Corinne Durber Wins £1m Payout In Landmark High Court Case
The High Court has ordered Paddy Power to pay £1 million to a player who was initially told she was only entitled to a £20,000 prize.
Key Facts:
- Corinne Durber, a gardener from Gloucestershire, took Paddy Power to court after the prize row
- She was playing the Wild Hatter game back in October 2020
- Durber’s iPad showed she had scooped the jackpot on the game, winning more than £1 million
- Paddy Power claimed she had won the smaller daily jackpot
Gloucestershire gardener Corinne Durber decided to sue gambling company PPB Entertainment Limited, which trades as betting giants Paddy Power and Betfair.
She had been playing Red Tiger Gaming’s Wild Hatter on her iPad tablet in October 2020 when she progressed to the second part of the game, which has a jackpot wheel.
Then, the screen flashed up showing she had scooped the “monster jackpot” of £1,097,132.71, but Paddy Power claimed the game had an error and Durber had actually only won the daily jackpot, which at the time stood at £20,265.14.
Breach Of Contract
Durber took the decision to fight Paddy Power over the decision, citing breach of contract, and has been left celebrating after the High Court ruled in her favour.
A delighted Durber told the media: “As you can imagine, I’m so relieved and happy that the judge has confirmed I fairly and squarely won £1 million from Paddy Power.”
“But why couldn’t Paddy Power 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.”
Durber noted it had been a long battle to get Paddy Power to pay up the money she won, stating the betting company “tried their very best to deny me my rightful winnings”.
She added: “What’s the point in betting if betting companies like Paddy Power won’t pay up when someone wins a big jackpot?”
Unfortunate Case
Mr Justice Ritchie said in his 62-page ruling that players who bet online can rightfully expect “what was to be shown to them on screen to be accurate and correct”.
He found that the result from the random number generator, which produces the outcome of casino games, was different from what it said on the screen due to a human error in mapping the software, whereas Paddy Power said it had been a computer error.
No trial was necessary as the judge granted a summary judgment in favour of Durber, who plans to use the money to help her family and enjoy retirement with her husband Colin.
Paddy Power is owned by Flutter UKI, which issued a statement in response.
It said: “Every week tens of thousands of customers win with Paddy Power, including an individual who received a £5.7 million jackpot just one year ago. “
“We always strive to provide the best customer experience possible and pride ourselves on fairness. We deeply regret this unfortunate case and are reviewing the judgment.”
