Bookies back out of £1,000 tennis win for finalist with 2000/1 odds

You cannot be serious


After winning a grand with just a 50p tennis bet, one Bangor student thought he’d struck gold. 

So imagine his rage when William Hill backed out of the deal, claiming his 2000/1 odds were an “error”.

Final year nurse Julius Ndlovu, 34, discovered the odds he was given for Roger Federer to beat Tomas Berdych were in fact the bookie’s mistake – and he wouldn’t be getting his winnings.

He told The Tab: “The whole experience has been really shambolic.

“The last thing I ever wanted to do when i placed the bet was to become popular – but they can’t just refuse to pay me.”

The customer service team offered Julius two free £50 bets as a gesture of goodwill, but he turned them both down.

He said: “As a matter of principal I declined. I should get my full winnings of £1,000.

“What they’re arguing is that somebody made a mistake – that it was supposed to be 20-1, but they put in 2000.

“I’m trying to fight the case and the next step for me is to take it to court.”

Julius added: “Obviously at this point, they’ve got a clause in their contract which says they can refuse to pay if the odds are by mistake.

“But I dispute that clause and think it is unfair in my opinion.”

A screenshot of Julius’ winning bet

Asked if the experience has put him off betting, he said: “In some ways I have, but at this present moment I’m trying to fight this.”

If you’re looking to make some cash – tennis is your best bet according to Julius.

“It’s the best sport. If you know the players you can quite accurately predict what’s going to happen.

“But I wasn’t shocked when I saw the betting slip as breaking someones’ sets twice in a row is quite rare.”

A spokesman for William Hill said: “On any one tennis match, we can offer up to 150 prices which are constantly changing as the game unfolds. Obviously, while we try to ensure that our odds are correct at all times, there can be small human errors.”

He added: “These are called palpable errors and are described as such in our rules: when the price or terms offered are materially different from what is available elsewhere or are clearly incorrect given the probability of the event occurring.

“If we find that is the case, we reserve the right to correct any error made on a bet and re-settle at the correct price. These are terms that are signed up to by a customer when they open their account.”

But this isn’t the first time a student has had riches in their grasp, but narrowly missed out on their fortune.

Last year Leeds Beckett football fan Jordan Donnellan missed out on a million pound accumulator, just because he filled out the wrong slip.

The poor lad had started partying like a millionaire, only to discover he’d won absolutely nothing.