Milton tavern owner says he'll get Keno, if the numbers look good

Three Ponds Tavern could soon be running the Keno gambling game. (courtesy photo)

MILTON - It looks like the Keno gambling game could be coming to Milton.

Three Ponds Tavern owner Gary Poole said today he was very happy with town voters approving the number games on Tuesday by a whopping 415-281.

"I'm happy with it; now I'm going to have to sit down with the Keno people and get the details," Poole said.

The only other area bar that currently operates the Keno game is Two Doors Down on Route 108 in Somersworth.

The bar and grill opens with their breakfast menu daily around 5:30 a.m. but the Keno games don't start until 11 a.m., an employee said this morning.

The Keno game can only be played at pouring establishments like Three Ponds and the Milton Moose, which hasn't made a decision on whether it might carry the game.

Poole said he'd probably be making a road trip to Two Doors Down soon to see how the game works down there.

It must be doing pretty well, because a recent report showed they had more Keno revenue than any other bar or tavern in the state.

The Keno system draws 20 numbers from a field of 80 numbers every four minutes.
Players select from 1 to 12 numbers or "spots" for each game. A computer then randomly chooses 20 winning numbers from 1 to 80 and displays them on a Keno monitor.

Payoffs range from a few bucks to a million depending on how many numbers are chosen and show up on a special screen.

In New Hampshire the game would be available at licensed bars and taverns from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.

Passed last year, New Hampshire's Keno for kindergarten bill gives cities and towns across New Hampshire the right to allow Keno gambling with all profits from the game deposited in the education trust fund in order to provide grants to full-time kindergarten students.

Kelly Cleland of the New Hampshire Lottery Commission said during a public hearing in Rochester in September that Keno would return some $9 million to state education coffers.

She said establishments that carry the game would pay a $500 license fee and would be paid an 8 percent commission rate on all Keno sales.