Horseracing fan, 83, refused £2,400 winnings because he made a ‘little mistake’ on his betting slip

A punter who thought he had scooped £2,400 from a winning bet was offered just £360 after making a ‘little mistake’ on his betting slip.

Mick Keane, 83, from Erdington, Birmingham, said he was overjoyed when four horses he thought he had backed all came in one after the other.

However, his celebrations turned to anger when Paddy Power refused to pay out because of an error Mr Keane had made about the time of one of the races.

The pensioner had mistakenly selected the 4.10pm at Chepstow on Saturday, October 9, when in fact it was the 4.05pm.

As a result, Paddy Power offered Mr Keane £364.48 for picking three winners, instead of four.

Mick Keane, 83, thought he had won a £2,400 bet but was offered just £360 after being told he had made a mistake on his betting slip

Speaking today, Mr Keane said the incident sent his blood pressure ‘sky high’ and he admitted putting ‘on a bit of a show’ at the betting giant’s One Stop Shopping Centre branch, in Perry Barr, after being refused the full £2,400.

Mr Keane picked the correct winner of the 4.05pm race at Chepstow –  Paint the Dream – but as he wrote 4.10pm on his slip, his bet was changed to the 4.10pm at Newmarket instead.

He claimed staff refused to transfer it to the Chepstow race even though he spotted his error before any of the races he gambled on had began.

But Paddy Power said Mr Keane did not dispute the change of venue on the bet at the time and only complained when he returned later to pick up his winnings.

Mr Keane's receipt shows he wrote '4.10 Chep' and backed the number three horse, but the race was in fact at 4.05. Paddy Power said the bet was changed to the 4.10 at Newmarket and claimed Mr Keane did not dispute that before the race started

Mr Keane’s receipt shows he wrote ‘4.10 Chep’ and backed the number three horse, but the race was in fact at 4.05. Paddy Power said the bet was changed to the 4.10 at Newmarket and claimed Mr Keane did not dispute that before the race started

Mr Keane said: ‘I go in Paddy Power as they say the Irish firms are the best.

‘I went to their shop at One Stop in Perry Barr at about 11am and picked out some horses. I put the number of the horse, the time on and the race meeting and took the odds.

‘I don’t write the names as I find it difficult to spell them.

‘I left the shop but then noticed I made a little mistake with the time in the bet and went back in an hour before the races started.

‘They said they had changed it to Newmarket. I said I wanted to change it to Chepstow. But they wouldn’t. No race of mine had gone off at all but they didn’t want to know.’

Mr Keane said he went home and when he checked the winners he found four of his horses had come in.  

‘When I went back in (to Paddy Power) they said they had changed what they put as the 4.10 at Newmarket now as a non-runner but they wouldn’t pay me on the 4.05 at Chepstow.

‘I have been paid out before when they have said “we knew what you wanted to bet on”. But not Paddy Power.

‘As a result of this my blood pressure shot through the roof. I put on a bit of a show at the bookmakers.’

Mr Keane says he has refused the £364.48 pay out and claimed he lost more than £2,000 because of Paddy Power's 'refusal' to honour his bet

Mr Keane says he has refused the £364.48 pay out and claimed he lost more than £2,000 because of Paddy Power’s ‘refusal’ to honour his bet

Mr Keane placed an accumulator on all the horses winning, and various selections which cost him £51.

He said he refused the £364.48 pay out and claimed he lost more than £2,000 because of Paddy Power’s ‘refusal’ to honour his bet.

He said he is a ‘regular customer’ at bookmakers in the area, adding ‘everybody knows me’.

He also said betting ‘keeps me alive and gives me a bit of interest’.

He added: ‘I am desperate. I needed that money to go on holiday with my son Julian. I got four winners and they will only pay me out on three.

‘It’s like giving you a cream cake and they have taken the cream off.’

A spokesman for Paddy Power said: ‘Where a meeting is stated and there is no time or an incorrect time, with all multiple bets the selection will be void, unless the sequence of selections written on the slip make the intended time clear.’

Paddy Power said the only time Mr Keane disputed the Chepstow/Newmarket issue was when he was told about his winnings at 6pm that day

Paddy Power said the only time Mr Keane disputed the Chepstow/Newmarket issue was when he was told about his winnings at 6pm that day

The firm added that when Mr Keane returned to the shop he was told his incorrect Chepstow selection had been moved to the 4.10pm at Newmarket, which was ‘something he did not dispute at that stage’.

Paddy Power said he then returned at 6pm and was told his winnings were £55 and that was ‘the only time he disputed the Chepstow/Newmarket issue’.

He was also told of an error on the timing of another of his selections but this was changed and the bet ‘retranslated’, Paddy Power said.

The Newmarket selection was considered a non-runner, even though the number three horse in that race did run.

This gave Mr Keane winnings of £364.48.

Paddy Power maintained that if Mr Keane had returned to the shop and asked for the bet to be changed ‘we would have simply changed the bet’. A spokesman said he agreed to the change.

But Mr Keane said he denies Paddy Power’s explanation.