Betfred forced to pay over £2million to a player after legal battle

Betfred have been forced to pay out a £1.7million jackpot prize along with interest, bringing the total to over £2million, after they lost a High Court battle with a player.

Andrew Green, 54, from Lincolnshire, took the betting giants to High Court after they refused to pay a £1.7million jackpot prize he won while playing Frankie Dettori’s Magic Seven Blackjack game back in January 2018. Betfred claimed a software glitch meant he wasn’t entitled to the payout but Mr Green said “I did nothing wrong, I played a game, I was congratulated for five days on being a millionaire and then it was snatched away from me.”

 Software ‘glitch’

Betfred claimed the software which the game ran on, had a fault when it came to the game resetting. They said that they were contacted by the software developer who informed them of a fault and advised them to withhold the payment. But prior to the High Court hearing, Mr Green’s legal team said that no proof of any fault or glitch had been provided.

In the meantime, Mr Green had been celebrating his win of £1,722,923.54. He had extended his overdraft by £2500 in order to celebrate with friends and family and was looking forward to spending the life-changing sum of money. But just five days later, a Betfred staff member called him to inform him they would not be paying his winnings.

Legal battle

Mr Green disputed the decision at which point Betfred offered him £60,000 as a goodwill gesture, but Mr Green was determined not to be beaten and took on the gambling operators in court. He described these last three years as ‘hell on earth’ and said both his physical and mental health had suffered immensely as a result of the stress and pressure of the court case.

However, Mrs Justice Foster ruled in favour of Mr Green, stating that Betfred’s terms and conditions they had relied upon to withhold payment, were not apt to cover these circumstances at all and Mr Green should be awarded the full amount plus interest, amounting to over £2million. Betfred have said they will respect the court’s decision and will not be appealing.

Mr Green’s solicitor said after the ruling: “Over the last three years I think I’ve done as much counselling as I’ve given legal advice, as Andy’s mental resilience has been tested by Betfred to its very limit. Today’s decision by Mrs Justice Foster, makes it all worthwhile. Our justice system has delivered exactly the right result and it will give hope to others who may be thinking that the big, rich guys always win.”