Keno winner: 'It feels like a dream'

When a Bribie Island man checked his Keno ticket at his local bowls club and realised he’d won a $326,000 prize, everyone erupted in cheers.

The Queensland player held a Keno Classic 9 Spot winning entry in draw 438, drawn Monday (June 21). His total prize was $326,426.40.

Speaking with a Keno official this morning, the winner said: “I was that excited last night! I have been playing for years and I have never won anything like this.

'I wasn't watching'

“When the draw was happening, I was up getting a beer, so I wasn’t watching it. But then I glimpsed up at the screen and saw I had a few numbers.

“My ticket was sitting on the table, so I asked my friend to check to see how many numbers I had.

“At first, he thought I had eight numbers but then he realised it was nine and he screamed out to me, ‘you’ve won the 9 Spot prize!’.

Everyone cheered

“Everyone in the venue started looking at me and then they started cheering. It hasn’t sunk in! It feels like a dream! I am still shaking right now.”

When asked how he planned to enjoy his Keno fun money, the winner said it made things a little easier.

“We’ve only got a small house, so we are going to upgrade and get something a little bigger,” he says. “I will share some with my kids as well and go on a bit of a holiday.”

Fantastic news

The winning entry was bought at Bribie Island Bowls Club, 23/11 Welsby Pde, Bongaree. Marketing coordinator Leigh Dennis said the team sent their congratulations to their regular patron.

“It’s fantastic news,” she said. “We have so many regulars that really love Keno, so it’s great we’ve had a major win.

“The winner is lovely and a long-time member, so we couldn’t be happier for him. It was such a great atmosphere when the win happened and everyone was cheering!”

Winners

In 2020, Keno players across the eastern states of mainland Australia celebrated more than 59.9 million wins collectively worth more than $840.6 million.

During this time, Keno crowned 19 millionaires and multi-millionaires who collectively took home more than $42.3 million. Eight of these major winners were Queenslanders, including a Gold Coast man who won a Keno Classic 10 Spot prize of more than $2.02 million.

Queenslanders enjoyed more than 18.59 million Keno wins totalling more than $264.42 million at pubs and clubs across the state in 2020.

Keno players can also enter into the monthly second chance draw for the chance to win one of five $1,000 prizes by scanning their ticket at win.secondchance.keno.com.au <https://win.secondchance.keno.com.au/> .