Keno game to start, despite complaints

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- The Missouri Lottery says it is going ahead with plans for a keno-style game in restaurants and bars, regardless of opposition from a large number of state lawmakers.

Forty-four House members, mostly Republicans, have a signed a letter asking lottery director Jim Scroggins to reconsider Quick-Draw Lotto, which is scheduled to start June 1.

Scroggins said Friday that he hasn't seen the letter, but it would be unlikely to change anything.

"We're moving ahead with keno," he said. "There's software to develop and equipment to install and telephones to hook up -- that's what we're in the process of doing."

The game will feature computer-generated drawings every five minutes, 20 hours a day.

Players will choose up to 10 numbers from a field of 80. A computer then selects 20 winning numbers. The more of those 20 that a player has chosen, the bigger the payoff.

In casinos, keno players sit at video terminals. But the lottery's game will involve tickets issued by restaurant workers. Winning numbers will be shown on a special television screen.

Addictive pace

In their letter, legislators said keno games are more addictive than other lottery games because of their fast pace. They also criticized the decision to place the game in bars.

"Experience tells us that the mixture of alcohol and gambling is a dangerous combination that has devastating effects on many people and their families," said the letter written by Rep. Pat Kelley, R-Lee's Summit, a United Methodist Church pastor.

But Scroggins said the new game is no different than others in its effect on people.

"Studies I've seen suggest that people who play this are no more likely to become a problem gambler than people who are doing any other type of gaming," he said.

The legislative letter also raises concerns that the Lottery Commission approved the game too quickly, without adequate involvement from the public or legislature.

Studied since 1990s

Gov. Bob Holden proposed the game -- expected to raise $20.8 million for the state in the next fiscal year -- as a way to increase education funding while balancing the budget.

Although the governor's office wanted the game, lottery staff had been studying whether to implement it since 1993 or 1994, Scroggins said. In recent years, the lottery's revenues have flattened out, he said.

"It finally reached a point where other initiatives we had weren't going to generate any additional revenue," Scroggins said.

Electronic keno games already exist in nine states -- California, Georgia, Kansas, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island and West Virginia.