03 January 25

“I’m in a whirl!”: Toowoomba woman stunned by $300,000 Keno New Year’s surprise

SNAPSHOT
  • A Toowoomba woman has confessed she’s been walking around in a circle since the stunning revelation she won a $300,000 Keno prize on New Year’s Day.
  • The Darling Downs resident scored a Keno Classic prize worth $308,777.00 in draw 272 on Wednesday 1 January 2025. However, she didn’t discover her good fortune until the next day.
  • Describing the win as a “lovely New Year’s gift”, the woman shared the prize was the perfect nest egg for her retirement.
  • Her winning Keno Classic entry was purchased at Get Chopped Pub, 1 Pilton Street, Greenmount.

By Eliza Wregg

Updated 3 January 2025 - 8:35 am,

first published at 3 January 2025 - 8:35 am

A Toowoomba woman has confessed she’s been walking around in a circle since the stunning revelation she won a $300,000 Keno prize on New Year’s Day.

The Darling Downs resident scored a Keno Classic prize worth $308,777.00 in draw 272 on Wednesday 1 January 2025. However, she didn’t discover her good fortune until the next day.

“I’m still in shock!” the woman exclaimed when speaking to a Keno official.

“I’m a regular player and I play all sorts of different tickets. I’m not even sure what this ticket was. I can’t remember. I’m in a whirl!

“I’m still overwhelmed by it all.

“I didn’t even know I’d won. I just went in to check my ticket and the next thing I know, I’m talking to Keno about winning $300,000.

“It’s just all a blur. I don’t even know what I’m doing. I’m just walking around in a circle.

“I don’t know exactly what I’m going to do at this stage. It’s a lovely New Year’s gift for sure.

“I’ve worked hard all my life and this will be a nice nest egg for retirement.”

The woman’s winning Keno Classic entry was purchased at Get Chopped Pub, 1 Pilton Street, Greenmount.

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.