A businessman is suing Paddy Power after it failed to honour his £286,000 win on grounds that it was a mistake.
James Longley, 44, told the High Court in London that he spent £3,000 celebrating after his £13,000 each-way bet on Redemptive paid off at 16-1 in a race at Wolverhampton in 2019.
However, the gambling giant took back his winnings after writing it off as a "mistake" two days later.
The millionaire, from Leicestershire, initially asked to stake £1,300, but took the punt when Paddy Power offered to accept a wager that was ten times that amount.
However, after winning, the bookmaker cancelled his jackpot saying that Longley had not intended to place such a large bet.
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The company said the bet was a "mistake" and therefore it was entitled to adjust it in line with the lower stake and pay out only £28,600.
Longley told Mrs Justice Ellenbogen that Paddy Power was "simply trying to welsh [renege] on the bet".
Longley, a millionaire, had already lost about £19,000 that day and decided to back Redemptive and phoned to place a total £2,600 bet. The operator sought authority for the stake owing to its size, but mistakenly relayed it to an authorising trader as £13,000 each way, which translated to a total of £26,000.
The bet was approved and, when the horse won, Longley's account was credited with £286,000.
Mark James, representing Longley said that Aidan McCarthy, the trader who had authorised the bet, soon had second thoughts and told his managers he had "massively overlaid" a bet.
McCarthy said that he had looked at Longley's bets that day and that it seemed he was "chasing" his losses and decided to accept the £26,000 stake.
James said the trader wrote to his bosses saying he could "only apologise for this massive error on my part and I can't explain why the liability didn't register with me".
He clawed back the cash to "cover his own back".
Kajetan Wandowicz, representing Paddy Power, said that there had been a mistake in relaying Longley's intention which had been to place a bet with a stake totalling £2,600.
Wandowicz added that "Paddy Power reserves the right to correct any obvious errors" and that the company had the right to "adjust the bet".
