Casino malfunction or valid jackpot win?

Recently, two of the UK’s biggest betting brands, William Hill and 888 Casino, both owned by Evoke, have been at the forefront of extensive backlash after numerous people have come forward regarding an alleged major jackpot malfunction.

Customers have reported significant jackpot wins and funds being transferred to their accounts, only to subsequently be told that there has been a malfunction and that there would be no big payout. In some cases, customers have withdrawn winnings, which have been demanded back. Purportedly, the glitch stemmed from the Jackpot Drop Pool, a mechanism used by Evoke. William Hill has stated that they are in the process of contacting players in an attempt to retrieve mistakenly paid winnings.

Applicable legal precedents

This recent situation has some similarities to a couple of high-profile cases, decided over the last few years.

Andrew Green V Petfre (Gibraltar) Ltd (t/a Betfred) was a landmark legal case that highlighted the need for fair terms in online gambling. The claimant, Mr Green, was awarded £1.7 million by the High Court, after being prevented from withdrawing his winnings from the Betfred app, due to an alleged system glitch. The judge ruled that Betfred’s terms were too vague to avoid paying Mr Green’s winnings. The clauses aimed at excluding liability for game malfunctions were not clearly worded or properly highlighted, making them ineffective in law, so Betfred was required to pay the winnings.

Similarly, Durber V PPB Entertainment Ltd is another landmark High Court case, where in 2025, a consumer (Ms Durber) successfully sued Paddy Power for over £1 million in jackpot winnings following a ‘human programming error’, which caused her screen to display a monster jackpot win. Paddy Power subsequently refused to pay her in full. The judge granted summary judgement in favour of the claimant, confirming the ‘what you see is what you get’ principle in online gambling.

How can Ellis Jones help you?

If you have been affected by a gambling-related malfunction, such as technical errors, incorrect payouts, or system failures, you may benefit from obtaining expert legal advice.

At Ellis Jones, our lawyers specialise in handling gambling-related claims and complaints, regularly helping clients to recover losses caused by failures of betting operators.

If you have been affected by the recent jackpot scandal, please get in touch with the Betting and Gaming Disputes team at Ellis Jones by emailing the background details of your matter to bettingclaim@ellisjones.co.uk.