Bartender gets a winning $17,5000 Keno lottery ticket as tip
/At Conway's Restaurant and Lounge in Springfield, a bartender's regular way of receiving tips turned into a life-changing moment.
Aurora Kephart, a 25-year-old bartender, often gets tipped with Keno tickets by her customers.
This unique form of tipping by one of her regulars brought her an unexpected windfall on one Tuesday night.
The anonymous patron offered Kephart two Keno tickets as a tip, leaving her to choose which ones she wanted.
To her surprise, the first ticket won her $5, but the second ticket truly astonished her, turning into a whopping $17,500 gratuity.
Recalling the moment, Kephart said, "The look on his face was incredible."
She tried to return the ticket to its original owner, saying, "I automatically handed it back to him; it was his ticket."
However, the generous customer insisted that Kephart keep the winning ticket, even making her sign it to ensure that she would be the one to claim the prize.
Kephart says that 80 percent of her customers are regulars. Their reaction to her good fortune was overwhelmingly positive, with Kephart recounting, "The reaction was crazy. Everyone was so amped up."
Despite the excitement surrounding her big win, Kephart remained professional and continued her shift at the busy bar. The following day, she visited the Oregon Lottery office in Salem to claim her prize.
Kephart revealed that she later shared a portion of her winnings with the man who had given her the ticket
