Bruno Venturi, 41, kept winning on the Eurobet.com website in 2009 in some three hours of play is claiming his winnings of £650,000 in court. However, Eurobet insists a software bug meant luck had nothing to do with it.
Eurobet which closed down their site in September 2011, claims that his winnings are null and void because he was mistakenly charged for only one in six of his bets.
The company has refused to pay up, sparking a High Court legal battle.
Pet shop worker Mr Venturi, who had won only small amounts in his previous two years using the website, says he was completely unaware of what was about to unfold when he logged on to play the “Sixty Seconds” game from his home in Naples, Italy, on January 28 2009.The company claims an error caused by a software upgrade meant Mr Venturi was charged for only one in six of the 6,670 wagers he placed, dramatically increasing his chances of winning the game, which has since been removed from the internet.Patrick Lawrence QC, for Eurobet, said the bug meant it was “mathematically inevitable” that Mr Venturi would keep hitting the jackpot.The High Court in London heard that the Italian, who started with just 20 Euros in his account, began playing at 8.18pm by placing his usual 20 cent bet, but increased the stakes as his apparent luck continued.
He had won 5,000 Euros by 9pm, and racked up winnings of 200,000 Euros by 10.10pm, as he frantically placed as many multiple wagers as the website would allow.
Speaking through an interpreter, Mr Venturi told the court: “I had always lost previously… but when I started to win I had a very good feeling. I’m a player and my instincts told me to keep betting.”
Mr Lawrence challenged him, saying he must have realised that something was wrong, but Mr Venturi insisted: “How could I realise there was an error. There was no message, I was just drawing, I didn’t have a clue… I thought I was very lucky.”
The Italian, who disputes that any error took place, stopped playing shortly before midnight, having amassed a colossal 707,665 Euros – then worth about £650,000 – in 217 heady minutes.
When asked why he called it a day, Mr Venturi replied: “I realised the amount that I was winning and I realised that I had to stop. I had been lucky enough… I am only human. I was taken by the emotions and there was a lot of euphoria.”
He added: “I’ve never had so much money… It’s a very big win; it’s not something that happens every day.”
Mr Venturi, who offered to come to England to pick up his winnings in cash, said an operator told him “this is incredible, but it does happen” as he transferred some of his winnings to a different online account.
The company, based in Woking, is refusing to pay Mr Venturi, saying the bets breached the website’s terms and conditions, and his winnings amounted to “unjust enrichment”.
Refuting those claims, Mr Venturi’s barrister, John McLinden QC, said: “Mr Venturi denies any software error as alleged by the defendant.
“The defendant has failed to establish that Mr Venturi broke any rules of the game whilst playing and obtaining the winnings.”
He added: “Mr Venturi performed his part of the game by completing various steps and screens presented to him by the defendant on the website, and paid for his bets on the game from the funds in his account. He did everything that was required of him to pay for the bets.
“If his account was not charged at any time for the repeat bets, which is not admitted, that omission was due to the defendant’s failure to completely perform its obligations to him, and to comply with its regulatory requirements.”
The hearing continues.
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