A Tweed Heads family had the surprise of their life after a last-minute decision to ditch dinner and dine out turned into a night of pure excitement after their very first game of Keno landed them a $400,000 bounty.
The New South Wales residents scored the Keno Mega Millions 8 Spot winning entry in draw 520, drawn Wednesday 11 September 2024, and took home a total prize of $410,939.50.
Sharing their excitement with an official from Keno this morning, the winning husband revealed the dreamy win had come after a long day at work.
“Honestly, it still hasn’t sunk in! It was a dream last night!” the hardworking father cheered.
“I had a massive day at work, probably the hardest workday all year, so I said to my wife, ‘Let’s not worry about dinner. Let’s go out to eat.’.
“We’d never played Keno before. I had no idea how to play. I even had to ask the workers what to do.
“We only put on three games because we didn’t want to be looking at the screen all night.
“We missed the first game and the next two weren’t winners, so we didn’t think we’d won anything.
“As we were finishing our meals, someone in the venue said there was a winner. Everyone was buzzing with excitement wondering who had won.
“As I went to check the ticket, I thought it could be us, but I was trying not to get too excited. Then the workers confirmed it, and I was just on another planet! It was an absolute dream.
“My wife was going crazy, jumping and screaming. I wish I had videoed it!”
When asked how he planned to use his newfound fortune, the winning man shared he was too stunned to think of any immediate decisions but said he would make ‘wise decisions’.
“Honestly, we’re not sure yet!” he said.
“We’ll definitely have a big think about it. We want to use it as wisely as possible.
“A bit of it will go to any bills we have and then there will be a lot left over to play and plan with.”
The winning entry was purchased from South Tweed Sports Club, 4 Minjungbal Drive, Tweed Heads.
South Tweed Sports Club Keno operations manager Ben Gonzalez said the team was thrilled to have sold a major winning Keno entry.
“We’re over the moon. We haven’t had a big win like this for years,” he said.
“It’s great news for our little club and the community. We’re all super pumped!
“The team and customers alike are all talking about it, wondering who the fortunate winner is.
“Congratulations to the lucky player! We wish you all the best with your prize.”
In FY24, Keno players across the eastern states of mainland Australia celebrated more than 78.5 million wins collectively worth more than $1.16 billion.
During this time, Keno crowned 18 millionaires and multi-millionaires who collectively took home more than $46.7 million. Eight of these major winners were from New South Wales and the ACT, including a Shelly Beach dad who scored a $5.92 million windfall.
Players in New South Wales and the ACT enjoyed more than 40.3 million Keno wins totalling more than $588.5 million across the region in FY24.