Fourteen people shared a record NT$600 million jackpot yesterday, the highest ever for Taiwan's computerized lottery.
The winning numbers were 03, 16, 17, 29, 34 and 37 -- with the bonus ball number 33.
Despite their good fortune in each getting NT$42.78 million, some of the winners were disappointed that the top prize was to split so many ways.
There were 38 winners of the second prize, who are to share NT$95.8 million, giving them NT$2.52 million each.
Encouraged by Tuesday's fat jackpot, eager buyers queued at lotto booths across the nation from early yesterday morning. According to TaipeiBank, which administers the lottery, a total of NT$1.85 billion-worth of lottery tickets were sold for last night's draw with a total prize pool of NT$1.03 billion.
By 10am the jackpot had already exceeded NT$160 million. Throughout the day lottery retailers happily predicted the jackpot could be as much as NT$700 million.
One man spent NT$105,000 on the NT$50 tickets at a lotto booth in Taipei's Wanhua District.
Long queues appeared at a lotto booth in Taipei's Shihlin District, where a winner of Tuesday's jackpot bought his tickets. One buyer spent NT$40,000 at the booth.
The booth, celebrating its good luck in Tuesday's jackpot, prepared 1,700 pieces of fried chicken for its customers.
Another lotto booth in Shihlin drew a woman who spent NT$30,000 on tickets. She said her colleagues gave her the money and that if she won the jackpot, she would have to share the prize with them.
The woman and her colleagues said they had had considerable success in the lottery.
"We are so lucky. We have won the second prize two times and earned millions altogether," she said.
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