A Wollongong man has confessed he nearly fainted from the shock and excitement of taking home $90,000 in a recent Keno draw.
The Illawarra resident scored the Keno Classic 8 Spot jackpot in draw 488, drawn Sunday 14 July 2024 and looks forward to a total prize of $90,699.00.
“Haha! It’s fantastic!” the winning man cheered when speaking to an official from Keno.
“I’m absolutely stoked - absolutely thrilled to bits.
“When the team member came over to speak to me about my Keno ticket, I thought maybe I’d won $1,000 but then he said, ‘Congratulations mate! You’ve won $90,000!’.
“I just yelled, ‘Oh, crickey!’ and then I nearly fell over; almost fainted.
“Woo-hoo! I still can’t believe it. The most I’ve ever won on Keno was $560.
“My wife actually wins quite a lot on her Keno tickets, and she’s always told me to change my numbers, but I kept saying to her, ‘I’m not going to change my numbers. They might come up one day!’.
“B*gger me! They did come out and she thought I was joking when I told her I’d won a jackpot prize!”
Although the winning man had no idea what he would do with his newfound fortune, he did mention how he would spice up his celebratory plans, which included enjoying a nice meal with his wife.
“We’re actually going to go out tonight to treat ourselves to some dinner and drinks!” he shared.
“I’ll have the chilli spaghetti and my wife will enjoy a nice lamb shank at the local golf club!
“Thank you so much!”
His winning Keno Classic entry was purchased at Steelers Club, 1/5 Bureli Street, Wollongong.
Steelers Club operations coordinator Matt Clowry said it felt amazing to have sold an entry that won a major Keno jackpot.
“It’s absolutely fantastic that we have sold a major Keno winning entry at Steelers Club. We’re still on cloud nine since it happened!” he said.
“We’ve had a number of smaller wins in the last six months, but this is the first Keno jackpot prize for quite some time. Maybe this Keno jackpot win was brewing for quite some time!
“The club atmosphere was absolutely ecstatic when the jackpot prize went off and the patrons were delighted for the lucky winner.
“We’ve been sharing the winning news with our patrons ever since and they’re over the moon for the winner and our team.
“We congratulate the lucky winner and hope they can use their winnings to better their lives!”
In 2023, Keno players across the eastern states of mainland Australia celebrated more than 67.31 million wins collectively worth more than $1 billion.
During this time, Keno crowned 21 millionaires and multi-millionaires who collectively took home more than $51.5 million. Eleven 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 36.33 million Keno wins totalling more than $529.1 million across the region in 2023.