A 43 year-old Newcastle man has won the biggest Keno jackpot in Australian history – a whopping $7,898,799.30 – at the Northumberland Hotel in Lambton.
The Keno Mega Millions jackpot win on 10th August was the third 10-number jackpot – the top Keno prize – to be won in Australia, and the biggest cash prize ever to be won in the country since Keno started.
The $7.9 million anonymous winner celebrated with family but was clearly surprised at his huge win, saying “It still hasn’t sunk in yet.”
“I’m a big believer in these things, but I can’t really believe it has happened to me.”
The elated winner said he is now contemplating retiring: “I’ve worked since I left school and I’m happy to be finishing up,” he said. Despite becoming a multi-millionaire, he plans to keep life simple: “I’m a laid-back person, so I’m just going to stay the same,” he said.
Keno’s General Manager, Terry Fowler, congratulated Australia’s biggest Keno winner, saying the team were excited for the prize to be won by a player in New South Wales, where the game was first launched.
“Keno loves to make millionaires and now we’re making multi-millionaires, so it couldn’t get any better for us than moments like this,” Fowler said.
Mega Millions is a premium version of the existing Keno Classic game and gives players the chance to win $5 million or more every three minutes for $2.
Mega Millions was launched in New South Wales in November 2016, and has paid out $64 million in prize money and sold six million tickets.
The winner spent $26 on the ticket, playing 13 $2 games. The winning numbers were 6, 7, 9, 10, 25, 26, 41, 43, 75 and 77.
New South Wales players win more than $36 million on average every month playing Keno in pubs and clubs around the state. Each month, Keno pays out around $77 million in prize money to New South Wales, Victorian, Queensland and ACT players.