The Public Health Advocacy Institute (PHAI) has sued Caesars Online Casino and its retail partner Harrah’s Philadelphia Casino related to problem gambling concerns.
In June 2025, the PHAI announced the lawsuit filed in Philadelphia “seeking to expose and stop an alleged dangerous, misleading, and illegal deposit match promotion.”
Caesars Online Casino is accessible via both a mobile app and a web browser.
Caesars Deposit Match Under Fire
PHAI, a Massachusetts-based nonprofit, alleges that the “$2,500 deposit match” offer requires gamblers playing blackjack to place $375,000 worth of bets over seven days to convert the “bonus” funds into withdrawable money.
The terms and conditions of the promo can be found here.
The group said that the so-called $2,500 bonus can’t be withdrawn to a consumer’s bank account “unless a total of $375,000 is risked” at blackjack.
“It is unconscionable for a gambling company to knowingly require people to gamble excessively and put their mental health at risk as a condition to cash out their winnings,” said Dr. Harry Levant, Director of Gambling Policy at PHAI.
Levant added that “nothing in Pennsylvania’s gambling rules or laws permits a casino to refuse payment unless and until customers begin gambling to excess. This is dangerous to Caesars’ customers, immoral, and just plain wrong.”
The case is Brubaker vs. Chester Downs and Marina, LLC et al.
How the Caesars PA Promo Works
The promo is advertised as a $2,500 deposit match, but players can deposit a minimum of $10.
To claim the full $2,500 “bonus,” a user must deposit $2,500 of their own money. The bonus of $2,500 is subject to what the industry calls “playthrough requirements.”
The wagering requirements depend on the casino game.
Because casinos don’t have as significant a mathematical advantage at blackjack compared to slots, the playthrough requirement is larger for blackjack.
For a user who deposits $2,500, they must wager $5,000 (their deposit plus the amount of the deposit match) at a 75x playthrough requirement within seven days.
$5,000 multiplied by the 75x wagering requirement equals $375,000, as cited by PHAI.
For slots, the wagering requirement is 15x. A slots player trying to claim the full $2,500 would need to wager $75,000 in seven days.
Playthrough Rules Can Promote Problem Gambling
For some players, so-called deposit match offers aren’t going to lead to compulsive or problematic gambling.
Users can deposit between $10 and $2,500 and claim a so-called bonus.
However, the prospect of a $2,500 bonus may incentivize players to deposit the maximum amount, regardless of their financial situation.
Using a credit card for online gambling is allowed in Pennsylvania.
There is no public data showing exactly how many players fully complete a $2,500 deposit match bonus, especially with high playthrough requirements.
This information tends to be proprietary and closely guarded by operators and regulators.
Still, wagering huge sums of money over short periods of time is a sign of a gambling problem.
Read more: Half Of Sports Betting Revenue Comes From Problem Gamblers
Read more: Sports Betting Addiction Statistics
Caesars Far Behind PA Online Gambling Rivals
PHAI Executive Director Mark Gottlieb called the Caesars Online Casino promotion in question “among the most egregious we have seen to date.”
Gottlieb was comparing the promotion to other similar offers by Pennsylvania-sanctioned online gambling platforms.
In May 2025, the most recent month of gambling revenue reporting, Caesars trailed far behind rival platforms.
According to the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board, Harrah’s Philadelphia reported $11.1 million in gross online casino gambling revenue for the month.
The figure, which doesn’t include sports betting, put Caesars Online Casino a distant fourth behind retail casinos associated with online casino platforms DraftKings and FanDuel.
Hollywood Casino at Penn National Race Course, under which DraftKings Casino operates, reported a leading $90.1 million in gross online casino gambling revenue in May 2025.
Other PHAI Lawsuits Against Gambling Industry
The lawsuit against Caesars adds to a growing portfolio of PHAI litigation against the online gambling industry.
“We know the gambling industry, with the assistance of the American Gaming Association (AGA) and the National Council of Legislators from Gaming States (NCLGS), is aggressively attempting to push the legalization of online casino gambling across the United States,” Gottlieb said. “Thus far, the seven states with online casino gambling seem ill-prepared or unwilling to regulate the wild tactics of the industry.”
In December 2023, PHAI and its Center for Public Health Litigation filed a class action suit against DraftKings in Massachusetts. The following August, a judge in Massachusetts denied DraftKings’ motion to dismiss, allowing the litigation to move forward.
In October 2024, the PHAI sued the Massachusetts Gaming Commission (MGC), asking a court to compel the MGC to turn over data that casinos compile to track player behavior.
The PHAI said that the MGC is required under state law to collect behavioral data from casinos and share anonymized customer data with researchers.
Massachusetts sanctions online sports gambling but not online table games or online slots.
“The [MGC] has been subject to the legal requirement to collect this data since its formation in 2011,” the PHAI said. “Now, more than a decade later, the Commission has yet to collect a single piece of data from any licensee or make any data available to researchers.”
The PHAI also criticized a recent NCAA gambling industry partnership.
Related
Caesars Fined In Michigan Over Addiction Case
Inside Baltimore’s Sports Betting Lawsuit Against DraftKings, FanDuel
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