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Pong Game Studios to pay $3.5M in illegal gambling lawsuit

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(KERO) — A multi-million dollar judgment against the maker of an unlawful gambling software is the latest victory in the decade-long battle.

Kern County District Attorney Cynthia Zimmer announced over the weekend her office along with several other D.A.s statewide and the Attorney General's Office secured a judgment against Pong Game Studios Corporation.

It's a company that licensed software to sweepstakes cafes throughout the state.

Under the terms Pong agreed to pay $3.5 million in civil penalties, costs and attorneys fees, and permanently halt its illegal gambling operations in California.

"Pong’s illegal devices and software have bred unregulated pop-up casinos that have been magnets for criminal activity wherever they have arisen,” said Zimmer in a statement.

Zimmer's office began its efforts to combat these illegal gambling dens in 2012 filing civil lawsuits against multiple Bakersfield-based sweepstakes cafes.

The American Gaming Association estimates that the sweepstakes cafe industry earns more than $10 billion a year through unlawful gambling operations nationwide.

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