A technical 'glitch' scuppered this single mum's £1 million payday, according to the bookies that is refusing to hand over the money.
After having a flutter on the Jackpot Drop game on the William Hill betting app, Claire Ainsley was left stunned when she realised her punt had earned her seven figures.
She'd already started mentally spending the life-changing sum she believed she had won and told 'everyone' about her supposed streak of luck - only for the rug to be brutally pulled out from under her just days later.
The mother-of-two has since been informed that the money was incorrectly awarded to her due to an 'issue' with the game.
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During an appearance on Good Morning Britain on Tuesday (21 April), Claire explained she has been left 'gutted' by the mammoth mix-up that briefly left her believing she was a millionaire.
She explained that in the wake of her huge win, she promptly got in touch with William Hill via email to claim her prize.
Speaking to hosts Susanna Reid and Ed Balls, Claire explained she sent the bookmaker 'screenshots' to provide proof of her victory before they got back to her 'confirming' it.
"They messaged back saying they're going to send it over to my bank in 72 hours," she claimed. "They just wanted me to send my ID over, so I did. I sent that all over, and they said, 'Yes, it will be in your bank'."
'I had planned out for my kids to go on holiday, to get a house for them'
Armed with 'the promise' that more than a million pounds would be landing in her bank account after a three-day wait, the mum said she started plotting what she would do with the cash.
"I was so excited," Claire told the ITV breakfast show. "I had planned out for my kids to go on holiday, to get a house for them.
"I couldn't believe it. I got so emotional. I rang my family, I told everyone. I was over the moon."
But when Claire attempted to withdraw the hefty amount from her William Hill online account, she said it 'got declined at the last minute'.
"I got an email two days afterwards saying, 'It was a glitch'," the mum explained. "Me and my children aren't going to get anything. I was gutted, really gutted."
Ainsley claimed that she isn't the only William Hill punter to be caught out by this alleged glitch either, and told the hosts that she is part of a Facebook group with dozens of people in the same boat.
Wakefield resident Gemma Bradle claimed to experience a similar issue while playing the Jackpot Drop game, as she was recently ordered to pay her £33,000 jackpot back by William Hill.
"A lot of people have won, and some people have taken the money out, some people haven't," Ainsley went on to say. "So I'm quite lucky it didn't go into my account, because I don't have the money to pay it back."
A spokesperson for Evoke, which owns William Hill, told LADbible that a number of users were 'erroneously credited' due to a glitch.
"During a routine review of platform activity, we identified an issue affecting the Jackpot Drop game which temporarily resulted in incorrect sums being credited to players’ balances and withdrawals being processed incorrectly," they said in a statement.
"Whilst we quickly identified and resolved this issue, for a short period of time funds were erroneously credited to some customer accounts that were not correctly generated through valid or properly functioning gameplay.
"We have contacted relevant customers to clarify the issue, and are in the process of retrieving the funds in line with our standard terms and conditions.
"We have been grateful for our customers’ understanding on this matter and apologise for the inconvenience caused.”
Ainsley said she sought legal advice but could not afford the £600 fee for a solicitor to help her out.
'We want a full analysis'
Thankfully, lawyer Ayesha Nayyar was also sitting on the GMB sofa on Tuesday and offered a legal expert's perspective on the situation.
She explained that betting firms are 'protected' by the terms and conditions that players have to agree to before participating in online games.
Nayyar explained: "The terms and conditions include a clause that says, if an error occurs or a malfunction occurs - whether that's via a software bug, computer error or even a human error - the betting company can void that play and not pay out.
"That's exactly what happened. In this case, they're saying that the condition that would have triggered the jackpot wasn't actually triggered, and that's the reason why they're voiding play.
"We're not just going to take their word that there was a glitch - Claire wants proof of that. We are going to go to William Hill, and Claire is going to ask for proof that actually happened, data reports.
"Prove to me that the system bug that you say happened, actually happened. We want a full analysis before William Hill can hide behind this glitch that they are alleging."
Claire added: "I feel like I deserve that money and they said I could have it...so, it's my money."
Topics: Good Morning Britain, UK News, Money, Gambling
Olivia Burke