New keno game up for review

Keno-to-Go ticket holders could check their status on the Internet, not just on a TV screen. (Globe Staff File Photo / Bill Polo)

In a climate of municipal budget squeezes, local officials are deciding whether to accept a new state lottery game called Keno-to-Go, expected to generate $20 million more annually in revenue targeted mostly for local aid.

Many local officials embrace the game with an eye on the pocketbook, while those considering an option to nix it say residents don't need yet another form of gambling.

"We've gotten ourselves into a situation where cities and towns are relying on the revenue from the lottery," said Angelo R. Firenze, chairman of the selectmen in Belmont. "I am troubled by the whole concept that this money is coming from people who can't afford to pay it."

The Belmont board has yet to make a final decision about Keno-to-Go, meant to make the game of keno much more widely available and allow players almost instantaneously to check their numbers over the Internet, eliminating the need for a television monitor. Firenze said members are leaning toward opposing it.

The lively debate in Belmont and other communities over the new game mirrors that over Governor Deval Patrick's proposal to allow three gambling casinos in Massachusetts, rejected recently by the Legislature. Many municipal officials in the area have given Keno-to-Go the go-ahead, others are mulling it over, and a few, standing on principle, have indicated they would reject it.

The state Lottery Commission offered the new game with so little fanfare last month that officials in some communities did not realize they had to cast a vote against it, or accept it by default, they said. There was also confusion about the game itself and whether it would lead to bettors clustering in purchasing locations with a laptop to await results of a lottery draw.

The game is expected to draw $100 million in increased annual sales for the lottery, which last year netted $4.46 billion, according to commission spokesman Dan Rosenfeld.

Most of the $20 million profit from Keno-to-Go would go toward bumping up local aid to cities and towns, although lawmakers can decide to spend a portion of lottery revenue on the arts, Rosenfeld said. Communities that reject the game still would benefit from the increased revenue, but the estimated total aid for all might diminish if too many turn it down.

To play the new game, patrons must buy a ticket, much like a Numbers Game ticket, at a local outlet, such as a convenience store or service station. They may buy the ticket wherever it's allowed to be sold. As with the existing keno game, Keno-to-Go involves choosing a series of numbers to play, with the winning numbers chosen by random selection. Unlike keno, though, the new game will not involve watching a monitor at the purchasing site for the results of a drawing; instead, players will determine whether they have won by going to a website where the winning numbers will be displayed.

In order to accept Keno-to-Go, communities could simply take no action. To reject the game, they must take a formal vote against it and inform the Lottery Commission of the outcome, Rosenfeld said.

Chelmsford, Concord, Lexington, Lowell, North Andover, Reading, and Wilmington are among area communities in which officials decided not to take any action and therefore allow the new game, they said.

In Burlington, Town Administrator Robert Mercier said he thought the town would accept the game "for selfish reasons."

"We can get some return on that," he said last week.

Selectmen in Chelmsford, where voters just defeated a $2.8 million Proposition 2 1/2 override, are looking forward to new revenue from the game, said Town Manager Paul E. Cohen. But board members were concerned the game would cause a crush of patrons at purchasing locations with laptops poised to go online for results. Cohen said they were assured by the commission that would not happen.

Rosenfeld said the commission is committed to enforcing rules to prevent the use of laptops at outlets. The commission could revoke the licenses of any outlet that breaks the rules; that would amount to a severe penalty, since lottery sales can generate annual profits of tens of thousands of dollars per outlet, he said.

"We've had conversations with lots of agents, and they all understand that, and we think they'll be vigilant," Rosenfeld said.

A letter from the commission sent last month to all communities stated that local officials had to decide about Keno-to-Go within 21 business days, or no later than today, but Rosenfeld said the deadline had been waived for those requesting more time.

Confusion over the letter prompted officials in Belmont and Woburn to ask the commission to send a representative to explain more about the game, they said. Rosenfeld said he had been on the road visiting many communities to fill them in on the details.

Another concern vexing some local officials, they said, was wording in the letter that appeared to require them to attend a hearing before the commission to explain their opposition to Keno-to-Go.

Mark Caggiano, chairman of the North Andover Board of Selectmen, said his board did not want to spend the money to send a representative to argue against accepting the game. That was the main rationale for voting unanimously not to oppose it, he said.

Upon discovering that they could inform the commission in writing, Caggiano said members expressed other reasons; while they did have scruples about allowing yet another form of gambling, he said, they recognized that a protest vote would not stop the game, particularly since state local aid is needed so badly.

"We've already got gambling in our convenience stores and our liquor stores and everywhere," he said. "I'm not sure Keno-to-Go is putting it over the top."

Connie Paige can be reached at cpaige@globe.com.