LARO77 Loan Shark Warning: Borrowed Money Is the Worst Bankroll
A loan shark is a moneylender who charges extremely high interest, typically under illegal conditions.
Key facts and contents
- LARO77 Account Closure
- Withdraw or note your balance, settle open offers under their terms, send the closure request in writing through Customer Service, ask for written confirmation, then remove saved passwords and add a blocker.
- LARO77 Hopeline
- Hopeline is the crisis line of the Natasha Goulbourn Foundation.
- LARO77 Lucky Streak
- A lucky streak is a run of wins that randomness produces now and then.
- LARO77 Net Loss
- Net loss is total staked minus total returned over a period, or deposits minus withdrawals minus the balance left.
- LARO77 Parental Controls
- Set parental controls in three layers: block gambling sites in the child's browser (Family Link or Screen Time), require your approval for every purchase (Google Play approvals or Ask to Buy), and lock your own wallet.
- LARO77 Problem Gambler
- A problem gambler is, in PAGCOR's Code of Practice, someone affected by gambling to the point of no longer having normal control or rational judgment.
- LARO77 Site Blocker Setup for Your Phone and Computer
- Set up a site blocker by adding a dedicated gambling blocker on every phone, tablet and computer you use, locking it with a passcode someone else holds, and adding your phone's own Screen Time or Digital Wellbeing limits.
- LARO77 Sugal in English
- Sugal in English is gambling: the Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino dictionary defines it as any of the games with a stake, and as taking a risk for a person or thing.
A loan shark is a lender who charges extremely high interest, usually outside the law, and a player who borrows to fund play pays that interest on top of the casino’s built-in edge. This page shows the arithmetic, the law texts that apply and the steps to take if you already owe. It is part of the cluster that starts at this site’s problem gambler pillar, where borrowing to play is one of the listed signs.
What a loan shark is
PAGCOR’s Responsible Gaming Code of Practice 6.0 defines a “Financier/Loan Shark” as “a moneylender who charges extremely high rates of interest, typically under illegal conditions”. PAGCOR’s responsible gaming page also says “Financiers/loan sharks and the like are prohibited from roaming in the casino/gaming premises and offering loans to players.” The Code treats the lender as a problem for players, not only for the borrower.
The table sets out the lender types you might meet and what Republic Act 9474, the Lending Company Regulation Act of 2007, says about each.
| Lender type | What RA 9474 says | What you should check |
|---|---|---|
| A lending company | Section 3(a): “a corporation engaged in granting loans from its own capital funds or from funds sourced from not more than nineteen (19) persons” | Ask for its SEC authority to operate |
| An unregistered lender | Section 4: “No lending company shall conduct business unless granted an authority to operate by the SEC.” | Ask who registered it before you borrow or pay |
| An individual lender | Section 4: lending companies may be established “only as a corporation” | Ask which company the loan runs through and for its authority to operate |
| A bank or similar institution | Section 3(a): the term does not include “banking institutions” and other credit institutions regulated by law | Ask which regulator supervises it |
Section 12 sets a fine “of not less than Ten Thousand Pesos (P10,000.00) and not more than Fifty thousand pesos(P50,000.00) or imprisonment of not less than six months but not more than ten (10) years or both” on “Any person who shall engage in the business of a lending company without a validly subsisting authority to operate from the SEC.” The SEC is the registrar of lending companies under this Act; take any advisory from the SEC’s own site, not from a reseller.
5-6 lending: the arithmetic
5-6 lending is an informal loan where you borrow 5 and repay 6 at the end of the period. The interest is 1 on a loan of 5, so the rate for the period is:
1 ÷ 5 = 0.20 = 20% per period
The period decides everything. The working below uses ₱5,000 borrowed and ₱6,000 repaid.
| Example | Working | Result |
|---|---|---|
| One period | ₱6,000 − ₱5,000 = ₱1,000; ₱1,000 ÷ ₱5,000 | 20% for the period |
| Monthly period, simple interest, 12 months | 20% × 12 = 240%; ₱1,000 × 12 = ₱12,000 on ₱5,000 | 240% a year |
| Monthly period, rolled over each month (compounding) | ₱5,000 × 1.20 × 1.20 … for 12 months = ₱5,000 × 8.916 | about ₱44,580 owed, about 792% interest |
Example labels: the first two rows assume you pay ₱1,000 every month and the loan stays at ₱5,000. The third row assumes you repay nothing until month 12 and each month’s total becomes the next month’s loan. These are worked examples with round numbers, not any lender’s rate.
