» Origins Of Keno Game

Keno, a bingo-like or a lottery-like gambling game, is played nowadays at practically every casino. Keno was introduced in China by its head of state more than 2000 years ago. Still the origins of the game are really a bit of a mystery. There exist several 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 the emperor tried to work out a strategy of generating the necessary finances. Cheung found an excellent solution to this problem: he created a very popular game - keno. 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.
The keno board didn't always look the same way. The Chinese classic characters were used instead of numbers. The total of 120 characters was used in the game but the number reduced to 80 in the long run.
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. 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.