Paddy Power has been ordered to pay out $1.28 million (£1m) by the British High Court following legal action taken by a customer who was told she had won the mega jackpot but was only awarded £20,000.
Corrine Durber, from Gloucestershire in southwest England, was playing an online slot game when she landed the huge win, or so it appeared.
The game Durber was playing was said to be a hybrid of a fruit machine and a wheel of fortune-style title when the jackpot reel returned a message stating she had won the “Monster Jackpot” of £1,097,132.71 ($1.41m).
The gambler was elated, but later she was only awarded 20,265,14 ($26,090), with the company informing her she had actually won the much-reduced “Daily Jackpot”.
The Flutter Entertainment-owned betting giant explained there had been a programming malfunction with the game, which flashed the wrong prize on the screen.
Understandably, Mrs Durber was unwilling to accept this explanation and launched legal action against the operator PPB Entertainment, which trades as Paddy Power and Betfair.
On Wednesday (Mar. 6) in London, a High Court judge made a summary judgment on the breach of contract case, meaning a victory was awarded without a trial taking place.
Within the 62-page ruling, Mr Justice Ritchie outlined the importance of “what you see is what you get” as a fundamental pillar of such online slot games.
“Objectively, customers would want and expect that what was to be shown to them on screen to be accurate and correct,” he added.
A gardener, who was told she had scooped more than £1m on a Paddy Power game but was only paid £20,000, has won a High Court case against the betting company
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Mrs Durber described her sense of relief at the outcome, as she vowed never to place another bet with the betting brand.
“As you can imagine, I’m so relieved and happy that the judge has confirmed I fairly and squarely won £1m from Paddy Power,” she said.
“But why couldn’t Paddy Power pay up straight away instead of putting me through this legal torment? I will never bet with them ever again.”
Mrs Durber added that the betting brand “tried their very best to deny me my rightful winnings”.
The gardener toasted the legal triumph by popping a bottle of champagne outside the High Court, together with her husband, Colin, and her lawyer, Peter Coyle.
However, a spokesperson for Flutter responded to the ruling with a firm defense of the company’s position while referencing a payout of £5.7m ($7.3m) to a customer last year.
They told Sky News, “We always strive to provide the best customer experience possible and pride ourselves on fairness.”
“We deeply regret this unfortunate case and are reviewing the judgment.”
Image credit: Via Grok/X
