Pa. Lottery Asking For Approval To Roll Out Keno Terminals Statewide
By Tony Romeo
HARRISBURG, Pa. (CBS) -- The state revenue secretary says the Pennsylvania Lottery could begin rolling out a keno game by the end of this year if a consensus can be reached.
Keno players select sets of numbers, hoping to match all or most of them in a drawing from a larger pool. Games are typically played every several minutes.
Revenue secretary Dan Meuser (at center in photo) says the Corbett administration believes that state law is already in place to allow for keno but that the administration still wants lawmakers and all stakeholders to "buy in" to its plan to grow lottery revenues, of which Keno is one part.
But he was not clear about exactly what form that stakeholder approval would take.
"Yes, a terminal-based game can be promulgated through regulatory means, and this is a terminal-based game," he said today. "Nevertheless, as stated, there's no line in the sand. We're here to work with all stakeholders."
Meuser says if the Revenue Department gets the support it seeks, it would be prepared to begin rolling out keno by the end of year.
Meuser says it's expected there would be keno drawings every four minutes at $1 per play, and that the game could generate almost $200 million per year in profits when fully available over a period of years.
