Guide to Playing Online Casino Keno – Find Great Entertainment and Huge Jackpots

Keno is actually more of a lottery style of game than a game of skill or understanding. You simply pick several numbers on a ticket and hope they are drawn from the ping-pong ball machine. Things aren’t all that different if you choose to play at a keno online casino. It’s just that the whole thing is computerised. If you enjoy the anticipation of the lottery and the fun you’re going to be interested in giving keno a try. One of the purest forms of gambling is picking numbers and seeing if they come up. And this is keno in a nutshell.

The online game of keno has its roots in Ancient China

The history of keno takes us way back to Ancient China when a man named Cheung Leung devised the original keno game. There’s a story behind it and it goes like this. During a war, the people that lived in the same city as Cheung refused to help the army financially as they feared it would ruin them. Keno was devised by Leung as a way to raise money for the army. The money raised was enough to enable the army to defeat the enemy and save the city. The game Leung devised was based on an ancient poem called “The Thousand Character Classic”. As you might expect from the title there were one thousand different characters in rhyme and it was used to help children learn the language. Obviously, Leung didn’t use all 1,000 characters but instead chose 120 and laid them out on a board. Bets would be placed as to where counters would land when thrown onto the board. Up to a maximum of 10 bets were allowed and they were marked using a quill pen. The marks were called Keno Spots, and this name is still used today. The success of Leung’s game meant it spread to other villages and cities in China. There is a legend that says the proceed from keno helped finance the construction of the Great Wall of China. In China the game was also called “Great White Pigeon Game”. This is because white pigeons were used to send results to other cities. Over time the number of characters was reduced to 90 and by the time it reached America the number of characters had been reduced to just 80. Keno was brought to America in the 1800s by Chinese immigrants who were working on the railroads. Gambling was actually illegal in America but keno thrived amongst the Chinese immigrants. The game flourished around the San Francisco area because this was were there was a large concentration of Chinese immigrants. It was called the Chinese Lottery by the locals and created a lot of interest. So much so that the Chinese characters were changed to Arabic numerals, making it easier for English speakers to play. Keno had made to and been integrated into American culture. It wasn’t until 1931 that gambling was legalised in America. However, lotteries were still illegal. Keno players found a way around this, ever resourceful as we humans can be and changed the name of the game to “Race Horse Keno”. It was implied that the numbers on the keno board represented a horse and therefore the bets were bets on horse races. A vestige of this remains in that rounds of keno are still known as races.

The twentieth century brings keno to the masses

In the early twentieth century keno finally made it to the casinos where it was played with 80 numbers written on pieces of paper and rolled up into tubes. 20 numbers would be drawn from the tubes at the beginning of the game and these were the winning numbers. The tubes were eventually replaced with wooden balls with numbers carved onto them and they were called peas. The game was developed even further when a Nevada casino owner named Warren Nelson introduced a system that involved drawing numbered balls from a rotating cage. The first legal keno casino game was played in 1936, when Nelson opened his own casino. Casino keno is still played the same way today. However, technology has managed to take the game even further. It’s still played the same but many keno casinos now have computer-controlled keno cages. And of course, the game can now be played online at a keno casino online. Now you can appreciate the game you play today, whether it’s online or in a land-based casino, is more than 3,000 years old.

Keno is similar to a lottery but way faster – here’s how to play

There aren’t too many online casino games much simpler than keno. But in spite of it’s simplicity, it’s really rather fun and exciting. You have to guess what numbers will be drawn, from 1 to 80, by the online keno casino computer. As we’ve said, it’s similar to a lottery and also bingo, but much quicker and the games are played more frequently. First step, when playing casino online keno is to pick the amount of your wager, either by increasing or decreasing your coin size. Next step is to pick your lucky keno numbers. There are usually 80 numbers on the average keno board, and you get to pick up to 15, depending on your strategy. The numbers come up highlighted in blue. Then you simply click the play button and wait for the twenty random numbers to be picked by the keno software. You get a hit if any of the winning numbers match yours. And if you get enough you’re a winner. How much you win depends on how many numbers you pick and how many hits you make. For example:

