March 19, 2024
Keno History Guide

Keno History – ‘The Chinese Lottery’

Where do pigeons, the Great Wall of China and the Wild West come together? Why in keno of course! Get your keno history lesson here.

Keno’s Chinese Origins

Keno is one of the oldest games in the world, and is believed to have first been played in China over 2000 years ago.

The game was reputedly invented by a man named Cheung Leung as a money spinning venture. He needed to raise money to fund his army and then rebuild his city following a destructive war. The success of this idea soon meant that the game spread throughout China and it was even used to fund building work on part of the Great Wall of China.

In these early games, announcements of the draw were carried to surrounding villages using white pigeons – and so the game was originally known as the ‘white pigeon’ game. As you’ll see, the name has been changed several times since then, mostly to get round legal or taxation issues.

Keno as we now know it uses the numbers 1-80, but the original Chinese version of the game used 120 characters, and players could choose just 10 to bet on. Those characters were from a poem called “The Thousand Character Classic”, which was used to teach reading and writing to children. The numbers of characters used reduced from 120 to 90 over time.

Keno Spreads to America

The game was brought to America in the 19th century by early Chinese immigrants and was played in the ‘wild west’ by workers on the Old West railroad. At first Keno was illegal in America, but it was nonetheless widely played, especially around big cities like San Francisco. However, English speaking Americans had difficulty with the Chinese characters. So in order to widen the appeal of the game, in the early 20th Century keno operators replaced the 90 Chinese characters with Arabic numbers and reduced the size of the draw down to the current 80.

Omaha, Nebraska was for a long time the keno capital of the U.S. But when gambling was banned in Nebraska, Nevada took over the game.

Until the 1930’s the game was still known as the Chinese lottery. The problem was that lotteries were at that time illegal, even though many other forms of gambling had been legalised. So in an effort to get round the gambling laws, casino operators in 1930’s Nevada disguised it as a bingo-type game and changed the name to Race Horse Keno – bingo and horse race betting were both legal! That explains why many keno operations still call their games “races”.

When the U.S. Government started to tax off track betting, the name was changed again, this time to just Keno.

In the 1960’s the keno payout limit in Nevada was $25k. In 1979 it was increased to $50k. In the late 1980’s the cap was eliminated, and casinos can now set their own limits.

Other changes to the game have involved the introduction of tickets that allow several different bets – ‘ways’ – on the same ticket, and a wide variety of special games that are offered in individual casinos. Find out more about keno tickets.

Keno in Australia

Keno has a long history in Australia, dating back to the early 1900s when it was first introduced in New South Wales as a form of lottery called Art Union. The game underwent a name change to Keno in the 1960s and was introduced to licensed clubs and hotels in the state.

Keno continued to grow in popularity and eventually spread to other Australian states, including Tasmania, Victoria, Queensland, and Western Australia. The game is now widely played across the country, with numerous venues such as pubs, clubs, and casinos hosting regular Keno draws every few minutes.

Players of Keno in Australia typically choose between 1 and 20 numbers from a pool of 80, and then wait for a random draw of 20 numbers to see if any of their chosen numbers match. The more numbers they match, the higher their winnings. There are variations of the game, such as Jackpot Keno, where the prize pool can grow substantially, increasing the potential winnings for players.

Keno in Australia is regulated by state governments and is operated by gaming and wagering companies such as Tabcorp, which runs Keno games in New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, and the Australian Capital Territory. The game has become a popular pastime for many Australians, who enjoy the quick and simple nature of the draws, as well as the potential for large payouts.

Internet Keno

Internet Keno

Keno is alike to lottery, all you need to do is to mark numbers on your ticket, if you get few numbers right you win. Just like a lottery ticket, the keno ticket gives you a chance to win big prizes for a small wage. The following guide apply both for base-land and online casinos as well.

Online Keno Basics

Unlike in lottery in you can fill only few numbers – from one number up to the ticket’s maximum allowed. Today, many online casinos offer keno games that allow you to mark more than ten numbers, which is the maximun amount of numbers allowed in many land based casinos. At our you will be able to find ones that allow it.

Before you learn how to play you must know the following: the game begins you must first purchase a ticket, which is available in many places in every casino, if you can’t find a place to purchase a ticket simply ask around.

Lounge Keno Guide

If you sit in a keno lounge then tickets would be present on the tables, laying there waiting to be picked up. After you get a ticket, which is also considered as a master keno guide, according to the rules you must mark the numbers you picked with big X’s. Casinos put forward crayons in keno lounges with no charge so don’t trouble yourself with buying one in advance.Once you have placed X’s on your numbers you need to write how many numbers you chose on the ticket.

Often keno tickets are named according to the total numbers you picked. A two number ticket is called a “Two Spots” ticket while a five-numbers is a “Five Spots” ticket.If you filled your ticket in the casino, but no near to the keno lounge, where the game takes place, you may give your ticket with money to a runner. Arunner is a casino member of staff which is in charge on moving in the casino and taking keno tickets from guests, they also have a copy of the house’s keno rules.

Play Keno Games Online

Keno Games Online

Playing Keno Online – A Simple Guide to Get You Started on Your Keno Career

Two games that you may enjoy playing when you are entering an online casino are Keno and slots. While slots are offered at just about every online casino, Keno is not. You should learn as much as you can about the game of Keno before you start to play.

Learn to Play before You Pay

When you are looking for the ideal online casino site, you will want to look for one that will not only feature the games that you are looking to play, but will also makes it easy for you to play them. While slots are pretty easy for anyone to pick up, Keno requires you learning the rules. If you would like to try to play this game but are not sure of the rules, read up on the rules and then start playing on paper.

Playing on paper means that you are not playing for real money. Many online casinos will allow you to do this. You cannot win any money if you wager when you are playing on paper, but this is the best way to get the hang of the game.

Keno Jackpots

When you are looking to play slots online, you will find jackpots, progressives and many other types of slots at just about every site. One thing that you should be aware of is that if you use a bonus for the online casino, in many cases it is not good for progressive slots. Even with a simple game like slots, it pays to know the rules. This is especially true if you are planning on taking advantage of casino bonuses.

Choose Your Casino Wisely

If you do not have time to read all of the rules of the online casino with regard to the rules of Keno, then you should read reviews of the casinos. Casino reviews can be found at online casino guides. They are written by people who have played at various sites and who are not only familiar with the rules of the game, but also with the way that the site operates regarding paying out and even the ease of using the software.

These reviews are unbiased and can tell you which are the best online casino sites for games such as slots or Keno, as well as any other game that you have in mind. Not all online casinos are equally created. But it can be difficult to tell one from another by visiting them as they all promise you big money and a chance to have fun.

Learn well – Win big

The best way to do anything right is to prepare by reading. This means that you should not only read up on rules regarding keno games that you do not understand, but also read up on online casinos so that you can tell one from another and discover which might be the best for you.

Once you have read all you can, get the feel of playing at the online casinos by playing on paper – even when you are playing slots – until you get to the point where you are ready to start playing with your money and winning cash.