SC Citizens for Equal Enforcement of Gambling Laws LLC brought the complaint in the District of South Carolina, Florence Division, invoking a state statute derived from the English Statute of Anne of 1710. The suit targets Dave & Buster's locations in Myrtle Beach, Columbia, and Greenville.
The complaint alleges that patrons purchase "Power Cards" loaded with credits — sold in denominations ranging from $25 to $120 — and use them to play skill-based and chance-based games, including skee-ball, basketball shooting games, quarter pushers, and spin-the-wheel games. Players accumulate electronic tickets redeemable for merchandise at in-store redemption centers. Prizes listed in the complaint include Apple iPad Air M3 units, Sony PlayStation 5 consoles, Nintendo Switch consoles, and Meta Quest headsets.
The plaintiff relies on a 2025 South Carolina Court of Appeals decision, Dragon's Ascent Video Gaming Mach. v. S.C. Law Enf't Div., which the complaint says held that state law prohibits "gaming machines that attract players to deposit money for the purpose of trying to 'win' more, whether by skill or chance." The South Carolina Supreme Court declined to review that decision, according to the complaint.
The suit cites Dave & Buster's own SEC filings. The complaint quotes the company's annual report as stating that "[t]he opportunity to win" creates "a fun and highly energized social experience that is an important aspect of the in-store experience and cannot be easily replicated at home." The complaint also cites the annual report's disclosure that entertainment revenues accounted for approximately 65.2% of total revenues during fiscal year 2024, with a gross margin of approximately 91.5%.
Using that margin figure, the plaintiff alleges that Dave & Buster's "retains $0.915 of every $1.00 loaded onto a Power Card, leaving the patron with less than $0.09 in prize value per dollar spent." On that basis, the complaint claims, "a patron who loads $55.00 onto a Power Card loses $50.33 on average at a single sitting" — exceeding the $50 statutory threshold. The complaint further alleges the company reported gross entertainment revenues of $1,391,000,000 for the fiscal year ending February 4, 2025, with an average gross profit per store of $5,484,483.
The plaintiff — which describes itself as authorized to sue under S.C. Code Ann. section 32-1-20 — seeks treble damages on behalf of patrons who lost more than $50 in a single sitting and did not file their own suits within three months. The complaint asks the court to compel Dave & Buster's to identify per-customer losses at each South Carolina location. Under the statute, half of any recovery would go to the plaintiff and half to the county or counties where the alleged offenses occurred.
The complaint was filed by attorneys James M. Griffin, Margaret N. Fox, and Badge Humphries of Griffin Humphries LLC. Dave & Buster's, a Delaware corporation headquartered in Coppell, Texas, trades on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the ticker "PLAY." The company has not yet responded to the complaint.