High Court Makes Paddy Power Pay £1M Jackpot to Winner Offered £20,000

The UK’s High Court has ruled that Paddy Power must pay the player Corrine Durber a £1 million ($1.2 million) jackpot after she initially won the prize, but was then told it was an error.

Paddy Power Has to Pay £1M Jackpot, Judge Rules

Corrine Durber played Wild Hatter, one of the Paddy Power online games in October 2020, and received an on-screen message confirming that she had won the “Monster Jackpot” worth £1,097,132.71 (about $1,318,000). However, Paddy Power said this was a game display error and she had actually won the smaller “Daily Jackpot” of £20,265.14 (around $26,000). But earlier this week, Durber won a High Court case against the operator who now has to pay her the full “Monster Jackpot” sum.

This brings an end to the legal battle between Durber and PPB Entertainment Limited, which operates Paddy Power and Betfair. However, the case was not without its share of ups and downs. The operator argued that the game’s random number generator had selected the smaller jackpot as the correct outcome. However, a display error caused the larger prize to be shown instead.

In the end, Mr Justice Ritchie ruled in Durber’s favor, granting summary judgment without the need for a full trial. He argued that the idea of “what you see is what you get” was central to the game. The judge determined that the discrepancy between the result from the random number generator and the on-screen outcome was caused by human error in mapping the software, which impacted 14 plays over a span of 48 days.

Ritchie compared this expectation to a physical casino, where players would anticipate being paid if a roulette ball landed on their chosen number. He also explained that when a trader puts all the risk on a consumer for its own, errors, inadequate digital services, and inadequate testing, that appears onerous to him.

Following the conclusion of the case, Durber explained she was very happy that the judge confirmed she had fairly won the prize. However, she also posed the question as to why Paddy Power couldn’t pay her straight away instead of putting her through legal troubles. She added that the operator had tried their best to deny her the rightful winnings.

Durber also posed the question of what’s the point of betting if betting companies like Paddy Power won’t pay up when someone wins a big jackpot. She explained she would never be with them again and also advised others to be very careful.

A spokesperson for Paddy Power also said a few words following the conclusion of the case. According to them, every week, tens of thousands of customers win with Paddy Power. They gave an example of one individual who won a £5.7 million (around $7,350,000) jackpot just one year ago. The spokesperson said that the company always strives to provide the best customer experience possible and prides itself on fairness. Paddy Power deeply regrets this unfortunate case and is currently reviewing the judgment.