» Keno Lottery Terms

Keno is played at modern casinos, it is a lottery-like or bingo-like gambling game. There is a circular glass enclosure called a "bubble" containing 80 ping pong-like balls which determine the balldraw result in keno. There are numbers from 1 to 80 on each keno ball. During the balldraw, a blower pushes air into the bubble and mixes the balls. A lever opening a tube is pressed by a "caller" and then the balls lift one at a time into a "V" shaped tube called the "rabbit ears". Each of 20 balls drawn are recorded by the caller and a "verifier" and all wagers based on the numbers drawn are calculated by the computerized keno system.
One can choose any numbers on a a blank keno ticket form and mark them with an "X". After all players successfully place their wagers, the casino draws 20 balls (numbers) at random.
Every casino has its "paytables" - series of pay scale choices. Depending on how many numbers drawn match the numbers selected on the ticket the player is paid this or that sum of money. Players will find a wide variation of keno paytables from casino to casino and a large deviation in the house edge set for each of those paytables. One can hardly find two absolutely identical keno paytables.
The house edge ranges from less than 4% to 66%.