» Facts About Keno Game

Keno, a bingo-like or a lottery-like gambling game, is played nowadays at practically every casino. The game itself was first developed in China in 187 BC by the head of state, Cheung Leung. But the appearance of keno is wrapped in a mystery. There can be found several different opinions.
The generally accepted theory is that the game was invented during some war in China when the army needed money badly. The city residents didn't want to give their money to support the unworthy aim of the emperor. 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. Thus Cheung's army was saved. It also contributed resources to building the Great Wall! Keno was later given a different name - the White Pigeon game. That was not for nothing: carrier pigeons informed the surrounding towns and villages of the winning numbers.
In the past rather than having a board of just numbers on the original keno boards, they used classic Chinese characters. 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.
Thousads of Chinese immigrants, who came to America to work in the mines in the mid 1800's, brought keno there. The fact that gambling games were forbidden didn't prevent the Chinese from playing and spreading it all over the States. 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.