A Gympie man was left gobsmacked over the weekend after discovering he'd spent nearly two weeks going about his life as usual, completely unaware that he was holding onto a Keno ticket worth more than $50,000.
The chirpy Queenslander scored the Keno Classic 8 Spot jackpot in draw 995, drawn Wednesday 6 November 2024 and pocketed a total prize of $50,837.10.
When an official from Keno called the winning man, he shared couldn't be more thankful he hadn’t lost his ticket in the meantime.
“It’s pretty unbelievable! I had no idea I’d been walking around with this ticket worth more than $50,000 for almost two weeks,” he said.
“If I play a game of Keno, I usually just check it when I’m in next so that’s why I had no clue. Luckily, I didn’t lose the ticket!
“I was pretty excited. I didn’t even know what to say.
“I usually change up my numbers whenever I play but I think I might start sticking with these.
“It’s going to be a good Christmas bonus!
“I can also put it toward the mortgage. Thank you very much.”
The man’s winning Keno Classic entry was purchased from Phoenix Hotel, 29 Red Hill Road, Gympie.
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. Nine of these major winners were Queenslanders, including a Kallangur man who won $8.45 million after scoring the Keno Classic and Keno Mega Millions 10 Spot jackpots in the one draw.
Queenslanders enjoyed more than 28.5 million Keno wins totalling more than $441.6 million at pubs and clubs across the state in FY24.