BIZ BUZZ: No congratulations? Sorry, no jackpot

Biz Buzz got wind of a claim that a certain Fredelindo Pineda won close to P494 million in the Lucky Spin feature of ArenaPlus, one of the platforms of online gaming firm DigiPlus Interactive Corp.

This supposedly happened last March, when Pineda saw the Lucky Spin pointer land on the “Ultimate Jackpot” spot, with the pot amounting to P493,566.074.01.

He immediately took a screenshot of the winning result. However, he did not see the prize money reflected on his account balance.

Pineda pursued his claim through customer support, but was disappointed.

He has since pushed with the help of a lawyer to seek help from the industry regulator—and also industry player—the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor).

This, too, resulted in Pineda’s disappointment.

He now accuses Pagcor of inaction. Meanwhile, he says ArenaPlus is “determined to simply ignore” his claim.

Celeste Jovenir, DigiPlus vice president of investor relations, corporate communications and sustainability, tells BizBuzz that the matter was a problem with the app’s design.

Jovenir says that the point might appear to have landed on a winning spot and the player would think they have won.

“But we have a backend that processes this,” she says.

The backend refers to the server-side of an app that involves the operations that users do not see, but makes operational the frontend—the part that is visible to the user. It handles data storage, logic and user credentials.

“If you won, a message of congratulations would appear. So that claim, it’s not legit,” Jovenir says.

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When asked whether a customer won big time, DigiPlus chair Eusebio Tanco said: “Yeah, you heard about that? Very lucky, right?”

But when told that the winner claimed he did not receive the prize, Tanco appeared confused.

It turns out, he was referring to another player who won P900 million. Jovenir said this happened last June and that the winner was in their 30s.

Not crediting winnings? “We don’t do that!” Tanco exclaimed.

Pineda, however, is definitely not convinced.