A gambler in Austria that ‘won’ £37 million on a fruit machine has been offered a free meal and £60 after casino bosses claimed the jackpot was down to ‘software error’.

Behar Merlaku got four of the winning symbols and even though five matches are required the machine showed that he had won the jackpot with all the winning bells and flashing screen.

Merlaku said: 'The jackpot came up loud and clear. There was music and the sum I had won - nearly 43 million euros - was displayed on a screen.

'I was so overjoyed and in my head I began calculating what I could do with all this money.'

However as he went to claim his prize at the Casino Austria AG site in Bregenz, Austria he was offered £60 and a free meal. The 26 year old has now launched a lawsuit in Austria to force the casino pay out the ‘win’. Gaming operators around the world are watching worriedly to see the outcome. While this is believed to be the biggest claim of its kind in the world there have been reports of similar winning cases of this nature. Even a partial win in this case could easily amount to £5 million plus legal costs and could see the costs of operating gambling machines spiral.

Lawyers for Mr Merlaku claim he is entitled to the win as the machine stated he had won. What would have happened if he had got the five symbols and the machine had only stated he had won £20? Would the casino have offered to payout the full amount in this case?

Casinos Austria, which also has casinos worldwide including Glasgow, Australia, Canberra and Cairns, has passed the claim onto the fruit machine manufacturer and is refusing to take any responsibility for the error. They have also claimed that Austrian legislation states that jackpots cannot normally be more than two million euros.

Mr Merlaku’s legal team said: “The slot machine that produced the winning display was immediately accessed by Casinos Austria.

“The regulator, the Austrian Ministry of Finance, has shown no interest in pursuing an orderly investigation as would be the case in well regulated gaming jurisdictions such as the UK, Switzerland, Singapore, the USA, Australia and Macau.”

The case is scheduled to be in court for the initial hearing on 10th January 2012.