Punters owed ‘R83.86, not R3m+’

A BOOKMAKER who is being sued for more than R3 million by two Phoenix brothers who took bets on the Fifa World Cup in Brazil last year claims they are only entitled to payouts of R80.35 and R3.51.

Dave van de Vyver, a director at Playabets, is opposing the application for summary judgment which Vijay Singh, a sales representative, and his retrenched brother, Rajen, are seeking in the Durban High Court.

The Singhs said in their affidavit that in placing their bet they were expected to correctly predict the outcomes of various combinations during the soccer World Cup.

They claimed they had correctly predicted the winning teams, the runner-up, teams which finished at the bottom, those which had qualified and others which had been eliminated.

They say Playabets declined to pay them over R3 million they were entitled to, in breach of the contractual obligations it had with them.

They claim their “winning” bets included R359 850 on a R20 bet and R378 307 for a R10 ticket.

Van Der Vyver, who runs Playabets, claimed in court papers that the bets had been accepted in error by the machines at his Gem City branch in Phoenix.

“The defendant (Playabets) had duly de-related the related bets and apportioned the stakes accordingly and paid the plaintiffs (the Singhs) their dues. Save following the re-calculations, it appears that the first plaintiff (Vijay) was short paid R80.35 and second plaintiff (Rajen) was short paid R3.51. The defendant tenders payment to the respective plaintiffs of these amounts in full and final settlement of their claims,” he said. “Their application for summary judgment ought to be dismissed.”

The Singhs have approximately four weeks to file their replying papers.