Mark Courtney put a £60 bet on a virtual horse race in a betting shop near his Cumbria home with just seconds to go.
But when his horse was first past the post, shop bosses denied him his £390 plus £60 bet in winnings.
“The whole thing is just a big farce,” Mark exclusively told Daily Star Online. “The money could have come in really handy for me.
“It is a lot of money after all. It is hard enough getting a winner but then they don’t pay out.”
After looking at Mark’s case, Betfred officials claim he did not place his bet in time.
A Betfred spokesman said: “There is plenty of warning when a virtual race is about to be shown.
“This case has been looked at very closely.
“Every effort is always made to get bets on in time and be honoured but this bet was placed too long after the ‘no more bets’ signal had been displayed on screen.
“The onus is always on the customer to place the bet in time.”
Mark, 46, who is regular customer at the Betfred in Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, accused the shop worker of being “lackadaisical”.
“She still took my bet and as she put it through the scanner the race went off,” he added.
When he returned to collect his winnings he was told flatly he had placed his bet too late.
He added: “This has happened previously in Corals and Ladbrokes – where they have used their discretion, called the area manager and asked if I was regular customer and they have actually paid out.
“Here they have not paid out.”I bet he put his tax return in at 1 minute to midnight 
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