Owners of King's Head Pub use Oregon Lottery winnings to pay off their Forest Grove bar

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Co-owners of the King's Head pub, Wayne Cree (left) and Les Coleman, recently won a $116,984 Keno jackpot from the Oregon Lottery.

(Ken Centers / Forest Grove Leader)

You've heard the adage – it pays to work hard. While others say – it pays to be lucky.

For the gang at The King's Head English pub in Forest Grove, it paid to be both.

On Jan. 26, pub owners Les Coleman and his wife Jennie, Wayne Cree, and Cassandra Johnston won the Oregon Lottery's 8-spot Keno jackpot for $116, 984.

The partners have decided to pay off what's left of the debt on the pub they purchased eight months ago. Beyond that, they plan to meet soon and decide how best to proceed.

Coleman said he had never played the Keno game before. Because of the unusually large jackpot at the time, he and Cree decided to play a game at the Little Monkey Deli in Forest Grove and give it a try, with any winnings to be split between them.

Coleman plopped down $5 for a five game quick pick ticket and went back to work at the pub, just a few doors down from the deli.

Oregon Lottery Keno games are available every 4 minutes. When players play the 8-Spot, if no one matches all eight numbers, the un-won prize amount is rolled into the next game.

"I was cooking lunch at that time," Coleman said. "After it was slow, I went over and scanned the [ticket's] barcode. It said 'Congratulations, you need to go to Salem.' I don't know how much I'd won. I gave it to the bartender and she said 'oh my god, oh my god.' But she couldn't tell me how much it was for. I knew it was big by her reaction."

He looked the numbers up online and realized he had them all. The prize had rolled to the 17th largest Keno 8-spot prize since the game was introduced in 1991.

The next day, the bar owners headed to Salem to claim their prize. They waited three hours while their ticket was verified and security checks made, and State Troopers were sent to the Little Monkey Deli to verify their lottery machine was in proper working order.

After taxes, each couple received more than $39,000.

Coleman and Cree, both originally from England, opened the King's Head pub to bring a taste of a traditional English pub to Forest Grove. The business has become a popular spot for dart teams and authentic English food. They plan to continue running the bar and invest more in the business.

Cree said he had often been questioned about playing lottery games. His answer is, "If you don't play, you can't win."

Coleman said you've got to take a bit of risk in life. In his case, he said, he basically won a bar on a $1 bet.

--Ken Centers

kcenters@oregonian.com

503-294-4034

@KenFGLeader

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