‘Plausible Bet’ from Multi-Millionaire\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\nPaddy Power\u2019s lawyer Kajetan Wandowicz argued that, based on context and Longley\u2019s reaction, the plaintiff had not noticed the mention of a larger stake. He claimed Longley only realized the difference when he later checked an app on his phone.<\/p>\n
This meant the parties had been at cross purposes, and so no valid contract had been agreed upon, Wandowicz said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt beggars belief, that a highly intelligent and sophisticated punter [bettor] who has only just been told that his requested bet has been approved would regard that\u00a0mention of a different sum of money as a counter-offer,\u201d Wandowicz added.<\/p>\n
Longley\u2019s lawyer, Mark James, said that for most people, a sudden tenfold increase in stakes would be unheard of. But his client’s wealth and gambling habits made it perfectly plausible.<\/strong><\/p>\nLongley is described by The Sun<\/em> newspaper as a \u201cself-made multimillionaire\u201d who made his fortune through the sale of his utility bills company Utility Bidder in 2018.<\/p>\nChasing Losses<\/strong><\/h2>\nJames said it seemed the Paddy Power trader had been eager to accept the bet because he thought Longley was chasing his losses. The plaintiff had already lost \u00a319,000 to Paddy Power that day, from an opening balance of \u00a378,000.<\/p>\n
\u201cObjectively, it\u2019s a bet for \u00a313,000 each way. That\u2019s how Mr. Longley understood it, that\u2019s how the phone operator understood it, and that\u2019s the bet that Paddy Power\u2019s trader authorized. It would be a very unusual outcome if they were all wrong,\u201d James said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey [bookmakers] can lay off their bets, make a profit on the deal, and then tell the bettor,\u00a0\u2018We\u2019re keeping our winnings, but you can\u2019t have yours\u2019,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
London\u2019s High Court has agreed to hear the case of a wealthy bettor who claims Paddy Power owes him \u00a3286,000 after the stakes of his bet were misheard. In September 2019, James Longley, 44, called Paddy Power\u2019s telephone betting service with the intention of placing a $1,300 each-way bet on a horse called \u201cRedemptive\u201d at […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":178404,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[14577,60],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
Paddy Power Sued by Gambler Over \u2018Misheard\u2019 \u00a3286,000 Bet<\/title>\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n\t \n\t \n\t \n \n \n \n \n \n\t \n\t \n\t \n