A LAMBTON widower has won $4.36 million in Keno at the Blackbutt Hotel in New Lambton, the fourth biggest ever Australian Keno jackpot.
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“I feel young again!” he joked only moments after hearing that he would soon have a massive $4,369,945 sitting in his bank account.
While the 68 year-old retiree is keen to keep his identity under wraps, he was proud to say out loud that he plans to donate a large share of his jackpot to the Calvary Mater Hospital.
The man said the gift was to thank the hospital for caring for his wife until her death from cancer 2 half years ago, and support their work in helping other patients fight the disease.
The widower, who owns his New Lambton home and has no children, said he didn’t plan to spend the money on fancy cars, houses or holidays because he had “been there, done that”.
Instead, he said he intends to continue enjoying a cold beer with his mates at the Blackbutt Hotel for many years to come.
“I’d like to put this place on the map,” the winner said. “I’ve been coming here for 12 years.”
“I’m here every day – seven days a week – and I play Keno every day.
“I’ve got all my mates here: I’ll probably have a few more today,” he joked.
The winner said he had been playing Keno ever since it started in NSW in September 1991 and wasn’t about to stop now that he’d won the fourth biggest jackpot in Australian Keno history.
The biggest major jackpot was $7.6million, won in 1995 at North Ryde in Sydney.
The winner said he often played his own special numbers but had bought a Kwikpik ticket on Wednesday. The winning numbers were 2, 14, 21, 30, 32, 34, 42, 47, 56 and 75.