Betfair Poker’s 2008 bug let players exploit $1.7M flaw

Betfair Poker’s $1.7M glitch exposed collusion and unfair wins in 2008

A major software flaw in Betfair Poker’s Six-Pack sit & go tournaments was exposed in 2008. The bug allowed certain players to win large sums unfairly before the company stepped in. Reports at the time suggested losses could have reached up to $1.7 million.

The issue came to light after The Telegraph, one of the UK’s oldest newspapers, covered the incident. Betfair quickly moved to contain the damage, shutting down affected games and demanding repayment from those involved.

The problem began when a glitch in the Six-Pack tournaments caused all players—except the winner—to receive second-place payouts if everyone went all-in on the first hand. Some players allegedly coordinated to exploit this flaw, rapidly increasing their stakes and winning hundreds of thousands of dollars within hours.

Betfair detected the issue and suspended the affected sit & gos for over 24 hours to fix the software. During this time, certain players reportedly transferred their winnings into other accounts through high-stakes heads-up cash games. After investigating, Betfair accused some players of collusion. The company sent emails demanding they return the winnings obtained from the exploit. Accounts linked to the scheme were frozen, and Betfair managed to recover a portion of the lost funds. Following these actions, the incident largely faded from public discussion. Despite the seriousness of the case, no further public details emerged about the accused players or whether all the refunded money was successfully reclaimed.

Betfair’s response included shutting down the tournaments, recovering funds, and suspending accounts. The company also insisted that those involved repay the exploited winnings. While the total financial impact was never officially confirmed, the incident highlighted vulnerabilities in online poker systems at the time.