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NEWS
QHA REVIEW | 12
BAYSIDE TAVERN
JACKPOT MAKES TRIO
FOR QLD HOTELS
A BOAT BUILDER FROM BRISBANE’S BAYSIDE HAS
BECOME THE THIRD KENO MILLIONAIRE TO BE MADE
IN A QUEENSLAND HOTEL IN 2018.
After playing the same numbers for more than a
decade, a 59 year-old semi-retiree who lives on his
boat at Woongoolba, snagged the ultimate catch
when he won a $1.4 million Keno jackpot at the
Jacobs Well Bayside Tavern.
The thrilled winner revealed that he bought the ticket
on Friday 13 April during one of his regular visits to
the popular boaty pub.
He told Keno he was due to start work on
a racing yacht in Sydney days after the big win
but didn’t hesitate to let his next customer know he
was retiring after collecting the $1,411,245
cash prize.
“I’m still very numb. It’s a bit surreal,” the elated winner
told Keno. “I never thought I’d crack the big one. I’ve
been playing those same numbers for 14 years.”
The win follows a $1.5 million jackpot won by two
Cairns mates at the Balaclava Hotel on 7 January and
a $2.9 million jackpot won by an Ayr canefarmer at
the Burdekin Hotel on 17 February.
After waiting for so long to win a major jackpot, the
winner didn’t even see his 10 hand-picked numbers
come up but soon after leaving the tavern, received
a call fromtavern owner, Craig McVean, telling him he
was very likely a millionaire.
“On Friday, I bought the ticket in the morning
and then left to farewell a friend of mine. I was
back home and the phone rang, and the person
said he was from down the pub. He said, ‘you’ve
got to come down the pub because you’ve won
$1.4 million’.
“I said ‘how would you know?’, and he said, ‘you’re
the only one who has used the Keno Touch Terminal
this morning and the ticket was purchased on the
Touch machine’. When I got back down there,
everyone was cheering me and I hadn’t even put the
ticket in yet.”
Craig is thrilled for the winner, and excited to have yet
another Keno jackpot won at his pub.
“It’s good to see someone so deserving win,
especially at retirement age,” says Craig.
“We’ve had a few good jackpots before this one.
They like the Keno here. It’s a good little pub so
they’re happy to relax at the bar and play. Next time
we’ll have to go for the Mega Millions.”
Keno’s Queensland State Manager, David Dicker,
says the trio of Queensland pub wins is exciting for
licensees, staff and, customers.
“It’s terrific that the first three 10 Spot jackpots
of 2018 have been in regional areas, and won by
regulars at their local pub.
“There’s a real buzz around venues after a big
jackpot, and I’ve seen firsthand from my recent visit
to the Burdekin Hotel in Ayr just how much these
jackpots mean to the people who own pubs, work in
them, and most importantly, the regulars who come
in to enjoy their facilities.”
Last year was Keno’s 20th anniversary in
Queensland, marking two decades since Keno was
first offered in the state back in 1997.
Queenslanders win $26 million on average each
month playing the game in pubs and clubs around
the state.