A 59 year-old Dunbogan grandmother has won a whopping $4.57 million Keno jackpot after buying a 10-number Keno ticket for the first time at the suggestion of her daughter-in-law.
The mum of two and grandma of two, who wishes to remain anonymous, stopped in to the Laurieton United Services Club with her husband, son, and daughter-in-law for a quick drink on the way to their family business’s Christmas party when she bought the 10-number ticket.
Not only did the woman’s daughter-in-law inspire her to play 10-numbers, she also had a role to play in picking the final winning numbers, and suggested the winner put on a times two Keno Bonus Multiplier.
When playing Keno Bonus, the Keno prize is multiplied by the bonus multiplier, and on top of that the winner receives the Keno Bonus prize, which in this case was $2.9 million, landing the winner a total cash prize of $4,576,832.
“I can’t believe it,” the winner said moments after she watched 10 out of 10 of her numbers come up. “It’s just ridiculous, it’s like a dream.”
“I was just dumbfounded for the first 20 minutes. I was waiting for someone to tap me and say ‘we’ve made a mistake’,” she explained.
“I don’t normally play 10 numbers; I normally play four numbers. But because she [my daughter-in-law] was putting one on, I said ‘why not?’.
“I just rattled off a bunch of numbers – our birthdays, grandchildren’s birthdays, wedding anniversaries.
I can’t believe it. It’s just ridiculous, it’s like a dream.
- Laurieton Keno winner
“When she got up there to buy the ticket she realised I’d given her one too many numbers, so she just chose one to get rid of.
“Then she told me that if pay another $10 you get the Bonus Multiplier, so she’d done that and I gave her $20 for the ticket.”
Laurieton United Services Club operations manager Ken Hodges congratulated the winner, who he says wasn’t able to stay to celebrate with staff because winning the jackpot had caused them to run over an hour late for their business Christmas party at a local Chinese restaurant.
“We’re just so happy to see the jackpot won by a respected and loyal club member, who is liked by everyone,” Hodges said.
“On behalf of the staff and management of Laurieton Services, we’d like to congratulate her and wish her all the best,” he said.
The Laurieton area is fast becoming a Keno hotspot: a $1.7 million won in April at the Royal Hotel in nearby Kew. That 10-number jackpot was won by a 42-year-old Port Macquarie painter who was returning home after knocking off work.
“We all still talk about that,” the winner said. “That made us [our area] famous.”
The grandmother says she won’t be forgetting her daughter in law, who played a big role in shoring up the massive jackpot.
“I’ll be looking after them. She and my son only just bought their first home two months ago.
“The first thing I’m going to do is pay off our mortgage, pay off their mortgage, and pay my daughter’s mortgage. And I’ll still have some left over.
“It’s definitely time to retire. My husband’s not well, so this will be wonderful.”
The winning numbers were 4, 5, 7, 9, 10, 14, 15, 20, 25, and 28. The winner spent just $20 on the ticket.
