8 Bettors file complaints over nearly $46.8M in unpaid winnings

[Shinpako09]

An online betting company here in PH refuses to pay their winnings. The audacity of these local companies. They only want to take profit. They will use system glitch as an excuse so they will avoid paying. You can lose a lot, but you will have a hard time getting your winnings, most especially if it's already big. As a person who lives here and knows their practices, this is the reason why I don't trust them and prefer playing in casinos advertised here in the forum.

Even if the trial hasn't started, I already know the outcome. Even if they manage to win the case, they will probably get less, or worse, they will lose, which is not impossible considering how they do things here. They will get nothing at all, and they just put their lives at risk.

Well, for them, it's cheaper to pay someone and do an inside job than to pay back all the bettors.

[Botnake]

I think you are talking about ArenaPlus and BingoPlus here that are both under DigiPlus Interactive Corp. that has gained license from PAGCOR.

Based on my research, one of its complainants even won nearly $9m through "lucky spin" in ArenaPlus. However, the betting company refused to pay the bettor because of the said "system glitch" or system malfunction during the time the bettor wins. But instead, he was forced to sign a waiver that automatically remove his right to claim the jackpot prize and instead offered a small financial assistance with an amount of only $4700.

The case is not just all about of these betting companies who are cheating their players, but it will also ruin the credibility of PAGCOR as they fail to protect the rights of every Filipino player towards responsible gaming.

[Cointxz]

It’s funny how PAGCOR should be the one protecting players against operators but right now they are the one being complaint together with the operators due to possible collusion on the prayers case.

This brought to you by freaking Marcos administration that all government agencies are very greedy to get their own racket. 

I doubt they can win against PAGCOR considering that court can be paid too while the amount involved is very huge. The best thing they can get is to settle on a lower amount or wait until the next admin hoping better leadership.

[Ziskinberg]

What can you expect from this corrupt government, for all we know these operators could be in connivance with government officials so gamblers are not really protected here.

They'll be happy if you keep losing but when you win big they will make an excuse that it's a bug and then you complain to PAGCOR and they might make a judgment in favor of the casinos without even looking into the case. So you bring your case to court and they could bribe the lawyers, your case could even reach the Supreme Court at most, it might take 20 years before it's decided, you might already be dead by then.

[LogitechMouse]

---
As a person who lives here and knows their practices, this is the reason why I don't trust them and prefer playing in casinos advertised here in the forum.

Even if the trial hasn't started, I already know the outcome. Even if they manage to win the case, they will probably get less, or worse, they will lose, which is not impossible considering how they do things here. They will get nothing at all, and they just put their lives at risk.

This is also the reason why I don't like playing at those local regulated casinos out there.
If you lose, they're happy. If you win the jackpot, they'll say it's a SYSTEM GLITCH.

Can we also say that, "WE LOSE OUR MONEY BECAUSE OF A SYSTEM GLITCH, AND WE WANT OUR MONEY BACK."? It's very laughable to see them using that "glitch" thing as their reason why they don't want the bettor to pay, and they'd rather just want to settle it with a lesser amount of money since they know that the bettor isn't capable of spending huge amounts of money on the court while they can. Unfortunately, this is also one reason why the bettor will just agree to settle it with just a much, much lesser amount of the supposed money that they won.

I don't want to include our current administration on this one even know they're corrupted officials. What I just want to say is that, if you're living in PH, avoid these gambling websites as much as possible.

[Bitcoin.com97]

This is really sad , they always wish for people to lose ,and when someone finally win they start making excuses not to pay them there money , I could remember few years ago ,when about 5 persons won a maximum amount on the bet app, immediately they began to face glitch and that resulted to so much dragging on Twitter, it was a serious case ,the winners where willing to take the case to another level ,that is how they finally paid them and took over a week or more ,they shouldn't be doing that to people, big wins always scare them , but they want people to bet with them and keep losing there money , gambling is a game of luck ,why such attitude when luck shines on someone.

[Japinat]

Player protection or casino protection?

isn't it the regulators who are there to protect gamblers, but in this case it seems the casinos are the ones being protected. it's acceptable if it only happened once but this case was experienced by several people so it's hard to believe this was just a system glitch. If there's nothing we can do with these local casinos, then better bring the action to crypto casinos that may not promote player protection but their reputation is too big for them to risk not paying.

