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. Still the origins of the game are really a bit of a mystery. Several different versions exist.
According to one assumption the game was invented during a war in China in order to supply the army with money. 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 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.
The keno board didn't always look the same way. The Chinese classic characters were used instead of numbers. 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.

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