Hong Kong Jockey Club’s refusal to pay punter an own goal

The venerable Hong Kong Jockey Club (HKJC) is being sued for failing to pay out on a sports bettor’s winning wager.

On Monday, the Hong Kong Standard reported on a Small Claims Tribunal hearing involving a bettor, Wan Chun-lun, who sued the HKJC for failing to pay out some HK$48,750 (US$6,210) in winnings and keeping his original HK$15k betting stakes due to an error in scoring an English Premier League (EPL) match.

The match in question happened on March 11 between Chelsea and Crystal Palace, and Wan took the ‘over’ on the HKJC’s line of 14.5 corner kicks during the match. There ended up being 15 corner kicks during the match, but the EPL website originally listed 14 kicks before correcting their error less than one hour later.

However, the HKJC claimed that it had begun paying out on the winning wagers half an hour before the EPL updated its info. Despite Wan’s pleas, the HKJC decided to stick to its rules, which state that the official decision will remain in effect regardless of whether the game results are subsequently amended by the respective sports authority.