[coinrifft]

Yes, I saw this news in my feed as well, damn, 5 billion pesos as they seek the help of NBI (National Bureau of Investigation).

But as what we know, corruption is rampant in our country and so there are powerful people that are going to protect the interest of the casinos so I doubt that someone will be going to jail or if the winnings are going to be paid by the allege casinos.

And then I was just thinking, maybe there will be a Senate hearing about this case, but still nothing will result in a positive development for the winners. Everything is for the clout of this congressman or senators.

[crwth]

Definitely a problematic outcome for something that should be worth paying for; proving they have evidence is key.

Not just random screenshots, but actual results that can and should be verified in their system to prove it is a glitch, or that it's been manipulated or something. Logs could help as well. Because if it's a real glitch and they can prove it, I think they would actually lose the case.

In the Philippines, PAGCOR can act on winning disputes.
https://support.pagcor.ph/contact-us.php

I'm not sure how effective it is, though, knowing it's a country of corrupt officials   

[Elainebue]

this is why payout reputation matters so much in online gambling, people care more about getting their winnings than flashy promos

[Don Pedro Dinero]

An online betting company here in PH refuses to pay their winnings. The audacity of these local companies. They only want to take profit. They will use system glitch as an excuse so they will avoid paying.

Wasn’t there a thread about this exact same issue not long ago?

Player protection or casino protection?

It's more like casino protection, lol.

isn't it the regulators who are there to protect gamblers, but in this case it seems the casinos are the ones being protected. it's acceptable if it only happened once but this case was experienced by several people so it's hard to believe this was just a system glitch.

That wouldn’t happen with a European regulatory body. Blaming it on a glitch wouldn’t cut it. As the casino, you’re responsible for ensuring everything runs smoothly; if you lose money because of a glitch or whatever, that’s your problem.

[Outhue]

This is becoming a thing in the PH and I really want to ask what the PH law makers are doing, all this while they could have used some casinos to make good examples, turned against them and make them pay big time, it's becoming a normal thing in that country for them to deny gamblers win and blame it on a glitch, are there anyone alive in that country?

[Juse14]

What can you expect from this corrupt government, for all we know these operators could be in connivance with government officials so gamblers are not really protected here.

They'll be happy if you keep losing but when you win big they will make an excuse that it's a bug and then you complain to PAGCOR and they might make a judgment in favor of the casinos without even looking into the case. So you bring your case to court and they could bribe the lawyers, your case could even reach the Supreme Court at most, it might take 20 years before it's decided, you might already be dead by then.

It is not strange that corruption occurs in it, there is still the possibility that operators and the government are close friends so that when there are problems related to winning large amounts of players, they will continue to quibble.

But I think it would be unfair if they did not take the side of the player who has already proven that it is a legitimate victory, while I myself do not know what happened there including PAGCOR handled the case, has anyone previously succeeded?

You as its citizens do you see this PAGCOR will be fair?

[swogerino]

That happens in corrupted countries and PH is at a high level same as where I live except at where I live if a user or group of users are found to have won the casino usually pays as they fear for their own life, the owners. Here in the Balkans people like to take their duties to their hands if something goes wrong and before when someone refused to pay they have paid with their own life. People get mad here that they hire a hitman just to kill the person or the head of the group that made the decision to not pay. If people at your country start taking matters in their hands like here then all casinos will start to pay.

[Maslate]

This is becoming a thing in the PH and I really want to ask what the PH law makers are doing, all this while they could have used some casinos to make good examples, turned against them and make them pay big time, it's becoming a normal thing in that country for them to deny gamblers win and blame it on a glitch, are there anyone alive in that country?

You can't expect the lawmakers to be fair as they are among the most corrupt in the country.

This is the evidence, the Supreme Court just recently released a judgment declaring portions of the General Appropriations Acts (GAA) unconstitutional, involving a total of ₱467.49 billion or approximately $7.34 billion.

