Baffled online bingo players were stunned when their winnings of up to £10,000 were suddenly wiped out after a ‘technical error’ hit one of the nation’s biggest gambling sites. Gamblers playing Gala Bingo on Monday night thought their lucky day had arrived when the huge prizes started to be paid out over a two-hour period.
But unbeknownst to the exuberant ‘winners’, a malfunction behind the scenes on the platform had incorrectly made an overall prize pot to soar as high as £1.6 million, when it should have been just £150. However, when the pot was still showing as if worth tens of thousands of pounds, players were seeing huge prizes land in their Gala accounts online. Bingo is a game close to the nation’s heart and despite mostly being played online now, it is still a popular pursuit in many seaside resorts and in some towns and cities.
The glitch only came to light when cockahoop punters tried to withdraw the money into their bank accounts. But the cash was never transferred and it was only when an email landed from Gala in their inbox that people were informed of the mistake.
A spokesperson for Gala Bingo told the Express the firm wanted to “apologise” to customers for the error which occurred during the “Summer Nights Bingo” promotion on Monday.
They said: “We apologise to customers for a technical error which occurred during our Summer Nights Bingo promotion for a short period of time, resulting in all players receiving incorrect payouts.
“Our customer Terms and Conditions clearly state that in the event of a malfunction, winnings can be voided. Affected players have been contacted directly with a gesture of goodwill.”
Outraged player Jacqui Norrish, from Devon, was caught in the malfunction, scooping what she believed was £9,599.47 in winnings on Monday night.
She told The Sun: “I’m absolutely gutted. When you’ve been told you’ve won something and then it’s snatched away, it makes you feel terrible.”
Another punter told the publication she was going to use some of the money she thought she had won to put towards “£500 to save my dog’s eyesight”. Jill Douthwaite, 72, from Kent, added: “We’re a family who can’t afford to go on holidays and we’ve been struck with a lot of bad luck in the past too.”
The Summer Nights Bingo promotion had a max prize pot of £150, and it was one penny per ticket or bingo card.
Gala says the error occurred in the awarding of the consolation prizes during this game, which were highly inflated due to the technical glitch.