It was a night to remember for a Toobeah man who walked away with not one, but two massive wins, a Queensland State of Origin victory and a life-changing Keno prize of more than $870,000.
The rural Queenslander scored the Keno Mega Millions 9 Spot Jackpot in Keno draw 818, drawn Wednesday, 9 July 2025. He can look forward to a whopping $878,331.30.
The chirpy winner relayed how the win came about while speaking to an official from Keno.
“It’s unreal. I’ve got a headache from all the excitement and I’m still pinching myself!” he laughed.
“I was at the Club watching the footy, so I had two wins last night. This Keno win, and on top of that, the Maroons won the State of Origin.
“It’s a great day to be a Queenslander. I’m absolutely stoked. I just can’t get over it.
“I’ve played Keno for a little while now, but it just happened to be my day.
“I always use the same nine numbers. My wife was the one who originally picked them.
“I know the numbers off by heart, so when I saw the first few pop up, I thought ‘Jeez, that’s pretty good.’. Then I’m going ‘Oh sh**!’.”
While the Maroons were putting points on the board, the winning man was quietly racking up a win of his own, and now he’s planning to use his prize wisely.
“It’ll go to good use. I’ll certainly be responsible. I work too hard not to be!” he said.
“Our mortgage will be on the top of the list for sure.
“I’m at work today, so as you can probably imagine, it’s hard to focus!”
His winning Keno Mega Millions entry was purchased from Toobeah Hotel, 8 Barwon Highway, Toobeah.
Toobeah Hotel managing director Michael Offerdahl said the energy in the venue was electric.
“Of all the people in the room, it couldn’t have gone to a more deserving person!” he said.
“It was a huge night at the pub, especially with Queensland winning the Origin.
“The biggest Keno winning entry we’ve sold before is around $40,000, so we’re over the moon.”
In 2024, Keno players across the eastern states of mainland Australia celebrated more than 76 million wins collectively worth more than $1. billion.
During this time, Keno crowned 23 millionaires and multi-millionaires who collectively took home more than $54.9 million. Ten of these major winners were Queenslanders, including a Crows Nest man whose favourite numbers scored him $5.5 million.
Queenslanders enjoyed more than 26.9 million Keno wins totalling more than $461.2 million at pubs and clubs across the state in 2024.