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Y! MyWebNo significant lottery wins as Keno debuts in area
Tuesday, August 05, 2008
Springfield, Ohio — David Dooley wasn't the first Keno winner in Clark County, but he was the first at the Frickers on Upper Valley Pike.
He put a dollar on a 10-Spot Keno in which players can win up to $100,000, and doubled his money for a sum total of $2. Then he played again and promptly lost his winnings.
He kept his winning ticket, saying – tongue firmly in cheek – that he would keep it, "as a memento of this auspicious occasion."
The first Keno winner in the county was Jim Zavakos, co-owner of Victory Lanes, one of three establishments in the county that began offering the lottery game when it became legal in Ohio on Monday, August 4.
Zavakos said he was just testing the machine shortly after the first numbers were drawn at 11 a.m., when he won $5.
"That's not against the rules, as far as I know," he said.
More than 1,000 bars and restaurants in the state have applied for licenses to run Keno. As of 3:30 p.m. Monday, the Ohio Lottery Commission had recorded 16,221 individual wagers. By that time, 4,561 individuals had racked up $36,603 in collective winnings.
Zavakos is hoping Keno will attract more customers to his bowling alley, where business slows during the summer months. With winning numbers being drawn electronically every four minutes, he says Keno is ideal for leisure and amusement locations like restaurants and bowling alleys.
"I doubt people are going to hang out at Speedway playing Keno," he said. "But they would at a place where they can sit down and be comfortable."
19th Hole, a bar & grill on Park Road opened for lunch for the first time Monday in order to coincide with the game's launch. Owner Fred Poole said he hoped the game would bring in a lunch crowd.
"It's worked out pretty well," Poole said. "We did some carryout lunches. We had some people come in, sold some Keno tickets."
Back at Frickers, Sean Fout, a cook, won $10 shortly after Dooley won his $2. A veteran lotto-player, Fout seemed less than thrilled.
Fout described how he will spend his winnings with one word: "Bills."
Contact this reporter at (937) 328-0367 or ecavallaro@coxohio.com.
