'There's quite an investment in the machinery, so I'm sure as a business they'll find some way to make that pay off,' he said.īuckley also wonders what those changes would do. But since the ALC has scattered 180 keno terminals across Nova Scotia, he said, it's not about to cash in just yet.

That kind of suggestion worries Mike Buckley, an addictions counsellor with the Capital District Health Authority.īuckley said his research confirms that VLTs continue to be the biggest draw for gamblers. And I think they have to make it more exciting, and that's the direction they have to go in,' said Georgekakos. 'Keno, I don't think is as exciting as the VLTs.

He said his customers are more likely to spend that kind of money on video lottery terminals. In north-end Halifax, Dimo Georgekakos said a good day of keno brings in no more than $20 at Gus' Pub. They receive five cents for every ticket sold. It's on, they see it and they just don't want to play it,' Leeman said.īar owners don't pay for the keno terminals. That's small change considering patrons can wager up to $10 every round.Īt the Oasis pub in downtown Halifax, customers mostly ignore the keno screen near the front, said bartender Norm Leeman. CBC News contacted several establishments in Yarmouth, Truro, Sydney and Halifax, and all report average ticket sales of less than $20 a day. Three months later, however, several pub and restaurant owners suggest electronic Keno is a failure. At the time, anti-gambling groups worried that the game, in which patrons buy numbered tickets for draws every five minutes, would create more gambling addicts. The Atlantic Lottery Corporation launched the new game in March. High-speed electronic keno is turning out to be a big loser among bar owners in Nova Scotia.

Bar keno