Keno is a lottery-like game that’s often offered in land-based and online casinos, there’s no skill involved as it’s totally random, and the players can win a lot of money. Keno most likely originated in ancient China, and it is said that the widespread popularity of the game helped raise necessary funds to build the Great Wall of China.
Keno is a game that can pay a $5,000,000 jackpot on a $1 ticket, with payouts structured in such a way that a lot of money can be won even when landing only a handful of numbers, which explains why the game is so popular. It can be found at the majority of online casinos. The game is also played in land-based casinos, and some state lotteries include keno in their offer and conduct weekly TV draws. Keno is everywhere as the players enjoy the simplicity and the potential of life-changing wins.
Keno Game rules
Keno is a game that resembles lottery and bingo, and it is played using tickets with 80 numbers on them. After that, 20 numbers are randomly drawn using a ball machine or a random number generator. Players are paid according to how many numbers they managed to mark off on their ticket. There are versions with more or less spots on a ticket, and more or less numbers drawn, but 20 numbers drawn from a pool of 80 is by far the most common example.
Keno has its own terminology that is quite simple. Ticket is the keno betting card each player gets and gets to pick the numbers on it, Race is a keno game, Spots are the numbers on the ticket that the player picks, and Catching a Spot is when the drawn number matches the one on the ticket.
When a player gets the keno card, he will be allowed to choose from 1 to 10 numbers, though some casinos allow the player to choose 12 or even 15 numbers. Payouts will change depending on the casino, on how many numbers the player chooses, and of course will differ depending on the number of spots a player catches.
Video keno is a fast paced game in which draws are determined by the random number generator, and some of these video keno games have additional bonuses. For example, Caveman Keno offers extra multipliers on keno rounds, Cleopatra Keno has a free spin bonus, and Four-Card Keno lets you play four cards at the same time. Video keno is usually a better choice as far as odds, payouts and house edge are concerned, and this game also allows a player to play many more hands per hour, increasing the chances of winning but also of losing during that period.
Live keno can be played in land-based establishments or in online casinos, and this game resembles bingo. These games are much slower, with a new round starting every 5 to 10 minutes, but a big advantage here is that progressive jackpots can be huge, sometimes even $5,000,000 or more than that.
How to play Keno
There is almost no skill needed to play keno, which plays a big role in the worldwide popularity of the game, as any player who understands the basic rules and who knows how to buy and fill the ticket can win the jackpot, a lot of money for a smaller number of caught spots, or at least some money to pay for the ticket itself. These are great qualities for a game that can win you money, as it’s just enough to have a ticket ready and then let luck unfold. There are also very few variations to the game, so it’s almost always the same tickets with 20 numbers and the same 80 numbers that are being drawn. This makes the game universal and if a player learned to play at one establishment he’ll know how to play in the next one.
Game payouts can differ from casino to casino, so it’s crucial to check how much does a casino pay for various number of spots caught before playing keno there. Payouts differ according to the number of spots that are picked on the ticket, so for example for landing 9 spots on a 9 spot ticket the prize for $1 will be $25,000 while landing 9 spots on a 10 spot ticket will give the player $10,000. This is just an example, as payouts can vary greatly from casino to casino.
The probability of hitting all 20 spots on a 20 number tickets is almost infinitely small, though the chance of hitting 10 spots on a 20-number ticket ticket is reasonable, around 0.50%, and it’s usually the 10 spots that need to be caught to get the best prize.
Straight ticket is a single ticket with a specific number of spots chosen, and then the player has to hit some or all of the selected spots to get a payout according to the pay table. This is the simplest type of ticket to play. Way ticket, on the other hand, increases the probability of winning as the player can choose groups of numbers, and a popular bet is a 190 way ticket which has 190 ways to win.
King number tickets add a so-called king number to the mix, where groups no longer consist of 4 numbers but 3 numbers plus a king number, and there can be more than one 3-spot group that will be completed with the king number as the fourth spot. There’s also a 1-spot bet on the king number.
Split tickets have a combination of more than one straight bet. This is the same as playing two sets of numbers on the same ticket, as if two tickets were used, except that in a split ticket the same number can’t be chosen twice so many players believe it’s actually better to just play two straight tickets. Combination tickets are tickets in which more types of bets are combined. For example, the same ticket can have a straight bet, a king bet, or a way bet, and each one pays accordingly.
For a start, it would be good to just play straight tickets until a player gets a bit more experience, and then alternative bets can be explored to increase the chances of winning. Choosing the numbers on a ticket doesn’t matter one bit so there’s no need to sweat over the choice of numbers. Every number has the exact same chance of being drawn, and even if you’d choose a combination of consecutive numbers on the ticket the chance of winning would still be the same. Since you can see the history of drawn numbers, some players choose to bet on the ‘cold numbers’ which haven’t been drawn in a while, but this again doesn’t increase chances of winning in any way. Playing more than one ticket in the same draw, and playing more numbers, does increase the probability of winning, of course.
Online keno for real money
Keno, both video keno and live keno, is common in online casinos so there’s no shortage of places where keno can be played online. Many players go online to play keno as it offers a chance to play keno at any time, with fast draws, as opposed to weekly TV draws or live keno in land-based casinos which demand a dedicated night out.
Many online casinos will offer special promotions for keno so it’s good to be on the lookout for those. For example, some casinos may offer a top 40 or bottom 40 ticket, which means you get the first 40 or last 40 numbers on your ticket, increasing the probability of winning. There can also be increased payouts or lower house edge during the promotional period. Some casinos also offer added bonus features such as wild numbers, free bonus spins, or other perks at no cost to the player.
It’s crucial to check the payouts of a keno table, whether it’s video keno or live keno, as these can differ greatly, so it’s common sense to pick a table with larger payouts, avoiding the one where payouts aren’t as good as they should be. This takes some practice and experience, but actively searching for best payouts will have a significant effect on the amount of money that is won. Also, it makes sense to play a progressive jackpot table as opposed to a table that doesn’t offer a huge prize for catching the same number of spots. Since this is a lottery game that’s totally random, it makes sense to provoke the luck and play for the big jackpot instead of being satisfied with a small win.
It is important to remember that keno is a lottery type of game in which chances of winning aren’t that great, so playing a fast-paced version of keno, usually online, can burn through the bankroll quickly without issuing a win. That’s why a player should develop his playing strategy before starting to play, and dedicate a bankroll to a number of tickets that will be played. This would prevent unpleasant experiences and would still give a player a chance to win big.