On April 7th, 2008, following the announcement from the Lottery Commission's Keno-to-Go program, 115 stores are now permitted to host keno games which had previously been the privilege of bars and restaurants. Some of the stores that will now host the keno game are the AandJ Seabra Supermarket located on Stafford Road to Zim's Variety located on Pleasant Street and others. Lottery Spokesperson Dan Rosenfeld commented that they have received around 2,300 applications.
One requirement for a convenience store to host the game is that they need to acquire the approval of the city or the town officials. Mayor Robert Correia commented that lottery retailers are not barred from featuring other scratch ticket type games. Under the new plan, participants will now have the choice to bought keno tickets at the lottery outlets and then verify their numbers on the website of the Massachusetts Lottery.
The plan will not call for any additional monitor for the game in any location. The whole process is similar to the sales that are being done to Mass Cash, Mega Bucks and Mega Millions. The Massachusetts Lottery Web site said that only those convenience stores and establishments that have a liquor pouring permit can offer keno.
Officials of the Lottery Commission that the Keno-to-Go game will produce a yearly sale of around $100 million and will produce around $20 million in financial aid for cities and towns. During the 2007 fiscal year, keno players have bought keno tickets worth $775 million from 1,776 keno outlets across the state. Rosenfeld commented that Fall River produced $8,349,362 of the state's total keno earnings and after reviewing all of the state's games, spent almost $64 million.
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John Sullivan
