A Keno ticket tucked inside a Sunshine Coast woman’s wallet has delivered her an early Christmas surprise of more than $188,000.
The Queenslander held a Keno 9 Spot winning entry in draw 718, drawn 11 December 2021, which won $188,464.00.
Speaking to a Keno official this morning to confirm her win, the ecstatic woman explained how a pre-Christmas catch-up in Redcliffe led to her windfall.
“Oh my god! This is insane!” she cried.
“I was just down in Redcliffe visiting my family, and we went to the pub. I put a Keno ticket on but left before the draw.
“What’s funny is I normally put a 10 Spot ticket on and thought I’d grabbed a 10 Spot ticket on Saturday.
“Yesterday, my brother told me someone had won a 9 Spot prize at the Belvedere Hotel. I didn’t even think it could be me. I thought, ‘I’d never win that kind of prize’. Also, as I normally put on a 10 Spot ticket, I thought, ‘oh well, it wouldn’t have been me’.
“But then, I saw I still had the ticket in my wallet, and I thought I’d check it.
“It’s definitely meant to be. How crazy is that?! It’s insane!
“It’s unbelievable! It’s life-changing. It may not be a million dollars, but it’s life-changing for me.
“We’ve been wanting to do some home renovations for a long time and were looking at refinancing the house in January. Now we don’t have to do that! That’s an amazing feeling!”
Her winning ticket was purchased at Belvedere Hotel, Cnr Oxley Avenue & Woodcliffe Crescent, Woody Point.
Belvedere Hotel marketing and events manager Sarah Casey said the team was thrilled one of their customers enjoyed a life-changing moment at their venue.
“The win is the talk of the venue, with lots of people asking who put the ticket on for the customer – she may have just become everyone’s lucky charm!” she said.
“We’re just so happy a Belvedere customer has had the experience of a lifetime in our pub. Congratulations and we’re sure this will be their best Christmas yet!
“We have some pretty good Keno winners every year or so, but we’ve had nothing major for four years and nothing this big.”
In the 12 months to 30 June 2021, Keno players across the eastern states of mainland Australia celebrated more than 64 million wins collectively worth more than $853 million.
During this time, Keno crowned 19 millionaires and multi-millionaires who collectively took home more than $43.69 million. Eight of these major prize winners were from Queensland, including a Gladstone man who won a Keno Classic 10 Spot prize of $2.16 million.
Queenslanders enjoyed more than 25.35 million Keno wins totalling more than $312.79 million at pubs and clubs across the state in FY21.
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.