Keno ’s antecedent are in China , and the game was brought to the United States by Chinese immigrant in the late 1800s . It was in the beginning play with 80 Chinese characters , which in the United States were replaced by 80 Arabic numeral .

For a time in Nevada , each act was accompanied by the name of a racehorse , and the game was known as race horse beano . The knight ' names vanish in 1951 , when a tax on off - track count on horse was passed . Operators did n’t want their game err as betting on the horse . Still , remnants of racehorse keno game remain . Many gambling casino still call each game a " race " – if you bet on more than one plot at once , you corrupt a multirace ticket .

Almost all Nevada casino have keno lounges , where numbered bollock are coerce out through an air electric fan to determine the winners . Some tribal cassino in the upper Midwest also have alive keno lounges , and Atlantic City began offer lively keno in 1994 . On riverboat casinos , keno fancier play television versions , which have grown in flexibility and even offer bonus rounds in the telecasting slot age .

How to Play

In the live version , the player may mark anywhere from 1 through 20 numbers on a card that has 80 numbers set in eight row of ten . The player then takes the lineup to a keno writer and places a bet that the number selected will be among the 20 drawn in the next game . or else , the player sitting in one of the casino restaurants can pock a wag and give it with a stakes to a keno runner , who takes it to the keno writer and then bring back the tag . The bet is in multiples of the mansion minimum – usually $ 1 nowadays .

After the 20 number are get , acquire ticket are paid concord to a table that varies from house to house . For lesson , a four - spot tag with $ 1 wagered might return the $ 1 if two number hit , bring $ 5 if three numbers hit , and make up $ 120 if all four come in . But in another casino , the three - routine hit might pay $ 6 and all four $ 125 , and in another the payoffs might be $ 5 and $ 110 . Because of the variation , no payback part is vulgar enough to be foretell mediocre . Paybacks range from below 70 percent to more than 80 percent .

Bets

true just the ticket : bet the numbers marked as a single bet is yell play a straight slate . It ’s the simplest fashion to play , but many players wish to look more combination . One popular method is the " style tag . " For object lesson , a histrion might mark off six numbers , encircle two groups of three , and mark on the side of the ticket , " 2/3 , 1/6 . " The player then would play $ 3 to have $ 1 wagers on each of two three - spot combinations and on the six - spot .

top executive just the ticket : A number circle by itself is the power , which is used in all combinations marked . Let ’s say a seventh number in the previous example was circled as a king . The player then could mark off " 2/4 , 1/7 " to look two four - identification number combination – the king joining each of the three - bit groupings – and the overall seven number .

Combination ticket : The participant marks several number group and play combinations of them . For example , a ticket with two- , three- , and four - number group can be played as 1/2 , 1/3 , 1/4 , 1/5 ( the two- and three - number mathematical group together ) , 1/6 ( two- and four - number group ) , 1/7 ( three- and four - number ) , 1/9 ( all three groups ) . At $ 1 per game , the tag would cost $ 7 .

Progressive Jackpots

For high - number totals toy , or for freehanded wager , many keno games offer progressive jackpots . Sometimes the progressive jackpot gets high enough that the house is actually offer more than 100 pct payback . Late in 1994 , the kitty on a $ 2 eight - spot ticket pass $ 200,000 at a cassino in Las Vegas . At the $ 250,000 pot detonating equipment , the histrion would have an edge of 17.4 pct . Now that does n’t mean a player could sit down down and win steadily at a 17 percent rate . result can deviate wildly over a short point of time . A player can expect to hit eight - of - eight on the average of once every 230,000 trials , and the casino ’s eight - position was paying nothing below five - of - eight spots , so only 2 per centum of all ticket would collect anything at all .

Strategy

Overall , the returns at keno are too infrequent for anyone to act the game seriously . A game or two over breakfast in the casino coffee workshop or unbend in the keno lounge is plenty for many people . But some musician on a mean budget enjoy sitting in the keno lounge , being served free boozing and playing a buck at a time as an cheap manner to drop the day .

For someone who want to dally earnestly enough to go from gambling casino to casino , the best scheme is merely to equate pay tables and diddle at the house that pay the most for the number of place you select . There is no strategy for selecting telephone number – any number is as likely to descend up as any of the others .

Video Keno

Video beano is essentially the same game – he same 80 numbers coiffe in the same eight row on a telecasting sieve . Just touch the projection screen to pick your numbers . salary tables usually are skilful than at live keno , but you also play the video game much quicker and run a risk more money per hour than with the live biz . Keno car have followed the growth of telecasting slots , increasing in popularity at the nickel point . Quarter and buck games also are usable .

irrespective of how it ’s played , keno has emerged as a cassino basic since being usher in to the United States more than 100 years ago .

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