Court Makes Gamblers Repay $750K from Glitched Instant Lucky 7 Game

Judge Robin George Mossop in the Pietermaritzburg High Court in South Africa has ruled that over 100 gamblers must repay approximately $750,000 in winnings from the “Instant Lucky 7” instant-lottery game, developed by Betgames and hosted on the online gambling platform Hollywood Sportsbook KwaZulu-Natal. The game operated for only seven days during Christmas week in 2023 before being taken down after the operator’s system detected unusually high payouts.

Judge Orders Bettors to Return Winnings

The judge’s decision seems to stem from this technical flaw in the game. Mossop stated that the wagers placed through the faulty game were invalid, as the participants gambled without making any payment and were therefore not entitled to retain their winnings. He explained that for a bet to be valid, it must involve both payment and risk, which are conditions that were not met due to the game’s malfunction. 

The judge also upheld a previous court order issued in January 2024, mandating that the respondents repay their winnings to Hollywood Sportsbook. Additionally, the court froze the bank accounts of those involved, which are held at institutions such as Capitec, FNB, Nedbank, and others, to prevent the withdrawal of the contested funds.

However, Judge Mossop raised concerns about the broad scope of the account freezes, noting that it was unclear how much money was held in each account and that blocking all transactions may have unfairly limited access to unrelated funds. He criticized the original order for its potential to cause undue harm to the respondents, many of whom experienced financial hardship when their debit orders were declined as a result of the freezes.

Hollywoodbets Comments on the Situation

The respondents maintained that they had done nothing wrong, claiming they used their own funds and won the bets fairly. According to Hollywoodbets, when the company became aware of the technical issue and contacted players, a lot of them allegedly responded with something to the tune of “sue me” and refused to return the winnings.

Judge Mossop, however, dismissed this argument, clarifying that the core issue was not whether the respondents had sufficient funds in their accounts, but that they effectively gambled for free due to a system malfunction.

Hollywoodbets also said that players had conspired to commit fraud, and thus most of them refused to return the winnings. However, these claims were dismissed by Judge Mossop, noting that the bettors were geographically dispersed and there was no evidence of any connection or coordinated activity between them.