Alberta Player Disputes 888casino Over Wiped C$1.3m Jackpot
James Kotylak says 888casino erased more than C$1.2 million in slot winnings after blaming a software malfunction, and has yet to find a body willing to hear his complaint.
A gambler from Alberta is seven months into a dispute with 888casino after the operator wiped out slot winnings he believed totalled more than C$1.3 million (roughly US$950,000), Casino.org News reports.
James Kotylak, 42, told Gaming America he had intended to use the money to buy his 91-year-old grandmother's farm so he could keep it in the family for his daughter. Instead he has spent months chasing gameplay records and searching for a body willing to adjudicate his case.
Kotylak was playing Pragmatic Play's Floating Dragon – Year of the Snake on 888 on 16 March when a run of Jackpot Drop prizes pushed his balance sharply higher. He says he received around 15 congratulatory emails from the operator, including notices of diamond jackpots worth C$85,703.77 each.
When he tried to withdraw C$47,000, the transaction was blocked. 888 subsequently removed C$1,267,003 from his account, telling him the payouts stemmed from an internal error.
Kotylak disputes that explanation on the grounds that the operator kept taking wagers after it says it had identified the fault. He says he completed 734 spins during the affected window, some placed after 888 had begun investigating.
An internal report reviewed by Casino.org attributes the malfunction to testing software that was mistakenly deployed into the live gaming environment. The incident hit several Evoke-owned brands, including 888, William Hill and Mr Green.
The report states the error produced 35,072 jackpot hits against an expected 518 for the equivalent period a week earlier, implying the total awarded in error ran into the millions. It records the fault beginning at 3:10am Mountain Daylight Time on 16 March, an investigation starting at 3:21am and the issue being resolved by 3:49am. Kotylak says he started playing at 3:19am, two minutes before the investigation opened.
Finding somewhere to take the complaint has proved difficult. 888 initially pointed him to the independent dispute resolution service eCOGRA, which told him Canadian players fall outside its jurisdiction. He says the operator later admitted it had given him incorrect information about the complaints process available to him.
The Gibraltar Gambling Division, which oversees 888's licence, concluded in May that the dispute turns on contractual enforceability and therefore needs a judicial determination rather than a regulatory one.
Kotylak now wants to sue 888 but says he has struggled to secure legal representation and may end up pursuing the claim himself.
Casino.org notes that British courts have previously ordered gambling operators to pay out disputed jackpots despite claims of software malfunctions, including rulings against Betfred and Paddy Power.