Cahill bets more Keno will offset casino lure

Added hours will raise $3 million, he says

By LANE LAMBERT ~ The Patriot Ledger - 9-3-03

BRAINTREE

he state Lottery’s answer to casinos: more Keno.

State Treasurer Tim Cahill has launched a pilot program that will add 22 playing hours a week to the Lottery’s second most-popular game.

Cahill and Lottery executive director Joseph Sullivan estimate the longer hours will raise another $3 million a year for the state.

Keno can now be played from 10 a.m. to 1 a.m. Monday through Saturday and noon to 1 a.m. Sundays. The old hours were noon to 11 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and noon to 1 a.m. Friday and Saturday.

“Treasurer Cahill has said from the start that the only way communities can get the Lottery aid they’re accustomed to is to expand the Lottery,” spokeswoman Amy Morris said last night.

As a first step toward that end, the Lottery cut the waiting time between Keno games from five to four minutes in March.

She said Cahill wants to prove that the Lottery can raise more money so the state won’t feel forced to approve casinos.

Keno generated $640 million in sales and $141 million in net revenue during fiscal 2001-02. That was 15 percent of the Lottery’s $4.2 billion overall game sales that year, and 16 percent of the Lottery’s $890 million in net revenue.

But the longer hours may not mean larger profits at every Keno location.

At Joe’s Market Place in West Quincy, -- longtime clerk Cheryl Mahoney said customers aren’t likely to budge from their regular routine.

“But you never know,” she added. “It might pick up later on, when people find out about the change.”

Lane Lambert may be reached at .