Two Crescent Head neighbours say they’re still floating on cloud nine, as they try to come to terms with the fact they’re both suddenly Keno multi-millionaires despite playing the game only a handful of times.
The overwhelmed pair held a Keno Mega Millions 10 Spot winning entry in draw 584, drawn Friday 9 April 2021, and take home $5,852,438.50.
Confirming their life-changing win with an official from Keno this morning, one of the winners explained how the overwhelming prize came to be.
“It’s amazing, huh?!” she laughed.
“I’m still floating on cloud nine and completely overwhelmed.
“It’s such an adrenaline rush, like sky diving!
“My neighbour and I are sharing the prize; we won together!
“A few weeks ago, we decided to start playing Keno.
“We picked five numbers each and when we are feeling lucky we put an entry on. We have played maybe four times in total.
“On Friday night, I decided to replay a ticket I already had while I was out for dinner.
“When I saw someone in the venue had won this huge prize, I checked the ticket and was prompted to go to the operator.
“I immediately started bawling my eyes out when they told me it was me!
“I was shaking. It was so surreal.
“I had to call my friend and tell her to get down to the club straight away!”
With $5.8 million to be shared by the friends, one of the winning neighbours explained things were about to change for both of them in the best way imaginable.
“This is incredibly life-changing for both of us,” she explained.
“We’re both going to buy ourselves a house.
“We will both keep working for now, but this just makes our lives so much easier.
“I need to go to the dentist! I will do that.
“I always wanted to travel around the world so I will definitely do that when I can.
“But for now I will go to Uluru. It’s very exciting!”
The winners, who wish to remain anonymous, purchased their multi-million-dollar winning entry at Crescent Head Country Club, 1 Rankine Street, Crescent Head.
Crescent Head Country Club secretary manager Colan Ryan said the win was fantastic news for the local community.
“In the past year, so many people have been doing it tough around here, especially with the recent floods,” he explained.
“This good news is most welcome by the community. What a life-changing win for our patrons!
“The atmosphere in the venue was exciting and electric when the win occurred. There was certainly a buzz.
“Congratulations to our winners! We hope they really enjoy their prize.”
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. Nine of these major winners were from New South Wales and the ACT, including a Newcastle woman who was stunned to pocket a Keno Mega Millions 10 Spot prize of more than $5.4 million.
Players in New South Wales and the ACT enjoyed more than 25.3 million Keno wins totalling more than $393.2 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.