No folding violet
A gardener from Gloucestershire’s gamble to weather a £20,265 ($26,136) payout from a Flutter-owned sportsbook, in the belief it owed her much more, has paid off handsomely.
court ruled she had won a ‘monster jackpot’
According to reports on Wednesday, Mr Justice Ritchie ordered Paddy Power to pay Corrinne Durber £1m ($1.3m) after the UK High Court ruled she had won a ‘monster jackpot’ instead of a daily prize.
Judge Ritchie ordered Paddy Power, one of FanDuel’s UK sportsbook cousins, to hand over the sum instead of the smaller daily jackpot of $26k+ it tried to offer her.
The Flutter-owned subsidiary had claimed a computer glitch on one of its online casino games “pointed to the wrong prize.”
Reap what you sow
Justice Ritchie’s granting of a summary judgment in Durber’s favor meant the Gloucestershire woman won her breach of contract case against Paddy Power without a trial, according to the BBC.
Durber had been playing a Paddy Power iCasino game in October 2020. At one stage after cranking the jackpot wheel, the gardner’s iPad screen displayed she had won the $1m-plus bonanza.
On Wednesday Durber’s patience paid off, with Justice Ritchie stating the “what you see is what you get” rule applies. Richie said players expect what they see on their screens “to be accurate and correct.”
They expect the house to pay out
“The same expectation probably applies when customers go into a physical casino and play roulette. They expect the house to pay out on the roulette wheel if they bet on number 13 and the ball lands on number 13,” Richie added.
The Justice essentially said it was unethical for operators to pass the buck to customers for its own “recklessness, negligence, errors, inadequate digital services and inadequate testing.”
Parting shot
Durber was pictured outside the courts Wednesday toasting the result in champagne with her lawyer, stating she is “relieved and happy” to get justice.
why not just “pay up straight away?”
Durber walked away with a sum she says will “look after the children” and help her enjoy retirement. She still, however, fired a final parting shot at Paddy Power, asking why did it not just “pay up straight away instead of putting me through this legal torment?”
“I will never bet with them ever again, and I advise others to be very careful, too.”
In a statement, Flutter stated “we deeply regret this unfortunate case and are reviewing the judgment.”