Keno is not as popular a game
as one would think, only
because much of the gambling
population does not
necessarily understand the
object of the game. Many see
keno as simply a derivative of
bingo somehow, and yet the two
games are vastly different in
many ways. Where bingo is
simply about chance, many feel
that in keno you have some
control over the winning or
losing of the game.
Keno has been around since the
Han Dynasty in China,
originating somewhere between
205 and 187 B.C. The game does
not appear until the 19th
century in the United States
when it is brought over by
Chinese immigrants. The word
simply means five, and comes
from both Latin and French
roots. The French root for
five is quine, and the Latin
root for five is quini. Either
way, it has been played in
China for more than 2000
years.
The idea behind
keno is that each player is
given a card where players
wager by making an “X” over
the “spot” choices that they
want. A blank keno ticket has
80 numbered selection boxes
and once the players have all
made their selections the
casino draws 20 balls at
random. These balls are
traditionally taken from a
circular glass enclosure
called a bubble, which holds
80 balls each having one of
the numbers on the keno board.
The keno player is paid
based on how many numbers
drawn match the numbers chosen
on the ticket – and according
to the pay table selected when
the wager amount was recorded.
The amount that you will
ultimately make off of the
keno game is determined by
where you play as well, for
the payouts and odds change
from casino to casino.
The house edge for the typical
keno game in a casino is
4-66%. The edge for non slot
casino games is between 0-5%.
The odds for a keno game are
simple really. The payout is
determined by how many numbers
the player chooses and how
many get called. This is then
multiplied by the proportion
of the player’s original wager
to the “base rate” of the pay
table. This means that as a
rule the more numbers that you
play, and the more numbers
that are hit, the more money
you will make off of it.
Some pay tables will pay
extra or a specified amount
for hitting a specific spot on
the card. The payouts are so
different from casino to
casino, that keno players will
find no two are alike. The
probability of hitting all of
the numbers on your card is
really not very high. However,
it is possible to hit the
“catches” which are 0, 1, 2,
3, and 7 through 19. This
increases the payout to the
player. But the more numbers
that you try and hit the less
chance that you have of
hitting them. Here are the
approximate payouts:
20
Spots 0 Hits: 1 In 843.380 Or
0.11857057% 20 Spots 1
Hits: 1 In 86.446 Or
1.15678605% 20 Spots 2
Hits: 1 In 20.115 Or
4.97142576% 20 Spots 3
Hits: 1 In 8.009 Or
12.48637168% 20 Spots 4
Hits: 1 In 4.877 Or
20.50318987% 20 Spots 5
Hits: 1 In 4.287 Or
23.32807380% 20 Spots 6
Hits: 1 In 5.258 Or
19.01745147% 20 Spots 7
Hits: 1 In 8.826 Or
11.32954556% 20 Spots 8
Hits: 1 In 20.055 Or
4.98618021% 20 Spots 9
Hits: 1 In 61.420 Or
1.62814048% 20 Spots 10
Hits: 1 In 253.801 Or
0.39401000% 20 Spots 11
Hits: 1 In 1423.822 Or
0.07023351% 20 Spots 12
Hits: 1 In 10968.701 Or
0.00911685% 20 Spots 13
Hits: 1 In 118084.920 Or
0.00084685% 20 Spots 14
Hits: 1 In 1821881.628 Or
0.00005489% 20 Spots 15
Hits: 1 In 41751453.986 Or
0.00000240% 20 Spots 16
Hits: 1 In 1496372110.872 Or
0.00000007% 20 Spots 17
Hits: 1 In 90624035964.712 Or
0.00000000% 20 Spots 18
Hits: 1 In 10512388171906.553
Or 0.00000000% 20 Spots 19
Hits: 1 In
2946096785176811.500 Or
0.00000000% 20 Spots 20
Hits: 1 In
3535316142212173800.000 Or
0.00000000%
There are
four ways that the keno balls
can be selected. They can come
from a “rabbit ear” blower,
which is the most common one;
they can come from an “AKV”
which is an automatic blower
that sends encoded messages
from the balls to a computer;
a random number generator
which chooses the numbers; or
the “hand cage” which is a
spinning metal ball cage that
rolls the numbers into a slot
and a person validates them.
When playing live instead
of online, there are “keno
runners” who take your wager
to the keno booth and get it
processed for you. It is
important to check it and see
that the wager receipt is
correct. If it isn’t you have
to get it corrected before the
game balldraw is drawn. Once
that happens the ticket stays
the way it is and the receipt
governs in any disputes.
You can also play multi
race keno where you can book a
keno ticket for any number of
sequential races all the way
up to 1000. The races must be
the next one in the row and
when it is finished they can
redeem any winnings that they
might have. It used to be that
you had to cash in as soon as
the game had ended but now
there is a late pay window. It
depends from casino to casino
how long they will honor your
keno ticket so it is still
better to cash in as soon as
possible just in case you
should lose your win.
The odds vary, but they are
usually best for the three
spot game where the winner
will get approximately $0.62
on the dollar or a 38% loss.
The odds go down from there,
as do the payouts.
