New 'Super Red Envelope' scratch card offers NT$20 million top prize

Taipei, Jan. 3 (CNA) Taiwan Lottery Co. unveiled on Friday its annual "Super Red Envelope" (2,000萬超級紅包), the most popular Lunar New Year scratch card, which this year will have the highest prize of any scratch card at NT$20 million (US$606,990).

Taiwan Lottery President Hsieh Chih-hung (謝志宏) said at a press conference that the Super Red Envelope cards, marking the upcoming Year of the Snake, will be sold for NT$2,000 each. There are 10 top prizes, the most in the lottery's history, he said.

In addition to the NT$20 million prize, scratch card buyers will also have a chance to win one of the 1,200 NT$1 million prizes, the second-highest amount, Hsieh said.

Accompanied by pop singer Crowd Lu (盧廣仲), who will appear in TV ads promoting the Lunar New Year scratch cards, Hsieh said more than NT$17.2 billion was up for grabs from the Super Red Envelope cards, the most ever.

In the past, the second prize was NT$2 million in cash plus an SUV, but a survey found that people preferred receiving cash, and therefore Taiwan Lottery decided to up the number of cash prizes, Hsieh said.

A total of 69.33 percent of participants will win something, according to Hsieh.

Taiwan Lottery has also introduced five other scratch cards for the Lunar New Year lottery, all of which also went on sale Friday even though the Year of the Snake does not begin until Jan. 29, according to the lottery company.

Hsieh said the "Golden Snake Awards" (金蛇獎) scratch card will cost NT$500 each and offer 13 top prizes of NT$3 million. Every purchaser is guaranteed to win something.

Meanwhile, "A Handful of Banknotes" (鈔票一把抓) will cost NT$300 each and there are eight top prizes worth NT$3 million, with 37 percent of those who buy one winning something, Hsieh said.

He added the NT$200 "New Year Market" card will have six top prizes of NT$2 million and that a third of those who purchase one will win something.

Hsieh said the prizes from the six scratch cards are worth over NT$23.8 billion in total -- the highest ever.