Court battle: Bruno Venturi outside the High Court in London where he is fighting for his £650,000 jackpot
A gambler dubbed 'The Man Who Couldn't Lose' after winning £650,000 in just three hours of online gaming is facing a High Court bid to strip him of his jackpot. Bruno Venturi, 41, was left 'euphoric' after turning the €20 in his account into a whopping €707,000 - then worth roughly £650,000 - whilst playing Eurobet.com's 'Sixty Seconds' game in 2009. But Surrey-based Eurobet UK Ltd, which operated the website, insists a software bug meant chance had nothing to do with it. As he was mistakenly charged for only one in six of his bets, his winnings are null and void, the company claims. Eurobet refused to pay up, sparking a legal battle - which Judge Simon Brown QC said reminded him of the 1935 film, 'The Man who Broke the Bank at Monte Carlo'.The film, inspired by a British music hall song based on the story of Charles Deville Wells, is a romantic comedy which tells the story of a former Russian aristocrat who wins 10million francs playing baccarat at a casino.The casino sends a beautiful woman to lure him back to the gambing tables and he is eventually left penniless. Pet shop worker, Mr Venturi - who had won only meager sums in his previous two years using the website - says he logged on from his home in Naples, Italy, on January 28, 2009, completely unaware of what was about to unfold. The company claims an error caused by a software upgrade meant Mr Venturi was charged for only one in six of the 6,670 wagers he placed, dramatically increasing his chances of winning the lottery-style game, which has since been removed from the internet.Patrick Lawrence QC, for Eurobet, said the bug meant it was 'mathematically inevitable' that Mr Venturi would keep hitting the jackpot.The court heard the Italian started playing at 8.18pm, placing his usual 20 cent bet, but began increasing the stakes as his apparent luck continued. More...
He had won 5,000 Euros by 9pm, and racked up winnings of 200,000 Euros by 10.10pm, as he frantically placed as many multiple wagers as the website would allow.Speaking through an interpreter, Mr Venturi told the court: 'I had always lost previously...but when I started to win I had a very good feeling. I'm a player and my instincts told me to keep betting.' Mr Venturi played the 60 Seconds game for three-and-a-half hours
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Court battle: Bruno Venturi outside the High Court in London where he is fighting for his £650,000 jackpot
Mr Venturi played the 60 Seconds game for three-and-a-half hours
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