» When First Appeared Keno Game

One of the most popular games at any casino is Keno. It is a game similar to the big state or provincial lotteries. Keno was introduced in China by its head of state more than 2000 years ago. But the appearance of keno is wrapped in 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. After some considerations he created the game of keno, which immediately got very popular and thus profitable for the state. The game was a success and it is cited as a major reason for the victory of Cheung's forces. It also contributed resources to building the Great Wall! Later keno was known as the White Pigeon game as people of surrounding villages were informed of the winning numbers by carrier pigeons.
The keno boards of the past consisted of the Chinese characters but not of the numbers. 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.
In the middle of the 19th keno was brought to the US. 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.