• Pick one number and it hits – 3 coins
• Pick eight numbers and four of them hit – 3 coins
• Pick eight numbers and five hit – 6 coins
• Pick eight and six hit – 19 coins
• Pick eight and seven hit – 90 coins
• Pick eight and all eight hit – 720 coins
• Pick a maximum of fifteen numbers and they all hit – 10,000 coins

The value of a coin depends on the coin size you picked at the beginning of the game. To stop players getting mixed up or confused the payout schedule is always prominently displayed on your screen. As you can see the game itself is really very simple. The wagering isn’t all that complicated either. So is there anything you can do at all to improve you chances of winning in this online keno game of chance?

Quick tips on playing at a casino keno online

There’s not really a lot you can do to affect the outcome of the number draw. It is after all, completely random and pure luck whether you choose any winning numbers. However, as with any online casino game there are a number of tips worth following.

Read the payout charts

Before you make a wager or pick your numbers you should always read the payout chart. Your aim will be to hit a minimum percentage win. When you know what you’re playing for and what you need to do it’s much easier to sit back and concentrate on the game.

Play consistently

It’s a good idea to play the same set of numbers as this will make it easier to see what numbers are coming up more frequently. One simple strategy that might be worth following will be to watch the numbers that come up and pick a range of higher or lower numbers in the same area.

Consider the online casino keno bonuses very carefully

You’ll find a large number of online keno casinos offer very attractive bonuses, especially when you first join. This serves to give you a helping hand when you start playing online casino keno games. However, be certain to read the terms and conditions very carefully as you may need to meet certain criteria with regards wagering requirements.

Remember winning is a matter of luck not skill

There are ways in which you can improve your chances of winning. For example, choosing fewer numbers rather than more. But at the end of the day remember that keno is a game of luck, rather than skill. Following on from this last tip, it’s time we looked at the probability side of the game.

When you play keno it’s going to help to understand the laws of probability

The payouts at a keno online casino are based on how many numbers you choose and how many of those hit. This is multiplied by the proportion of your original wager to the “base rate” of the paytable. As a rule of thumb, the more numbers you choose and the more you hit, the bigger the prize money. However, every online keno casino you visit will have its own payout table, so check it out before risking any money. Probability comes into working out the odds and change significantly depending on the number of spots picked on each ticket. The probability of you hitting all 20 numbers on a 20 spot ticket is approximately 1 in 3.5 quintillion. So shall we say, it’s very unlikely to happen. But what are the chances of probability of hitting any other combination of numbers? Let’s put it all in a table to help you see the odds of you winning a certain number of hits.

This kind of puts it into perspective. You realise that this is a game with pretty poor odds, especially for anything over 10. 8 is a pretty good bet to make. So when you’re looking for an online casino keno is played at, check the payout tables up to the 8 hit mark.

Getting to know the game of online casino keno

When you play keno at an online casino every game will be a little bit different. However, there are a few common elements it’ll be good for you to learn about.

• Keno card – this is a giant grid of numbers, pretty much like a large lottery ticket, with numbers from 1 to 80. Typically, there will be eight rows of 10 numbers on an online casino keno card.
• Pay Table – this is a table that shows how much you can expect to win for the number of catches you make. Rather than being paid for hitting more numbers, in keno you get paid if the percentage of numbers you hit is high. Let’s explain this with an example. Catch 6 out of 6 selected numbers and it could net you a payout of 1800 times your bet. On the other hand, catch 6 out of 14 and you may only net 2 times your original bet.
• Quick Pick – if for whatever reason, you don’t feel like picking your own numbers you can hit the Quick Pick button and let the computer do the picking for you.

With all that you’ve read and your own common sense you’re now ready to try and play online casino keno. Keno online is a whole lot of fun, and there’s also a chance to win some extra money. Keno is still a relatively new game offered at many online casinos and is trying to catch up with other favourites such as slot machines and table games. But don’t worry about finding the best experience because we can help with our reviews and information pages.