Punter suing Betfred for refusing to pay out £1.7m jackpot after he spent thousands celebrating in pub

Lincolnshire man went ‘crazy’ after firm told him online win was ‘malfunction’

Adam Forrest
Friday 23 November 2018 11:11 GMT
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Punter suing Betfred for refusing to pay out £1.7m jackpot

A man who believed he had won a £1.7m jackpot prize from Betfred is suing the company after being told his win was a computer error.

Andrew Green, 52, a gambler from North Hykeham in Lincolnshire, spent thousands of pounds celebrating after his apparent success playing an online blackjack game.

A few days later Betfred told Mr Green a “software malfunction” had occurred, his win was not legitimate, and he would be receiving no money.

“I went absolutely crazy,” the Lincolnshire man told the BBC about the devastating phone call from the betting firm.

“It felt like I had been kicked and had my insides ripped out.”

Mr Green said he had spent £2,500 revelling in his triumph with friends and family at the local pub, even extending his bank overdraft in the expectation he would soon be a millionaire.

He reportedly declined a £60,000 non-disclosure settlement from Betfred after the glitch was revealed, and decided to take his case to court instead.

“I’ve been bullied,” claimed Mr Green. “I’m just a fish in a big sea and they are a great big shark but I’m not going to be forced away just because they are worth billions and I’m not.

“Even if there was a glitch I did nothing wrong. I played that game and pressed a button.”

The gambler said he spent six hours playing “Frankie Dettori’s Magic Seven” on the Betfred website before the game told him he had won the £1.7m jackpot prize.

Mr Green’s solicitor Peter Coyle claims Betfred has refused to provide any verification of the problem with its software.

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No evidence was offered at a preliminary hearing held in the High Court earlier this week.

A spokesman for Betfred told The Independent: “Betfred loves to pay out all our jackpot winners, both big and small.

“Unfortunately, and as Mr Green is aware, a new game release by Playtech, a leading game supplier of ours, suffered a software malfunction in January this year and no legitimate jackpot win occurred.

“Given that Mr Green is currently exploring his legal options, it would be inappropriate for us to comment further.”

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