Supreme Court Voids Congressional Increases in 2024 and 2025 Budgets

The Supreme Court (SC) declared as unconstitutional, first, the 2024 General Appropriations Act (GAA) because of Congress’s increase of the unprogrammed appropriations by PHP 449.5 billion, which resulted in an increase in the president’s total recommended appropriations, second, Special Provisions 1(a) and (b), Chapter XLIII of the 2026 GAA and third, the 2025 GAA because of Congress’s increase of the Special Road Fund by PHP 17.99 billion, which also resulted in an increase in the president’s total recommended appropriations

[Sanitough]

Wasn’t there a thread about this exact same issue not long ago?

There were already threads about this ₱397M Slot Jackpot Declared “System Error” and ArenaPlus PH Denied a Jackpot Prize but those are individual cases and this one is probably the latest which combines the number of gamblers who experienced the same problem. Same reason "system glitch". 

[cryptomaniac_xxx]

Wasn’t there a thread about this exact same issue not long ago?

There were already threads about this ₱397M Slot Jackpot Declared “System Error” and ArenaPlus PH Denied a Jackpot Prize but those are individual cases and this one is probably the latest which combines the number of gamblers who experienced the same problem. Same reason "system glitch". 

Exactly, they might have find a lawyer that might represent them against this online and legal casinos in the Philippines. As the value of those winnings are ballooning, and it's like becoming a norm to the country of having this jackpots being won but not being paid.

But base on the comments, there is rampant corruption, and with that this winners chances might be slim to win the case if casinos can used their influence to sway the decision in their favor and of course with the help of some corrupt authorities.

[Awaklara]

Cases like that will depend on the law enforcement authorities. If bribery can be done by companies and the courts easily favor the company, we know how the law works in that country. 
It is a large amount that is indeed worth fighting for. But we know the risks of facing big companies with money in their hands. Hopefully, there is justice that can truly be upheld for gamblers. They have already lost a lot of money, but when they gain a win, it is made difficult for them.

[AprilioMP]

It’s funny how PAGCOR should be the one protecting players against operators but right now they are the one being complaint together with the operators due to possible collusion on the prayers case.

This brought to you by freaking Marcos administration that all government agencies are very greedy to get their own racket. 

I doubt they can win against PAGCOR considering that court can be paid too while the amount involved is very huge. The best thing they can get is to settle on a lower amount or wait until the next admin hoping better leadership.

In this situation, it could reinforce the cynicism of those who are skeptical of gambling if an entity like PAGCOR does not side with players facing issues—especially when the players’ claims can be proven true. When questioning PAGCOR’s stance, people may conclude that PAGCOR is susceptible to interference by those in power.
Perhaps we can understand it if the problem—which is seen as detrimental to players—is the players’ own fault due to their cheating, but if the players who are in trouble are actually in the right, then trust in organizations like PAGCOR will be completely eroded.

[Africolo]

An online betting company here in PH refuses to pay their winnings. The audacity of these local companies. They only want to take profit. They will use system glitch as an excuse so they will avoid paying. You can lose a lot, but you will have a hard time getting your winnings, most especially if it's already big. As a person who lives here and knows their practices, this is the reason why I don't trust them and prefer playing in casinos advertised here in the forum.

Even if the trial hasn't started, I already know the outcome. Even if they manage to win the case, they will probably get less, or worse, they will lose, which is not impossible considering how they do things here. They will get nothing at all, and they just put their lives at risk.

Well, for them, it's cheaper to pay someone and do an inside job than to pay back all the bettors.

This actually looks like a conspiracy between PAGCOR and the local boards because they are supposed to protect the right of every gambler and settle dispute amidst them but no, you now see them siding the casino board. We all understand that when the gamblers loose it's gives the casinos Joy because they are always happy to see us loose than win. It's absolutely wrong that players will win and they will refused to pay the winners claiming it's network glitch, I think that the new way of scamming gamblers now anytime the local boards or even the online casinos doesn't want to pay winners, they will say it's as a result to network glitches.

Corruption has taken over every sector in the world now and no one knows who to trust anymore, the victims should follow up the case and ensure that they are paid their money because it's now becoming a norm that people will win and not get paid. Most times I doubt if they can get justice because our judiciary is very corrupt and can be bribe easily. I hope PAGCOR gives them the deserving justice.