WHEN a Lithgow truck driver and his wife arrived at the Workmens Club at the weekend it was just another Saturday night at the club.
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When they left later in the evening they were instant millionaires.
Yesterday the lucky truckie was celebrating with his family after winning a massive $1.28 million Keno jackpot, the largest ever to be won in the Blue Mountains region.
The 54 year-old father of one, who wishes to keep his identity private, moved to Lithgow from Sydney for a ‘tree change’, never dreaming he would make his fortune while enjoying a change of pace.
The winner said he was shocked when he first realised that he might have been holding the winning Keno ticket after seeing only eight or nine of his numbers come up on the screen.
“I was just sitting down to dinner and happened to be watching the screen,” he said.
“I saw a few numbers came through: I thought maybe I got eight or nine [out of 10].
“Then straight after the game finished, it flashed up ‘$1.2 million won at Lithgow Workers’.
“I finished my dinner and after dinner we walked up, and you sort of know that you’ve won something.
“I was happy with maybe winning a few hundred dollars.
“Then I saw them [the staff] looking at me and that’s when I first thought maybe I’d won it.
“I said ‘I think it’s me, John’.”
The winner said the family owned their own home but in a classic understatement said the money would mean they could enjoy life a lot more.
“We’re actually booked on a cruise for June and my daughter wasn’t coming with us, but she is now.
“And now we have a bit of extra spending money,” he said.
The winner said he often bought a few Keno tickets when he went to the club for dinner.
He spent just $10 on the Kwikpik ticket, playing 10 $1 games.
The winning numbers were 4, 8, 23, 26, 28, 38, 59, 63, 68, and 71.
Keno spokesperson Nick Quinn congratulated Lithgow’s new millionaire, saying the team at Keno were thrilled to hear that such a large Keno jackpot had been won in such a small town.
“It’s great to hear that our third NSW Keno millionaire for 2015 lives in a regional area,” Quinn said.
“Keno is all about bringing people happiness and the chance to win — and that’s just what it has done for our Lithgow winner,” he said.
Keno gives away around $30 million in prize money to NSW players each month.
