Lottery Commissioner, Aric Nesbitt, presents Debbie Gough with a check for her $60,923 Club Keno The Jack prize.
A Wayne County woman celebrated her birthday by claiming a $60,923 Club Keno The Jack prize from the Michigan Lottery.
Debbie Gough, of Grosse Pointe Park, won the big prize when her easy pick The Jack numbers – 05-13-14-19-32-45-50-79 – matched eight of the 20 Club Keno numbers drawn in draw 1455183 on May 3. She bought the winning ticket at Gilbert’s Lodge, located at 22335 Harper in St. Clair Shores.
“I was out to dinner with my dad and husband and we were playing Club Keno and watching the numbers come in,” said the 48-year-old Gough. “We were watching the numbers and I got pretty excited when I matched seven numbers to win $350.
“I remember saying: ‘If 79 comes in, I’ll win The Jack!’ The next thing I know, I see ‘79’ appear on the screen. I stood there stunned in silence.”
Gough quickly signed the back of the ticket before taking it home and putting it in a safe place.
“I put the ticket in a plastic bag, and then in a package of frozen spinach in my freezer,” said Gough. “That ticket was worth a lot of green, and I couldn’t think of a better place to keep it.”
Gough visited Lottery headquarters along with her husband, Scott, on her birthday Thursday to claim her big prize. With her winnings, she plans to take an anniversary trip with her husband, and then save the remainder to help pay for her children’s weddings.
Debbie Gough’s winning Club Keno The Jack ticket.
“Winning was surreal, but I always had a feeling that I would win The Jack,” Gough said.
The Jack is a Club Keno add-on game that players may add to their Club Keno wager for as little as $1 per draw. With The Jack, players get eight easy pick numbers to match to the Club Keno numbers drawn. Players may win prizes ranging from $1 to the jackpot. The jackpot starts at $10,000 and grows until it is won. To win the jackpot, players must match all eight numbers.
Club Keno may be played at the 11,000 Lottery retailers across the state. Drawings take place every three and a half minutes. Results and live drawings may be found online at http://www.michiganlottery.com.
In 2016, Lottery players won about $412.5 million playing Club Keno, The KICKER, and The Jack.
