William Hill's allegation that a UK mother's life-altering slot machine win was just a "software glitch" dashed her hopes of earning £1 million ($1.4 million).

Claire Ainsley told the breakfast TV program Good Morning Britain on Tuesday that William Hill employees first congratulated her on her victory and assured her that the money would be in her bank account within 72 hours after she submitted the required paperwork. However, the funds never showed up.

“I was so excited, I had planned for my kids to go on holiday, to get a house for them when they get older. I was thinking it was going to go into my bank in 72 hours,” she explained.

35,000 Deceptive Payouts

Ainsley is among the up to 35,000 players who received incorrect winnings during mid-March games including the "Jackpot Drop" feature at William Hill and 888, both of which are owned by Evoke. The large volume of participants suggests that Evoke faces significant risks.

In addition to requesting that players who took money out prior to the freeze return it, the firm has frozen the accounts of the fictitious winners and is providing them 11% of the money they took out as "compensation."

Some games have a feature called Jackpot Drop that functions similarly to a pooled jackpot system and randomly "drops" prizes while the game is being played. In contrast, significant winnings in classic progressives are dependent on certain in-game events, such landing a top symbol combination or winning a bonus round.

Because rewards are anticipated to happen at random due to the nature of the game, players were further confused because they had no reason to think the winnings weren't real.

"Shock Processing"

Ainsley claimed to be a member of a Facebook group that contained many "winners" of incorrect payouts.

In addition to sharing information about complaints and organizing potential legal action, the group has evolved into a forum for people to discuss their experiences and deal with the shock of having their prizes taken away.

Reports of angry gamblers, including one guy who allegedly had a heart attack after learning that his £285K prize will be removed, have been widely reported in UK media.

“For a short period of time, funds were erroneously credited to some customer accounts, which were not correctly generated through valid or properly functioning game play,” William Hill said in a statement.

“We’ve contacted relevant customers to clarify the issue and are in the process of retrieving the funds in line with our standard terms and conditions.”