To celebrate the upcoming Year of the Rabbit and boost sales, Taiwan Lottery Co. will add NT$900 million (US$29.61 million) in prize money to the jackpots of several lotteries.
At a news conference held on Thursday, accompanied by actress Vivian Sung (???), who appears in TV ads promoting the New Year holiday sales campaign, Taiwan Lottery board member and company spokesperson Huang Chih-yi (???) introduced the increased prize money.
The amount available will be the highest for six years, with major lotteries such as the Lotto 6/49, the Super Lotto, and BINGO BINGO boasting much larger jackpots, he added
As for Lotto 6/49, the most popular lottery provided by Taiwan Lottery, Huang said the additional prize money will be distributed in two parts as has been standard practice in recent years.
The first part will be through a daily draw held by Lotto 6/49 for 17 consecutive days from Jan. 20 to Feb. 5, the longest period a daily draw has been held in the lottery’s history, surpassing the 15 daily draws in a row held during the 2021 Lunar New Year.
The Lotto 6/49, in which lottery ticket buyers have to pick the correct six numbers drawn from a total of 49 numbers to win the top prize, is usually held every Tuesday and Friday.
The second part will be through special 360 draws held from Jan. 20-Feb. 5, according to Huang.
For the special draws, buyers pick six numbers, while there are nine winning numbers drawn, Huang said, adding that those who have any six of the nine winning numbers will 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.
If the accumulated lottery jackpot for the top prize falls below NT$300 million, Taiwan Lottery will add NT$200 million to the jackpot one time during the Jan. 16-March 16 period, Huang said.
Taiwan Lottery will also add prize money for BINGO BINGO, where 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 on Thursday seven new lottery scratch cards designed for the Lunar New Year, including the “NT$12 million Big Fortune (1200????), 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 will be about 70 percent this year if all cards are sold, roughly the same as last year.
The seven new lottery scratch cards, which are on sale from Jan. 12-July 12, have more than NT$10.8 billion in aggregate jackpots and a total of 18.78 million prizes, according to Taiwan Lottery.
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 in 2022, 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.
Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel