Wins Big While Playing Keno
James Perrone was in Ocean City last week for a work conference. During his down time, he decided to stop at the Clarion Hotel they were staying in to play some Keno. “I thought I would play a couple of games for a dollar,” said the 53-year-old. The unseasoned Keno player erroneously marked his ticket for $10 per game, for two games. Instead of just $2, the ticket wound up costing him $20. He was in such a frenzy when he saw the cost of the ticket that he tried to cancel the transaction, but it was too late. The game had already started.
The Columbia resident watched the games with the rest of the people in the bar and realized that nine of his ten numbers came out very quickly. “The whole bar was rooting for that 29 to come out…I couldn’t believe what I was seeing,” said the excited winner. The 29 did not come out, but James still matched nine out of ten of his numbers and wanted to know how much money he won. The bartender quickly told him it was $4,000. But, since he played $10 per game, she told him he actually won $40,000. Everyone at the bar was excited and in shock that a mistake turned out to be worth $40,000.
The winner, who has been an accountant for 19 years, already has a lot of plans with his winnings. He plans to share it with his wife, and two daughters who are currently in college. He also wants to renovate his house, and would like to take a vacation with the family. “I called my wife the day I won the money and she didn’t believe me. She wasn’t in the mood for jokes, but I assured her it wasn’t a joke at all,” said James.
The winning ticket was purchased at Lenny’s Bar in the Clarion Hotel on Coastal Highway in Ocean City.