37 locations in initial rollout; more to be added

By Todd Northrop

The popular "quick-draw" style Keno lottery game can be officially played in New Hampshire, as of Friday, Dec. 15, 2017.

Seven cities out of the state's 13 can now have "Keno 603" at designated bars and restaurants.

That includes Manchester, Nashua, Laconia, Berlin, Franklin, Somersworth, and Claremont.

Franklin, the first to approve Keno games within its city limits, will be rolling out some of the first action. A total of 37 locations are part of the initial rollout of Keno, with additional venues being reviewed for the $500 annual license. 

Keno establishments first have to be pre-approved by the state's Lottery Commission and have pouring liquor licenses.

The commission will provide all the supplies — the TV monitors, the wiring, the forms and even the pencils used to play.

Keno operates from 11:00 am to 11:00 pm, with drawings every five minutes.  Some in the lottery industry refer to such games as "quick-draw" style games because of the frequency of the drawings.

In Keno, players choose the number of "spots" (numbers) they want to play — between 1 and 12 spots.  Then they choose that many numbers to play, from 1 to 80, or allow the computer to choose the numbers for them.

The player also chooses how much to wager for the drawing: $1, $2, $3, $4, $5, $10, $15, $20, or $25.  The prize payouts vary according to all of the player choices, plus the amount of numbers matched in the drawing.

The largest prize a player can win with a $1 wager is $1 million, which is won by playing a 12 Spot game and matching all 12 numbers drawn.

The businesses will receive 8 percent of the profits. The rest of the revenue will go to help fund full-day kindergarten programs statewide. 

The first retailers to offer Keno are:

• Sweet Fire BBQ, Claremont
• JJ's Wood Fire Pizza, Franklin
• Brick Front Restaurant & Lounge, Laconia
• 405 Pub & Grill, Laconia
• Hector's Food & Spirits, Laconia
• VFW- POST #1670, Laconia
• Club Manch Vegas, Manchester
• Frickers Neighborhood Grill, Manchester
• Backyard Brewery, Manchester
• Billy's Sports Bar, Manchester
• Moe Joe's Family Restaurant, Manchester
• Southside Tavern, Manchester
• Derryfield Country Club, Manchester
• Yee Dynasty, Manchester
• Theo's Restaurant & Lounge, Manchester
• American Legion Post #2, Manchester
• Brother's Restaurant & Lounge, Manchester
• Olympus Pizza, Manchester
• Penuches, Manchester
• The 25th Lane, Manchester
• Solana Bar & Grill, Manchester
• Doogies Bar, Manchester
• Chelby's Pizza, Manchester
• Wild Rover Pub, Manchester
• 7 Star Pizza & Restaurant, Nashua
• Slade Food & Spirits, Nashua
• O'Briens Sports Bar, Nashua
• Golden Dragon, Nashua
• Tilted Kilt, Nashua
• Shanghai Osaka Restaurant, Nashua
• The River Casino, Nashua
• Fody's, Nashua
• Lafayette Club, Nashua
• Sky Venture NH, Nashua
• Boston Billiards, Nashua
• Riverside BBQ, Nashua
• 2 Doors Down, Somersworth