Boatie’s $1.4m of treasure

A SEMI-RETIRED Gold Coast boat builder has won a $1.4 million Keno jackpot after playing the same numbers for 14 years.

The 59-year-old man, who wished to remain anonymous, was due to start work building a boat for a customer the next day but decided to let his client know he wouldn’t be taking on the job.

The winning ticket was sold at Jacobs Well Tavern last Friday morning and was the third $1 million-plus Keno jackpot to be won by a Queenslander this year.

The man, who lives on his boat at Woongoolba, said he “never thought he’d crack the big one”.

“I’m still very numb. It’s a bit surreal,” he said.

“I’ve been playing those same numbers for 14 years. I might have a break (from playing Keno) for a while.”

The winner left the venue before all his games had finished, later receiving a call that changed his life.

“On Friday I bought the ticket in the morning and then left to farewell a friend of mine,” he said.

“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.”