Why the cash apps say it isn’t gambling
Classic solitaire is a game you play alone, so there’s nobody to pay and nothing to win. Cash apps change that by letting you pay an entry fee to play against other people for prize money. That gives them a payment and a prize, which leaves chance as the only part of the gambling test they can argue about.
Their argument is the deck. Solitaire Cash and Solitaire Smash both say everyone in a match gets the same deal, so the luck of the shuffle should cancel out and the better player should win. Papaya’s terms call every competition a game of skill and say the app can’t be used for gambling. The apps’ own App Store listings sound less sure, though, because all three, Solitaire Clash included, carry a “Contains Gambling” label in their age ratings.
Where the apps are blocked
Whether that argument works depends on which test your state uses. The Illinois Supreme Court set out the three main ones in Dew-Becker v. Wu in 2020. Most courts ask whether skill is more likely than chance to decide the result. A stricter group counts a game as gambling if chance plays a material part, which is the wording in New York’s penal law, and a few count any chance at all.
Because the tests differ, every app keeps its own list of excluded states. Papaya’s terms say players in Arizona, Louisiana, Michigan, Montana and Maine can pay to enter Solitaire Cash but only win Bonus Cash, which can’t be withdrawn. Solitaire Clash leaves out seven states and the US territories, while Solitaire Smash leaves out eight states. Indiana, Louisiana, Maine and Michigan are on both lists.
Michigan went further than an app’s own list. In October 2024 its Gaming Control Board sent Papaya a cease-and-desist letter, saying Solitaire Cash and three other Papaya apps were illegal gambling because players buy in and win real money.
What the Papaya bot case found
The skill argument assumes you’re playing against people. Skillz, a rival platform, sued Papaya in federal court in New York in 2024 for false advertising. In April 2026 a jury found Papaya liable and awarded $420 million in damages. The judge later entered a final judgment of about $729 million, most of it $719 million in profits Papaya had to give up.
Judge Denise Cote’s July 2026 opinion describes what the trial evidence showed. Papaya filled tournaments with bots, which were scores set by its own algorithms and given usernames so they looked like customers. Some of these bots were set to hand a player a win or a loss, and they ran in over 630 million tournaments between 2021 and 2024. Papaya stopped using bots in late 2023, according to the opinion.
What it means for you
Playing solitaire for nothing isn’t gambling, however long you play. Paying to win cash is where the risk starts, since you can lose every entry fee whether the law calls it skill or not. The house cut adds up quickly. The court opinion gives a Skillz example where two players each pay $0.60 and the winner gets $1.00, which means you’d have to win 60% of those matches just to break even.
Questions people also ask
Is regular solitaire gambling?
No. Playing with real cards or in a free app has no entry fee and no cash prize, so two of the three parts of the test are missing.
Is Solitaire Cash legal in my state?
In most states Papaya offers it as a skill game. Its terms say players in Arizona, Louisiana, Maine, Michigan and Montana can only win Bonus Cash, an in-game currency that can't be cashed out. The list can change, so check the terms before you deposit.
Does Solitaire Cash use bots?
A federal court found that it did until late 2023. Papaya's current terms say that after your free tutorial games you're only matched with human players, and that an independent tester checks this from time to time.
Are Solitaire Cash, Solitaire Clash and Solitaire Smash the same app?
No. Solitaire Cash is made by Papaya Gaming, Solitaire Clash by AviaGames and Solitaire Smash by Play Perfect. Each has its own terms and its own list of states where cash play isn't offered.
Sources
- Papaya Gaming, Terms of Use (effective October 30, 2025)
- App Store, Solitaire Cash by Papaya Gaming
- App Store, Solitaire Clash by AviaGames
- App Store, Solitaire Smash by Play Perfect
- Dew-Becker v. Wu, 2020 IL 124472 (Illinois Supreme Court)
- New York Penal Law section 225.00 (gambling definitions)
- Michigan Gaming Control Board, cease-and-desist letter to Papaya Gaming (2024)
- Skillz Platform Inc. v. Papaya Gaming, No. 24-cv-1646 (S.D.N.Y.), special verdict form (April 23, 2026)
- Skillz Platform Inc. v. Papaya Gaming, opinion and order (July 27, 2026)
- Skillz Platform Inc. v. Papaya Gaming, final judgment (July 31, 2026)