Man Suffers Heart Attack After William Hill $376K Jackpot Proves a Dud

William Hill has been in damage control over the past weeks, after the Jackpot Drop game ended up paying huge jackpots to at least 35,000 customers. The company swooped into action and urged users to return the money, notifying them that a technical glitch had occurred, mistakenly displaying smaller sums as large jackpots.

Man Suffers Heart Attack After William Hill Jackpot Escapes Him

The company will rely on its terms and conditions in order to restore the money, as well as customer goodwill. William Hill is entitled to the money it has paid in error as its T&C’s clearly state that any winnings resulting from a glitch are instantly voided. While many accounts have been blocked, some have managed to get away with their newfound jackpots before William Hill was made aware of its mistake.

At least one user, though, has had a rough awakening coming to this realization, with John Riding, 76, arguing that he suffered a heart attack upon discovering that his $376,000 jackpot (GBP 285,000) was in fact a much smaller sum, about $20.95 (GBP 15.40). 

It’s not all that bad, though, as any player who has won this way is still entitled to keep 11% of any withdrawn funds as compensation for returning the rest. 

This means that anyone who has cashed out would have to return a much smaller sum to the company. The catch is, though, that Riding did not withdraw any of these funds. 

Family Thought He Would Not Make It Through 

However, Riding argues that the $376,000 he supposedly won – and then lost – has absolutely destroyed him. He tried to cash out the funds, but his account has been suspended with no explanation offered to him.

Contacting customer support has proven difficult, and it took him several days to figure out what had happened. Riding told the BBC that the whole ordeal made him unwell and resulted in his admission to a hospital via an ambulance, having suffered a heart attack. 

He had to spend 18 hours in the resuscitation ward and was kept for a week at the hospital afterwards to make sure that he would be alright. In Riding’s account, his family grew concerned that the man would not survive the emotional ordeal that had resulted in real physical ramifications. 

It is unlikely that Riding would be able to claim anything but his original $20.50 win from the casino, however.