Oregon Lottery: Oregon Lottery increases number of Keno drawings
The Oregon State Lottery has increased the number and frequency of its Keno drawings in an attempt to boost revenue.
The drawings will be held every four minutes, instead of five.
Keno sales have increased an average of 19 percent in the five states that have made the switch from five minutes to four, said Chuck Baumann, a lottery spokesman.
Keno is the state lotterys third-highest revenue producer, topped by video poker and Scratch-its. Keno brought in sales of $111.3 million in the past fiscal year and resulted in a profit of $18.4 million, Baumann said.
Legislators decided to balance the 2003-05 budget in part by requiring the lottery to raise additional revenue. The agency sent about $387 million in profit to schools, parks and other state programs in the last fiscal year.
The rule allowing the change expires Aug. 20. The change took effect Monday.