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Stephen Harvey, a 53-year-old postman from Dunstable, Bedfordshire, in the United Kingdom turned £20 into a £330,906.96 pay day on a William Hill online slot game called Jackpot Drop.
But, just like that, William Hill made those winnings disappear.
The long established British bookmaker claims a "technical glitch" resulted in the win. And who exactly is responsible for ensuring these "technical glitches" don't occur? In a perfect world, William Hill pays the poor man and pursues the game developer for that £330,906.96.
But alas, we've been down this road too many times to count.
The Jackpot Drop game William Hill claims temporarily resulted in incorrect crediting of amounts to player balances and incorrect processing of withdrawal requests.
And what exactly does this have to do with Mr. Harvey?
“Although we quickly identified and resolved this issue, for a short period of time, funds were incorrectly credited to some customers’ accounts, which were not properly generated as a result of correct or properly functioning gameplay,” William Hill parent company, Evoke, said.
From Tribuna:
Harvey told the BBC that after requesting a withdrawal for his six-figure win on March 16, "everything was processing, and then later in the day I noticed that all the payments had been declined."
That evening, the six-figure sum was returned to his account, but his access was then blocked. On March 18, he received an email stating that, under the terms and conditions, “the operator has the right to void these transactions, adjust account balances, and reclaim any withdrawals made.”
He was instructed to return his original £200 win within three days, as this was the only amount the company recognized as valid. The email stated the funds would be accepted “as a gesture of goodwill and strictly without admission of liability by any party.”
The postman, who has two children, said he felt "crushed" and "gutted" by the whole experience.
A spokesperson for Evoke said: “We are grateful to our customers for their understanding in this matter and apologize for any inconvenience caused.”
No word yet as to whether Harvey has pursued this matter with the UK Gambling Commission. He probably should.
William Hill has had past regulatory scrutiny from the UK Gambling Commission, including major fines and enforcement actions, but those were tied to compliance failures.
- Nagesh Rath, Gambling911.com
