British Player sues online casino over £1.7m jackpot error
The player is suing Betfred for refusing to pay out a blackjack jackpot that the operator claims was caused by a software error.
UK.- Betfred is facing a legal case at the UK High Court over its refusal to pay a £1.7m jackpot that it claims was the result of a “software defect”.
Andy Green from Lincolnshire says he won the jackpot on the Playtech-licensed Frankie Dettori Magic Seven Blackjack game in January 2018.
He says that his account was credited with the prize but that Betfred then refused to allow him to withdraw the money on the grounds that the game had a defect that made it more likely to pay out high prizes than was intended.
Green claims Betfred first offered him £30,000 and then £60,000 as a “goodwill gesture” provided that he didn’t speak about the incident.
He rejected both offers and took legal action against the holding company Petfre Gibraltar, which owns Betfred’s online gambling division. He is seeking at least £2m in compensation.
Two years on, the case has now reached a hearing at the High Court where Green is seeking a summary resolution to avoid a full trial.
Betfred is pushing for a full trial, however. It claims that the terms and conditions on Betfred.com include a clause stating that “pays and plays” will be void in the event of a “malfunction”.
However Green’s lawyer, Peter Coyle, said: “If ‘all pays and plays’ were void, then Betfred would have refunded other customers but the company had produced no evidence that had happened. It only wanted to withhold Mr Green’s enormous win.”
He added that neither Betfred nor Playtech has produced any proof of any error or malfunctions related to the game in question, nor did Playtech notify the Gambling Commission of any glitch in the game.
Mrs Justice Foster will give her ruling at a later date.
Another recent High Court Case case brought against Ladbrokes is set to test the validity of bets made from abroad. A British man is suing the bookmaker for £3.3m in lost bets that he claims he made from Spain.
