MOUNT VERNON — If the price of plane tickets to Las Vegas has kept gamblers grounded, the Ohio Lottery Commission’s latest offering could provide a quick fix close to home. The commission launched the numbers game Keno on Monday.
“It’s not different from any of our other games except that it shows up on an electronic monitor, and the frequency of the game. You can play every four minutes,” said Jeannie Roberts, deputy director of the Office of Communication with the Ohio Lottery Commission.
The game is easy to play and within 240 seconds, players will know whether or not they hold a winning ticket.
“The other games use phone lines to transmit [information]. This game is actually a satellite-driven program, so it’s up to the second. It’s totally separated from the games already in our stores,” said Linda Bullock, co-owner of BB’s Pub Down Under in Mount Vernon.
Many bars, restaurants and taverns have reported fallen revenue since Ohio’s smoking ban went into effect. Many of those businesses are turning to Keno as a way to drive customers back through their doors.
“Lottery has been good to our establishment and brings a lot of customers in. With the smoking ban that has happened, it has decreased our bar sales, and we thought this might be, since they are only offering it to taverns and bars and places like that, a good draw and a way to bring in new customers since we lost so many,” said Bullock.
“We were losing a lot of business from people going to different states to play. We can keep them in Ohio now and they can spend their money in Ohio establishments. The bars were suffering a little bit from the no smoking ban. We feel like this is going to be a big boom for the bars and restaurant industry here and especially those independent stores,” said Roberts.
Keno can only be purchased from taverns, bars and restaurants with a Class D liquor license which have received certification from the Ohio Lottery Commission.
In order to become a retail seller of Keno, establishments must follow certain guidelines.
“You have to get a federal background check and make application with the lottery. You have to be able to acquire a bond to sell Keno tickets,” explained Bullock.
“[Business owners] can talk to their sales representative and they can also go to our Web site; there is information about adding Keno to their establishment. It’s a great way to increase their business sales,” said Sandra Neal, public information officer for the Ohio Lottery Commission.
The commission has made becoming an agent risk-free.
“We didn’t have to purchase any equipment, everything was given to us by the Ohio Lottery and they maintain the equipment,” said Bullock. “Other than the expense of being bonded, getting our bond, it’s really not a risk for us because we don’t have any money tied up in equipment.”
In addition to servicing the equipment, the commission provides a training workshop for those not familiar with the Ohio Lottery system.
“They require new agents to take a workshop, but since we’ve been agents for the past 20 years, they didn’t require me to physically go to a workshop,” said Bullock. “What they did was when they made the installment of the equipment they showed me the changes; what was different from this terminal compared to the ones in our other retail locations, and they walked me through the screens for playing Keno. ... It was pretty easy, so they make things pretty simple.”
The terminals also offer a training mode to help teach new employees how to use the Keno program.
“As far as the public is aware, not too many people know we have it yet,” said Bullock. “So we haven’t noticed a big change, but we’re hoping as people hear about it they will start coming in and that it will affect the bottom line.”
On the first day, the highest winner at BB’s Pub was a $20 win from a $1 play. The odds of winning vary greatly depending on how much is bet and how many numbers are selected.
“On the back of the wager ticket, where you place your wager or you bet with, it shows you your odds of winning as far as how much payback you get per dollar you spend, and that’s all based on how many numbers you choose and how many numbers hit,” said Bullock.
“It’s a fun game,” she continued. “There are a lot of casinos even around the state of Ohio ... that don’t even offer Keno. It’s a pretty big game in Las Vegas and Atlantic City but in the Midwest there are very few casinos that offer Keno. So we are hoping this may draw some people into our state to play some games.
“The lottery is another tool to build our business uses, a product we can sell, so actually the way the Ohio lottery has this laid out, if you want to pick your own numbers you have to fill out a bet slip; there is no way we can punch in the machine for you that’s going to simplify and keep the margin of error very small because no one wants to buy a ticket and say ‘I didn’t pick that number,’” said Bullock.
Playing times are from 11:04 a.m. to 1:44 a.m. BB’s Pub is the only establishment in Knox County offering the game.
“Normally we open at noon; noon until midnight,” said Bullock. “This week with the launch of Keno we opened at 11 a.m. because we didn’t know how many people would be excited about the game and how many people would come and play.
“Everyone I have ever worked with through the Ohio Lottery Commission has been super people and they try to make things as easy as possible so any common person who wants to work in the retail establishment is capable of running their equipment,” said Bullock.
“We think that it will help the independent bar owners and people who have been suffering after the no smoking ban. It has been successful in other places and we think it was prudent to follow the example,” said Roberts.
The results so far seem to be successful, for Ohio and small businesses alike. Bullock explained that after the first day BB’s cash sale ratio increased about 30 percent; she hopes for a more profitable future.
“After the first couple of days our business doubled between the hours of 4 p.m. to 8 p.m., which is the after-work crowd — people coming home after softball games, people going to the bars having a beer or having dinner and playing in a group. We’re delighted so far with the game. It has been better than projected,” said Roberts. “It has been successful in other states and we modeled our retail after those states in which that is true. It’s a niche game, a social game that targets the after-work crowd and we wanted it to be limited to that certain niche.”
Roberts said the lottery commission will limit the game to 2,000 retailers.
“Our goal is, the governor asked us to raise $73 million in profits so he doesn’t have to cut the school budget,” said Roberts. “That’s our goal. It’s an ambitious goal, but we feel like it’s entirely possible. The game is really popular and I think Ohio has been waiting for this and we are excited so far.”
