It took only one scratch for Amelito Gozun to win Dh100,000 on a Big Shot football ticket this month.
“It’s my first time to win anything here in the UAE,” said the 46-year-old Filipino father of three. “I can’t say it will totally change my life. Whether it’s a small or a big amount, I’m still happy to have won.”
Mr Gozun, originally from Arayat, Pampanga, about 65 kilometres north of Manila, has three daughters aged 22, 18 and 14. He has worked as an electrical engineer at an oil and gas company in Habshan since March 2011, earning Dh32,000 a month.
He said he plans to set aside the prize money for his middle daughter, who wants to go to medical school after she earns a medical technology degree and passes her board exams.
The winning ticket was scratched at the Big Shot sales kiosk in Khalidiyah Mall on January 18.
“Amelito was just so excited. He couldn’t believe he had won and just kept asking ‘Is this real? Is this real?’,” said Lorielyn Gamido, a Big Shot sales representative. “It’s so great to see the prize go to someone who will use it to help their family.”
Big Shot offers six different promotional games on its tickets including Go Yellow, Go Red, Mascot Mania, Fortune Fields and 3-in-a-Row. Each game involves a different way to win instant cash with different top prize values ranging from Dh10,000 up to Dh100,000.
Mr Gozun played the Go Yellow game, where players take the role of the yellow team and must score higher than the Blue team on any horizontal line. He played a high scoring match and came out on top with a 9 v 8 victory to the Yellow team, to win the Dh100,000 instant cash prize.
"We are delighted to see such a great prize to be given out to a Filipino," said Big Shot chief executive Mike Brightmore.
"This now makes up over Dh5?million in prizes that we have given away to people like Amelito in order to achieve their dreams while boosting the reputation of football in the UAE."
Big Shot sells promotional football tickets for Etisalat Pro League teams Al Nasr and Baniyas.
Each ticket includes an instant Scratch & Win promotion with a top prize of Dh100,000.
Big Shot tickets are priced at Dh25 and Dh40, and are available in major malls across the country.