Republic Act 9474 Section 7 lets a lending company charge “reasonable interest rates and charges as may be agreed” and requires the agreement to comply with the Truth in Lending Act and the Consumer Act. A rate you cannot read in a signed agreement is a warning in itself.
Why borrowed money is the worst bankroll
Every casino game carries a house edge. The house edge is the share of each stake the game keeps over time, as what the house edge means for a stake sets out, and it applies whether you play with your own money or a lender’s. Borrowed money adds the lender’s interest, and the interest comes due even if you win nothing.
This labelled example uses the glossary’s 4% edge on ₱5,000 of turnover, which is a worked example and not a figure for any game:
| Step | Amount |
|---|---|
| Borrowed at 5-6 | ₱5,000 |
| Owed at the end of the period | ₱6,000 |
| Expected loss from a 4% house edge on ₱5,000 of turnover | ₱200 (so ₱4,800 expected back) |
| Shortfall against the ₱6,000 you owe | ₱1,200 (₱1,000 interest plus ₱200 edge) |
| Return you need on the stake just to break even | 20%, against a game that returns less than you stake |
You start ₱1,000 behind, and the game then takes its share. Two things follow: a win has to be 20% of the stake before it is a win at all, and a losing run leaves you in debt rather than short of spare cash. PAGCOR’s reminder is the plain version: “Never borrow money or use all of your resources for gambling.”
The Gamblers Anonymous 20 questions include “Did you ever borrow to finance your gambling?” as question 10. If your answer is yes, the steps below are for you.
If you already owe: seven steps
- Stop play today. Close the account and add a blocker before you do anything else.
- List every debt. Write the lender, the amount borrowed, the amount owed, the date it is due and the interest you were told.
- Keep every message. Save screenshots, receipts and chat records in one folder.
- Write to the lender. Ask in writing for the amount owed and for the lender’s SEC authority to operate if it calls itself a company.
- Use the complaint channels. Republic Act 11765, the Financial Products and Services Consumer Protection Act, says financial service providers “are prohibited from employing abusive collection or debt recovery practices”, must set up “a single consumer assistance mechanism for free assistance”, and that a consumer unsatisfied with the answer can take the concern to the financial regulator with jurisdiction over that provider. Section 11 of RA 9474 puts lending companies “under the supervision and regulation of the SEC”, so take the complaint steps from the SEC’s own site. For a bank or other BSP-supervised provider, the Bangko Sentral’s consumer assistance page lists
consumeraffairs@bsp.gov.phand a direct line, (02) 5306-2584. - Tell someone. Give the list to a person you trust; a family member can also hold your device passcodes, as the parental controls page shows for shared devices.
- Call a help line. Hopeline and the other Philippine help lines take calls about gambling and money pressure.
If a lender threatens you or your family, contact your local police.
Keep the debt from growing
Debt grows between steps, so shorten the gap. Use this checklist each week until the list is empty:
- Pay what you can on the date you promised, in a way you can prove.
- Do not roll the loan into a new one.
- Update the debt list with the new balance.
- Keep play off the table: responsible play on LARO77 is the short list of limits to set before you ever return.
FAQ
What is a loan shark?
PAGCOR's Responsible Gaming Code of Practice defines a Financier/Loan Shark as a moneylender who charges extremely high rates of interest, typically under illegal conditions. Republic Act 9474 says no lending company shall conduct business unless the SEC grants it an authority to operate.
How much interest is 5-6 lending?
Borrow 5, repay 6 is 1 in interest on 5, which is 20% for the period. If the period is a month, 12 months of 20% is 240% a year simple interest.
Pwede bang magsugal gamit ang utang?
PAGCOR's reminders say never borrow money or use all of your resources for gambling. Kapag utang ang ipinangsugal mo, may interes ka na bago pa ang house edge.
What do I do if a lender threatens or harasses me?
Republic Act 11765 says financial service providers are prohibited from employing abusive collection or debt recovery practices against their financial consumers. Keep every message, write to the lender and use the complaint channels named on this page.