Lottery spawns dreams of millions

Taiwanese dreams of becoming an overnight millionaire are drawing closer as Taipei Bank (台北銀行) opened its numbers lottery-drawing center at a local TV station yesterday.

The center -- located at Power Television's station (中天電視) -- will air live broadcasts of the winning number drawing in the yet-to-be-launched government lottery.

"The lucky number drawing process will be made absolutely open, fair and trustworthy," the bank's President Jesse Ding (丁予康) said yesterday at a dress rehearsal of a twice-weekly live show to draw six numbers for the top-prize of NT$50 million.

The jackpot for the NT$50 computerized tickets will accumulate to a maximum of NT$250 million should no winner claim the prizes after five consecutive drawings.

Ding said that the chances of winning the top-prize are 2 billion to one.

Hoping to capitalize on the Taiwanese penchant for gambling, the bank is expected to launch a daily "mini lotto" by the middle of next year, where by picking five winning numbers among 31 every weekday, players get a shot at winning NT$1 million.

"We'll consider the proper timing for the introduction of the `jumbo lotto' next year," he said. The jumbo lotto will allow betters to pick six out of 49 numbers where the accumulative jackpot could be up to NT$1 billion.

Potential betters yesterday were upbeat on the lottery.

"I'd like to give it a try. I heard that a lot of Americans became millionaires overnight just like that," said 18-year-old student Allen Liu (劉書豪). He's just above the minimum age limit allowed for the purchase of lottery tickets.

"For Taiwanese, gambling is in their nature. The more money offered for the top prize, the more they are interested in the game," said Yang Wei-yu (楊維譽), a fe,ale bus driver. She said that having no ceiling on the accumulative jackpot would be even better.

Though excited, others question whether they will support the state-run lottery, saying they feared lady luck would not shine on them.

"I just don't have the luck. I've never won any money from [the lottery-like] convenience-store receipts' (統一發票)," a housewife said.

Another skeptic also said that the chances of winning the top prize are minimal.

"But I may buy a ticket, because it's so cheap," a white-collar gentleman surnamed Lin (林) said.

At yesterday's drawing rehearsal, the million-dollar-number drawing machines -- Super Bingo and Gem, made by US-based Smartplay Co -- were demonstrated to an excited crowd from the media.

"With a lottery ticket in your pocket, it's like you are about to grab a million hopes," the drawing show's host Dennis Nieh (聶雲) said yesterday.

"And the lottery may help winners to live happily ever after," said Richard Yang (楊瑞東), a manager at Taipei Bank.

The lottery drawing show will be aired at 7:55pm on Tuesdays and Fridays starting from Jan. 18, while the lottery is scheduled to go on sale from Jan. 10 in thousands of retail locations, including gas stations, banks and video stores.