What are the odds? $1 million Keno winner won with numbers 1-12

Updated: 2:56 PM EDT Mar 24, 2023

The Massachusetts State Lottery is paying out nearly $2 million in prizes after six Keno players won big in a seemingly unlikely way: Each winner selected consecutive numbers, starting with 1. Winning numbers for a Keno game played on Wednesday evening included all numbers from 1 through 13. The biggest of the prizes, $1 million, was won by a player at Zenner’s Pub & Deli in Pittsfield who had picked all of the numbers from 1 through 12. It was the first $1 million prize won in the game's history in Massachusetts, which began in 1993. In the Keno game, 20 winning numbers between 1 and 80 are randomly selected for each game, and players have the option of selecting up to 12 numbers."While a rare occurrence, it shows that the chances of consecutive numbers being selected are the same as the chances of any other set of numbers," said Mark William Bracken, interim executive director of the Massachusetts State Lottery. The odds of winning a 12-spot Keno game are 1 in 478,261,833.The odds of winning an 11-spot game, worth $500,000, are 1 in 62,381,978. One player in Taunton matched with the consecutive numbers 1 through 11.Four players won $100,000 on tickets that played consecutive numbers 1 through 10. The odds of winning a 10-spot are 1 in 8,911,711.The full set of winning numbers for the Wednesday evening game, No. 2551121, were 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-11-12-13-24-28-31-44-53-71-75.

The Massachusetts State Lottery is paying out nearly $2 million in prizes after six Keno players won big in a seemingly unlikely way: Each winner selected consecutive numbers, starting with 1.

Winning numbers for a Keno game played on Wednesday evening included all numbers from 1 through 13.

The biggest of the prizes, $1 million, was won by a player at Zenner’s Pub & Deli in Pittsfield who had picked all of the numbers from 1 through 12. It was the first $1 million prize won in the game's history in Massachusetts, which began in 1993.

In the Keno game, 20 winning numbers between 1 and 80 are randomly selected for each game, and players have the option of selecting up to 12 numbers.

Dennis Cady

"While a rare occurrence, it shows that the chances of consecutive numbers being selected are the same as the chances of any other set of numbers," said Mark William Bracken, interim executive director of the Massachusetts State Lottery.

The odds of winning a 12-spot Keno game are 1 in 478,261,833.

The odds of winning an 11-spot game, worth $500,000, are 1 in 62,381,978. One player in Taunton matched with the consecutive numbers 1 through 11.

Four players won $100,000 on tickets that played consecutive numbers 1 through 10. The odds of winning a 10-spot are 1 in 8,911,711.

The full set of winning numbers for the Wednesday evening game, No. 2551121, were 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-11-12-13-24-28-31-44-53-71-75.