» Keno: how to play

The game begins with the following: a "keno runner" calls "keno" and offers to carry the wagers to the booth. The keno runner collects the wagers and the "inside tickets" of the players. A keno wager form filled out by the customer is called the "inside ticket". Then he takes the wager and ticket to the keno counter for processing. The keno runner returns with an "outside" ticket, which is the official wager receipt. It is obligatory for the player to check up his ticket before the beginning of the game. Any errors not corrected before the balldraw begins are not normally rectified.

After all the balls are drawn, the winners get their payouts, which are often quite different in different gambling houses. If you have, for example, a four-spot ticket, you are paid 1:1 if 2 numbers hit, 1:5 if 3 numbers hit and 1:120! if all the 4 numbers hit. The payouts at other casinos will more often than not differ. Because of the variation, no payback percentage is common enough to be called average. Paybacks range from below 70 percent to more than 80 percent.

» History of keno

Keno, a game similar to the big state or provincial lotteries, is easy to play and one of the most popular games in any casino. The game itself was first developed in China in 187 BC by the head of state, Cheung Leung. Still the origins of the game are really a bit of a mystery. Several different versions exist.

One theory is that Cheung Leung of the Han Dynasty introduced the game when his city was at war for several years and was beginning to run out of money and supplies. The citizens refused to contribute additional funds to the fruitless cause of the war. So Cheung was left scratching his head as to how to generate the necessary finances to continue his brutal battles. Finally, Cheung had the brilliant idea of creating a game that would appeal to the huge numbers of people under his command, while simultaneously generating a bit of cash to cover his expenses. The game was a success and it is cited as a major reason for the victory of Cheung's forces. It is also credited for providing resources and helping to fund the massive undertaking of building the Great Wall! The game soon became known as the White Pigeon game, since carrier pigeons were used to inform surrounding towns and villages of the winning numbers.

At first Chinese classic characters instead of numbers were printed on the keno boards. Originally, as many as 120 characters were used in the game, and only after it left China would the number drop to a more familiar 80.

The game arrived in the US in the mid 1800's when thousands of Chinese immigrants came to work in the mines and on the railroad. Although initially outlawed, Keno continued to be played in secrecy by these new immigrants. It continued to use Chinese characters and thus obviously didn't enter popular mainstream American culture until it was modified to include the numerical system.