To celebrate the upcoming Year of the Rabbit and boost sales, Taiwan Lottery Co is to add NT$900 million (US$29.6 million) in prize money to the jackpots of several lotteries.
Taiwan Lottery board member and company spokesperson Huang Chih-yi (黃志宜) and actress Vivian Sung (宋芸樺), who has appeared in television advertisements promoting the Lunar New Year holiday sales campaign, introduced the increased prize money at a news conference on Thursday.
The amount available would be the highest in six years, with major lotteries such as the Lotto 6/49, the Super Lotto and BINGO BINGO boasting much larger jackpots, Huang said.
Photo: CNA
The additional prize money for Lotto 6/49, which is the most popular lottery run by Taiwan Lottery, would be distributed in two parts according to the standard practice, Huang said.
The first part would be through a daily draw held by Lotto 6/49 for 17 consecutive days from Friday next week to Feb. 5, the longest period of daily draws in the lottery’s history, surpassing the 15 daily draws held over the 2021 Lunar New Year.
The Lotto 6/49, which requires ticket buyers to pick the correct six numbers from a total of 49 numbers to win the top prize, is usually held every Tuesday and Friday.
The second part would be through special 360 draws held from Friday next week to Feb. 5, Huang said.
For the special draws, buyers pick six numbers, and nine winning numbers would be drawn, Huang said, adding that those who have any six of the nine winning numbers would win NT$1 million or share the prize money with other buyers who also have six winning numbers.
As for the Super Lotto, ticket holders must have six winning numbers drawn from 38 numbers in the first set, and one winning number out of eight numbers in a second set to win the top prize, he said.
If the accumulated lottery jackpot for the top prize falls below NT$300 million, Taiwan Lottery would add NT$200 million to the jackpot from Monday next week to March 16, Huang said.
Taiwan Lottery would also add prize money for BINGO BINGO, in which lottery ticket buyers bet on a big or a small number, an odd number or an even number in the tickets, Huang added.
Taiwan Lottery also unveiled seven new lottery scratch cards designed for the Lunar New Year, including the NT$12 million Big Fortune, which sell for NT$1,000 each, with a top prize of NT$12 million.
The winning rate for the NT$12 million Big Fortune would be about 70 percent this year if all cards are sold, which is about the same as last year.
The seven new lottery scratch cards, which would be on sale until July 12, have more than NT$10.8 billion in aggregate jackpots and a total of 18.78 million prizes, Taiwan Lottery said.
As concerns over COVID-19 infections fell in the second half of last year and Taiwan Lottery boosted its marketing efforts, the company generated NT$133.1 billion in sales last year, the second-highest in its history, Huang said.
Last year, revenue posted by computerized lotteries such as the Lotto 6/49 and the Super Lotto fell 4.3 percent from a year earlier to NT$64.4 billion, while sales generated by lottery scratch cards grew 6.7 percent to NT$68.7 billion, he added.
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) today issued a sea warning for Typhoon Fung-wong effective from 5:30pm, while local governments canceled school and work for tomorrow. A land warning is expected to be issued tomorrow morning before it is expected to make landfall on Wednesday, the agency said. Taoyuan, and well as Yilan, Hualien and Penghu counties canceled work and school for tomorrow, as well as mountainous district of Taipei and New Taipei City. For updated information on closures, please visit the Directorate-General of Personnel Administration Web site. As of 5pm today, Fung-wong was about 490km south-southwest of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan's southernmost point.
Tropical Storm Fung-Wong would likely strengthen into a typhoon later today as it continues moving westward across the Pacific before heading in Taiwan’s direction next week, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. As of 8am, Fung-Wong was about 2,190km east-southeast of Cape Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, moving westward at 25kph and possibly accelerating to 31kph, CWA data showed. The tropical storm is currently over waters east of the Philippines and still far from Taiwan, CWA forecaster Tseng Chao-cheng (曾昭誠) said, adding that it could likely strengthen into a typhoon later in the day. It is forecast to reach the South China Sea
Almost a quarter of volunteer soldiers who signed up from 2021 to last year have sought early discharge, the Legislative Yuan’s Budget Center said in a report. The report said that 12,884 of 52,674 people who volunteered in the period had sought an early exit from the military, returning NT$895.96 million (US$28.86 million) to the government. In 2021, there was a 105.34 percent rise in the volunteer recruitment rate, but the number has steadily declined since then, missing recruitment targets, the Chinese-language United Daily News said, citing the report. In 2021, only 521 volunteers dropped out of the military, the report said, citing
Nearly 5 million people have signed up to receive the government’s NT$10,000 (US$322) universal cash handout since registration opened on Wednesday last week, with deposits expected to begin tomorrow, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. After a staggered sign-up last week — based on the final digit of the applicant’s national ID or Alien Resident Certificate number — online registration is open to all eligible Taiwanese nationals, foreign permanent residents and spouses of Taiwanese nationals. Banks are expected to start issuing deposits from 6pm today, the ministry said. Those who completed registration by yesterday are expected to receive their NT$10,000 tomorrow, National Treasury
RSS