Evoke’s Technical Malfunction Drops a Jackpot Disaster

by Roy Brindley, 24 March 2026

Big trouble could be in store for Evoke PLC as its William Hill and 888 Casino brands pay out on a malfunctioning Jackpot Drop feature.

888 and William Hill casinos are seeking the return of funds from its players following a “technical malfunction”.

Key Facts:

• A technical malfunction saw customers receive jackpot prizes.
• Customers who withdrew ‘winnings’ are now offered 11% of their original prize.
• PR disaster looms for Evoke, the beleaguered owner of William Hill and 888 Casinos.

What has been described as a “technical malfunction” at William Hill and 888 online casinos has seen UK customers briefly credited thousands of pounds – only to be asked to return the money. The incident, which came to light in the third week of March, involved an in-game feature called ‘Jackpot Drop’.

Introduced in July 2025, ‘Jackpot Drop’ adds 10p to players’ stakes while offering the potential of a random jackpot win. It operates across companies operated by Evoke PLC, the parent company of both William Hill and 888casino.

Jackpots of £236,000, £175,000, and £142,000 were widely reported on social media, supported by screenshots. However, winning accounts were later locked, or balances removed after Evoke determined that the sums credited to customer accounts resulted from a game malfunction.

Issue Resolved, says Evoke in a Statement

Quoted in the Racing Post, a spokesperson for Evoke said on Friday: “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.”

“While 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.”

11p in the Pound Offered for the Payments That Got Through

In addition to the massive disappointment felt by people who believed they had legitimately won considerable sums of money, up to life-changing amounts, Evoke’s seemingly drastic efforts to recover funds from ‘winning’ players have caused it significant embarrassment and upset within the UK gambling community.

While some transactions were halted as the issue was recognised, several customers successfully processed withdrawals with funds reportedly reaching their bank accounts before the Evoke sites identified the issue.

An email correspondence to an affected customer, seen by NEXT.io, shows that William Hill Online shared its bank account details (including sort code and account number) alongside a formal request to return the cash withdrawals.

The email stated: “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.”

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

“Our review has confirmed that certain balances credited to your account and subsequently withdrawn did not arise from valid gameplay and are attributable to the issue affecting the Jackpot Drop game.”

The operator offered customers with withdrawn funds in their bank accounts a “commercial resolution” under which clients could return 89% of their ‘winnings’ and retain the remaining 11% as a gesture of goodwill.

NEXT.io says William Hill and 888 online casino customers are being asked to return funds within three days alongside a signed settlement agreement, which would mark the dispute as fully resolved.

Do Court Battles and a PR Nightmare Await?

There has been much fallout following this, the latest in a long line of similar online casino’ technical malfunctions’. While Evoke’s brands are attempting to protect themselves via Terms & Conditions that state operators can void bets or winnings if a system error affects gameplay, many are using social media to outline the case for the defence.

“It’s not like anyone hacked the system,” one online player wrote, adding: “We just played the game they gave us.” On Twitter/X a user noted: “The Jackpot Drops system is designed to drop Jackpots randomly, meaning that it [the ‘Jackpot Drop’ feature] did actually operate within its original functionality.”

Legal experts note that while “malfunction voids all winnings” clauses are widely used, enforcing repayment after funds have been withdrawn can be complex. Much may depend on individual circumstances, including whether customers were aware — or should reasonably have been aware — that the payouts were made in error.

Evoke has not publicly detailed the total financial impact of the glitch or the number of customers affected. Should any clients choose to contest jackpot wins that appeared and then disappeared, it could prove catastrophic for the troubled company.

Two similar cases have recently gone through the courts and were won by the plaintiffs who claimed a combined £2.7 million in winnings from Paddy Power and Betfred should be paid out despite the jackpots being described as ‘software glitches’.

Such cases will also be labelled as a PR disaster – something Evoke, beleaguered by debt and now residing outside of the FTSE 250 index following its share price dropping from 458p to 30p in less than five years, can ill afford.