A Umina Beach man has confessed he’d almost given up playing his special Keno numbers when a spur-of-the-moment decision saw him win $2.6 million prize.
The Central Coast player held a Keno Classic 10 Spot winning entry in draw 699, drawn Wednesday 20 July 2022 and took home a total prize of $2,632,443.40.
Speaking with an official from Keno this morning, the emotional winner explained how his brother prompted him to check his ticket. “I was on my way home from the club and my brother called me,” he said.
“My brother said, ‘you’re not down at your local are you because someone has just won $2.6 million on Keno!’
“I was shaken and said, ‘don’t do this to me mate, I’ve just put a few games on.’
“When I got home I checked my entry on the Keno app and that’s when I realised that I’d won. I’d be lying if I said it didn’t send me into shock.
“I tell you what mate, 24 hours later and I reckon I’m still shaking.
“I’ve always played my special numbers but I’d almost given up on them.
“It’s still difficult to believe this has actually happened to me but it’s life-changing. It’s going to provide security for my family for the rest of our lives.
“It’s massive!
“I’m actually on my way to work now so I won’t be retiring in the near future, but I can’t wait to share it with my family and celebrate the win with them.
“Thank you so much, this has changed my life.”
His winning Keno Classic 10 Spot entry was purchased at Ettalong Bowling Club, 103 Springwood Street, Ettalong.
Ettalong Bowling Club manager Steve Bowie said the team felt like they’d won the incredible prize themselves.
“It’s absolutely incredible to think that $2.6 million was won in our bowling club,” he said.
“Everyone is stoked. I feel like it puts Ettalong on the map!
“We’ve never seen a win like this here and there’s been a real buzz locally with everyone wondering who’d won and how they were going to celebrate.
“We wish the winner all the best for the future and hope he really enjoys this winning moment.”
In 2021, Keno players across the eastern states of mainland Australia celebrated more than 36.2 million wins collectively worth more than $590.3 million.
During this time, Keno crowned 13 millionaires and multi-millionaires who collectively took home more than $31 million. Six of these major winners were from New South Wales and the ACT, including Crescent Head neighbours who pocketed a Keno Mega Millions 10 Spot prize of more than $5.8 million.
Players in New South Wales and the ACT enjoyed more than 17.36 million Keno wins totalling more than $292 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.
About Keno
Keno is a fun game played at about 3,500 pubs and clubs across Queensland, New South Wales, the ACT and Victoria.
A Keno draw occurs approximately every three minutes. During each draw, 20 numbers are drawn from 1 to 80. Players simply match the numbers on their entry to the numbers drawn for a chance to win over $1 million.
There are a range of Keno games to play, including Keno Mega Millions – a higher jackpot version of Keno Classic that uses the same Keno ball draw but gives players the chance to win $5 million or more.
Visit the Keno blog to find out more.