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Keno

The game of Keno began during the Han Dynasty in China. It is said that the game became so popular that it raised funds to help in the building of the Great Wall. Keno did not make it to America until the 1800's, but the game has been popular ever since.

The Game

The game of Keno is much like bingo as 80 ping pong like balls are in a bubble or an enclosed area. The balls are blown around in this enclosed area until a caller presses a lever which releases 20 of these balls into a v-shaped tube. All of these numbers are recorded and odds are formed based on which balls appeared.

Players of this game receive a blank sheet with 80 spots to be filled in and the object is to predict as many numbers as possible. Casinos will then have set paytables which list the amount people receive based on the number of balls they predicted correctly.

Each casino sets its own paytable and it may even have multiple paytables depending on the day. This makes for varying house edges as they can be anywhere from 5% to 65%. Typically and mathematically predicting 5 numbers out of 20 is the most common.

Odds

The payouts are determined strictly on odds and picking 0 numbers correctly could lead to a huge payout versus picking 5 correctly would not pay much at all. The most difficult thing to do in Keno is to predict 20 out of 20 which has a 1 in 3.5 quintillion chance of happening. Since these odds are so bad most casinos will pay $20,000 or some huge bonus to any player who can predict 17 or more correctly.

Keno Today

Keno players make ball selections and wagers at the booth before the balls are drawn. Then keno runners will walk around the room taking wagers and keno sheets from customers in order to process the sheets. After the sheet is processed the runner will return the sheet to the customer as a receipt.

Players do not have to be present at that time as monitors and televisions post these numbers all around the casino. Late tickets use to be declined, but now casinos are allowing some late tickets to be accepted. Rules on this matter vary from one casino to another so it would be wise to check these rules before hand.

Most Keno players play multiple races using the same numbers or the same ticket. The maximum amount of races allowed is 1,000 and races run every 5 to 6 minutes. Players also use many different combinations and groups when forming their Keno sheets. Different paytables make Keno a very interesting and exciting game.