resolved by this Settlement.

No. If you excluded yourself, you should not submit a Claim Form to ask for benefits because you won’t receive any.

If you are a Class Member, you could have objected to the Settlement if you didn't like any part of it. You could have given reasons why you think the Court should not approve it. To object, you must have filed with the Court a letter or brief stating that you object to the Settlement in Armstead v. VGW Malta Ltd., Case No. 2022-CI-00553 and identify all your reasons for your objections. You must have also mailed or delivered a copy of your letter or brief to Class Counsel and Defendant’s Counsel listed below. The deadline to object to the Settlement was December 15, 2022 and has passed. 

Class Counsel has filed with the Court and posted on this website its request for attorneys’ fees, costs, and expenses as of December 1, 2022.

If you wanted to appear and speak at the Final Approval Hearing to object to the Settlement, with or without a lawyer (explained below in answer to FAQ 21), you must have said so in your letter or brief. You must have filed the objection with the Court and mailed a copy to these two different places postmarked no later than December 15, 2022:

Objecting simply means telling the Court that you don’t like something about the Settlement. You can object only if you stay in the Class. Excluding yourself from the Class is telling the Court that you don’t want to be part of the Class. If you exclude yourself, you have no basis to object because the case no longer affects you.

The Court held the Final Approval Hearing on January 9, 2023, and decided to approve the Settlement. The purpose of the hearing was for the Court to determine whether to approve the Settlement as fair, reasonable, adequate, and in the best interests of the Class; to consider the Class Counsel’s request for attorneys’ fees and expenses; and to consider the request for an incentive award to the Class Representative. At the hearing, the Court was available to hear any objections and arguments concerning the fairness of the Settlement. A copy of the Court's Order is available on the Important Documents page.

The Notice summarizes the Settlement. More details are in the Settlement Agreement. You can get a copy of the Settlement Agreement on the Important Documents page. You may also write with questions to VGW Games Settlement, c/o JND Legal Administration, P.O. Box 91350, Seattle, WA 98111. You can call the Settlement Administrator at 1-844-633-0695 or Class Counsel at 1-646-837-7150, if you have any questions. Before doing so, however, please read the full Notice carefully. You may also find additional information elsewhere on this website.