» Ancestors Of Keno Lottery

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.
The generally accepted theory is that the game was invented during some war in China when the army needed money badly. The head of state had no money support of his subjects. So the emperor tried to work out a strategy of generating the necessary finances. 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 is also credited for providing resources and helping to fund the massive undertaking of 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.
At first Chinese classic characters instead of numbers were printed on the keno boards. If at first the game included 120 characters, this number dropped to 80 in the course of time.
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.