A year after being introduced by the Connecticut Lottery, keno has proven to be a big hit, raking in million for the state.
One West Haven tavern, Kelly’s, sold $665,000 during the April 2016–April 2017 period, making it the largest grossing new vendor for the Connecticut Lottery Corp.
Sue Kelly, the owner of the bar, told the Hartford Business Journal, “It has been a boon because the bar business itself is very tough,” Kelly said. “It’s made a huge difference.” Like other retailers, Kelly gets 5 percent commission on gross ticket sales and bonuses on winning tickets.
The state has nearly 3,000 retailers that sell keno.
Of the $70 million that the state collected for keno this year, $13.6 million goes to the general fund. Keno is doing about $5 million ahead of its budget and generally outperforming revenue projects. Officials told the legislature in 2015 that they hoped to reach $70 million in keno’s third year.
The Connecticut Lottery in general has been experiencing tough times. The longtime CEO Anne Noble resigned in 2016 under fire after the Department of Consumer Protection closed the lottery’s 5 Card Cash game when it became known that some retailers had figured out how to identify winning tickets and pocket them.
The lottery also anticipates losing money to the expanded casino gaming that the legislature just approved.
Chelsea Turner, interim CEO notes that the state’s keno games rank eighth among the 15 states that offer it. She told the Journal: “We think there’s tremendous growth potential in Keno. We’ve only begun to scratch the surface.”
The introduction of Keno expanded the lottery’s retailers from convenience stores and gas stations to restaurants and bars. Currently only a small percentage of those have TV monitors that show the game; something the lottery is trying to increase since monitors help drive sales. The monitors display new winning numbers every four minutes. The largest prize so far this first year is $200,000, which was won in Groton.
Many tavern owners say they believe that keno increases business. Paying customers often stay in their seats longer playing the games—and of course buying more drinks.
Lottery COO Michael Hunter wants to target another 1,500 eateries and bars that could sell the game.
Critics of the game called it the “crack cocaine” of gambling and call it a tax on the poor that can lead to addiction and financial ruin. Lottery officials point to statistics that show that 83 percent of tickets sold were for $1 or $2 wagers and that the average number of games played per ticket is 2.7.
To assist the smaller percentage of high wager players who might have a problem the lottery funds the GameSense program, which uses messages on keno screens to promote responsible gaming. Some tickets also have a gambling help line number printed on them.
