Keno is a lottery style game of chance, similar in its goals to Bingo. Keno hails from China where it was alledgedly created by an inventive person known as Cheung Leung. He came up with the game as a means to generate funds, but also managed to kick start this exceptionally popular game.

As with Bingo and lotteries the aim of the game is to choose a series of numbers in the hope that the same numbers will be drawn out of the hat. It is not necessary to get all the numbers as casinos pay out different amounts for a few successful choices.

The basics - The player gets a game card on which a grid of 80 numbers is printed. The game is based around the player choosing a number of these numbers and then wagering that they will crop up in the round they the card entered for. Keno offers some of the biggest payouts in casinos both online and in the real world.

Game layout - Players fill in their card with their chosen numbers and combinations, they choose how much they are prepared to wager and then pay their bet and get the card authorised for an upcoming game. The game is played either on a screen individually against the machine. Generally though it is played with many other people sitting in a room with a large screen showing the drawn numbers.

Variations - The vast majority of casinos offer this game in some form. However the payout rates and the size of the prizes vary greatly from place to place. As always a little shopping around for the best place is in order!

Pay out rates - The pay outs from Keno games can be very high, however this is only because the casino may have a strong house advantage of around 25% - 30%. It is the possibility of winning big for minimal outlay that has made this game popular with many players who are down on their luck elsewhere.

Betting - Betting for this game occurs once the player has chosen their numbers, casinos are always certain to make sure that no changes are made to cards after the draw, so cards are validated before the game as the player's stake is paid.

Player options - Keno allows the player a wide choice of different options. The standard bet type is for the player to name 10 numbers and pay a single stake on these numbers. If some or all of these numbers come up the player will either win the jackpot (with all 10 numbers) or a smaller prize (with fewer correct numbers).

Players can make up their own bets such as selecting 4 sets of 4 adjoining numbers (each set being circled as well as crossed off). The player then writes on the right hand side of the card how much they are to stake (e.g. $1). They also write down a fraction, this fraction is created from how many numbers he is playing and importantly how many combinations of these number groups there are.



Huh? I hear you say... well here's a diagram to help explain it a little better. You can see the grid of 80 squares on the gamecard, on it the 4 groups of numbers are crossed and circled. The eight numbers of the 6/8 can be made up of any combination of two of the groups of 4 numbers (totalling 8). The number 6 in 6/8 represents the number of possible variations of the 4 groups there are (i.e. which 2 groups are combined to make the winning numbers).

The extra variations resulting from this set up mean that the player has a better chance this time than they did on the first attempt. Regarding the choice of a stake, the player must choose the standard stake value (say $1) and then multiply this number by the number of different combinations (i.e. 6 in this example) making for an overall stake of $6.

Random Element - This game is based on the success of guessing randomly drawn numbers making this a game of chance. There are however different ways the user can bet their stake and this can also have an impact as we have just seen in the example.

Real vs Virtual - Very little changes between the two major sorts of game and as such you shouldn't see a big difference between playing this game online or in a real casino.

Repeat - Once payouts have been made players choose their next set of numbers, get them checked, pay the stake and see how it goes next time...

Shop around for the best Keno pay out rates which can vary massively from place to place.

When playing group games you must collect your winnings quickly before the next game starts. Some casinos enforce rules that you must collect winnings before the start of the next game. So if you're lucky enough to win some money don't lose it by forgetting this.

There is a general rule of thumb that the easier a game is the higher the house advantage will be, this applies to Keno. They hook you with high jackpots but the house usually does better than you will. Sad but true.

Some hardened Video Keno players say that the mechanisms and number generators used in the machines are more likely to select a series of consecutive numbers rather than random lucky numbers you might choose. This is unconfirmed but worth thinking about maybe.

Video Keno machines work in a similar way to Slot machines in that they work on paying back a certain proportion of money that has been inserted. As a machine gets fuller it is more likely to payout supposedly. Players recommend pouncing on machines which have been filled by other players but have not paid out recently.