According to an incident report from the operator, William Hill UK paid out 35,072 online slot jackpots due to a technological glitch, compared to just 518 during the same period a week prior.

An unknown number of players of the online Jackpot Drop game received the incorrect payments, according to a March 23 report from Casino.org. Several of these players posted on social media that their "wins" totaled six figures.

Given that there can be as many as 35,000 recipients, the error might be worth tens of millions of pounds or more.

Frozen Accounts

On social media, players said that William Hill had locked their accounts and was now asking them to refund whatever money they had taken out to their bank prior to the suspensions.

“During a routine review of platform activity, we identified an issue affecting the Jackpot Drop game which resulted in incorrect sums being credited to players’ balances and withdrawals being processed incorrectly,” the operator told players.

“As a consequence of this issue, funds were incorrectly credited and, in some cases, withdrawn from several customer accounts, including yours, that were not generated through valid or properly functioning gameplay.”

William Hill is providing clients with a payout of about 11% of their withdrew money. However, some players may find that difficult, especially if the funds have already been used for debts or mortgages.

Stephen Harvey, a postman with two kids, told the BBC that he thought he had won almost £330,000 from the game. Harvey, who currently resides in rental housing, "started looking for properties" because he believed he would eventually be able to own his own house. He claimed to have been "crushed" by the encounter.

How Does Jackpot Drop Operate?

The Jackpot Drop game by William Hill is a progressive slot machine that randomly "drops" jackpots.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.

Players may contend that they could not have reasonably understood that an error had happened because Jackpot Drop payouts are supposed to happen at random. Many have suggested that they might take the issue to court.

The William Hill Jackpot Drop Glitch: How Much Could It Cost?

For William Hill, the average payout per player has a much greater bearing on the overall financial impact.

Even a significant increase in winners would probably result in losses in the low tens of millions rather than hundreds of millions because the system is set up so that the majority of payouts are tiny (often tens or low hundreds of pounds) and enormous jackpots are uncommon.

The operator's total exposure is much more likely to be between £5 million and £30 million unless thousands of players were mistakenly given high-tier jackpots.