A weekly ritual of catching up and playing Keno together has delivered two long-time Berry mates a $125,000 Keno bounty.
The two friends held a Keno 40 Spot winning entry in game 167 on Thursday 5 March 2020, delivering them a prize of $125,000.
While the friends were regular Keno players, it was the first time they had played a Keno 40 Spot entry.
Unlike the more common Keno entries, the goal of a 40 Spot entry is to match all or none of the 20 numbers drawn from 80 on the Keno screen. The men’s entry only matched one number, securing them $125,000.
“Every week my friend and I get together and put a game on. We’ve been doing it for years but this was the first time we’ve played a 40 Spot entry,” one of the men explained.
“We were watching the draw. I thought we hadn’t matched any of the numbers, but then we saw we had got one.
“It was a great surprise! Great to share it with my mate. We’ve been friends for a very long time.
“To celebrate we went home and told our wives.”
One of the pair explained how the win almost didn’t come to be.
“My friend picked the numbers. As we were going to the club, he told me he had picked two sets of numbers. So, we just picked one of the sets to play and that’s the one that did it for us,” he laughed.
“We’re both going to spend our share of the prize on our wives and family. It’s a great win!”
The winning pair, who wish to remain anonymous, purchased their entry at Berry Sports & Social Club, 140 Princes Highway, Berry.
Berry Sports & Social Club manager Lachlan Price said the team were celebrating seeing a big Keno win land in their venue.
“It was exciting to see someone have a good win. It’s not often that happens in your own venue,” he said.
“The last time we had a major Keno prize was about five years ago when we had an 8 Spot win.
“We know our customers will be very happy for our winners and I know many would like to have that kind of win themselves.
“We wish our winners all the very best!”
In the 12 months to 30 June 2019, 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 17 millionaires and multi-millionaires who collectively took home more than $47.2 million. Nine of these major winners were from New South Wales and the ACT, including a Newcastle man who pocketed the biggest Keno jackpot in Australian history - a Keno Mega Millions 10 Spot prize worth $7,898,799.30.