Update
On March 5, 2025, the judge in the case issued a sensational verdict made [Link to English]: Corrine Durber is entitled to the full winnings of approximately EUR 1.3 million. Paddy Power must pay Durber the entire amount without any deductions. The judge justified his ruling by saying that retailers should not pass on their mistakes to consumers.
Durber herself said that the money would change her life and that she wanted to use it to provide for her children.
Player receives merely 20,000 GBP
On October 18, 2020, the life of Corinne Durber, a gardener from England, seemed to change suddenly. As the Independent newspaper reports [Link to English], Durber played an online slot game during the corona pandemic.
The game was The Wild Hatter slot from gaming developer Red Tiger, which Durber played in the Paddy Power online casino. The Wild Hatter follows the story of Alice in Wonderland and is played on a five-reel, four-row playing field.
Durber managed to hit the slot machines jackpot and win 1,097,132.71 GBP (approx. 1,318,000 EUR).
She was shown on the screenigt that she had won the game's mega jackpot. However, she subsequently discovered that GBP 20,265.14 (approx. EUR 24,277) had been credited to her merely account.
Shows the slot shows an incorrect result?
Durber then contacted the gambling group to find out why the jackpot had not been credited to her. According to Paddy Power it was an error in the animation shown.
Durber was told that he had won the jackpotigt - but the random generator software in the background determined a different result. There was an incorrect difference between the central Paddy Power server and the profit shown.
Those responsible then showed Durber the company's 45-page terms of useigt. These show that Paddy Power is not obliged to pay out the incorrectly stated jackpot.
The only decisive factor is the result determined by the company's central computer:
The wheel is just an entertainment element that makes it a little more fun. It definitely doesn't matter.– Philip Hanks, speaker, Paddy Power, The Telegraph
According to Paddy Power, she won the day's prize and therefore received the sum of GBP 20,265.14.
Paddy Power is an Irish gambling and sports betting operator and one of the largest companies in the industry. Among other things, he is the sponsor of the PDC Darts World Cup.
Unpaid jackpots are not uncommon
There are various reports of similar cases around the world. In November 2024, a woman is said to be playing a slot machine in Atlantic City, New Jersey won the jackpot of 1.2 million USD (approx. 1.15 million EUR). [Link to English].
Shortly after her win, however, those responsible informed her that the machine had malfunctioned and that she had not won anything. The machine was opened and reset just a few minutes after she won. The woman is now fighting in court to get the money after all.
A case from 2017 also caused a stir worldwide. A woman in New York is supposed to won USD 43 million (approx. EUR 41.43 million) on a slot machine [Link to English]. She was expelled from the casino immediately after winning. Instead of paying her the million-dollar winnings, the casino merely informed her that it was a technical error. She was offered a voucher for a steak restaurant instead.
In 2023, a woman in Michigan is said to have one at Detroit's MGM Grand Have won a jackpot of 127,000 USD (approx. 122,349 EUR) at a Blackjack table [Link to English]. When she went to collect the jackpot, she was accused of trespassing. She also filed a lawsuit.
Terms of use are intended to violate applicable law
Durber's lawyer filed a lawsuit against Paddy Power. The gaming group relies on its terms of use: However, according to Durber's lawyer, these violate the Consumer Rights Act of 2015. In addition, Durber was not sufficiently made aware of the terms of use.
The lawyer also criticized the fact that the conditions were 45 pages long and very opaque. Paddy Power is simply trying to avoid paying out winnings. In his opinion, the principle of what you see is what you get applies, especially to digital content:
Digital content must be as described. Someone linked the software to the pot incorrectly. This is not a system or computer error, but a human error. – Mark Baldock, attorney for Corinne Durber, Independent
Durber and her lawyer are ready to stick to the lawsuit and stand for the win. The responsible judge is said to have commented on the case with the following words:
Customers expect that what they see is what they get. Here's what you see, what you don't get.–, judge in charge, Independent
The judge is said to have postponed the decision to an unspecified later date. It therefore remains to be seen what conclusion the court will come to.
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