Nelson voters to decide fate of keno

This election day, Nelson voters will have the opportunity to authorize keno in their community.

In Nebraska, state law requires local voters to approve the game and local elected officials to spend profits on “community betterment purposes.” The owners of D&D’s Lyons Den believe hosting the game would benefit the Nelson community by providing an additional source of tax revenue for city government.

On average, 76 cents of every dollar wagered stays in the games for player pay-outs. Vendors who run the game for a municipality get about 12 1⁄2 cents. The state receives 2 cents in taxes, which leaves close to 9 cents for the city to spend. The communities of Lawrence and Superior have received keno revenue for several years. The Villiage of Oak even sponsored Keno for a time before the establishment owner became ill and closed the doors to his business.

If the lottery is approved, D&D’s plans to return to regular business hours of Tuesday through Saturday, from 11 a.m. to 1 a.m., only closing early at 11 p.m. if no one is in the establishment.