Thousands of players wrongly credited winnings due to major software glitch
William Hill and 888 Holdings freeze accounts and seek fund returns
Players explore legal action after life-changing wins suddenly revoked
A UK woman says she was led to believe she had won £1 million (US$1.4 million) on a William Hill online slot game, only to be told the jackpot wasn’t real – it was a software glitch.
Claire Ainsley says she believed she had won £1 million on an online slot game William Hill later said the apparent jackpot was the result of a software glitch. (Image: Shutterstock)
Claire Ainsley told breakfast TV show Good Morning Britain Tuesday that William Hill staff initially congratulated her on her win and said the funds would be in her bank account in 72 hours, once she provided the necessary identification documents. But the money never arrived.
“I was so excited, I had planned for my kids to go on holiday, to get a house for them when they get older. I was thinking it was going to go into my bank in 72 hours,” she explained.
35,000 Illusory Payouts
Ainsley is one of up to 35,000 people who were awarded erroneous wins while playing games in mid-March connected to the “Jackpot Drop” mechanic at William Hill and 888, both owned by Evoke. The sheer number of players involved hints at a huge liability for Evoke.
The company has frozen the accounts of the false winners and is asking players who withdrew funds before the freeze to return the money, offering to let them keep 11% of what they withdrew as “compensation.”
Jackpot Drop is a feature available on selected games that works like a pooled jackpot system that “drops” prizes at random during play. That’s opposed to traditional progressives where big wins are tied to specific in-game events, such as hitting a top symbol combination or winning a bonus round.
The nature of the mechanic means that payouts are expected to occur at random, which added to the confusion for players, who had no reason to believe the wins weren’t genuine.
‘Processing Shock’
Ainsley said she was part of a Facebook group that included numerous “winners” of erroneous payouts. The group has become a space to compare experiences and process the shock of having those winnings withdrawn, as well as sharing information about complaints and coordinating possible legal action.
UK media has been flooded with reports of disgruntled gamblers, including one man who reportedly suffered a heart attack after being told his £285K win would be withdrawn.
“For a short period of time, funds were erroneously credited to some customer accounts, which were not correctly generated through valid or properly functioning game play,” William Hill said in a statement. “We’ve contacted relevant customers to clarify the issue and are in the process of retrieving the funds in line with our standard terms and conditions.”
No comments yet