[ English ]

Keno was first played in 200 BC by the Chinese army leader, Cheung Leung who utilized keno as a way to finance his declining army. The city of Cheung was at war, and after a bit of war time appeared to be facing country wide shortage of food with the excessive decrease in supplies. Cheung Leung needed to create a fast response for the economic adversity and to create revenue for his forces. He, as it follows invented the game we know today as keno and it was a fantastic success.

Keno used to be known as the White Pigeon Game, because the winning numbers were sent out by pigeons from larger municipalities to the lesser villages. The lotto ‘Keno’ was brought to America in the 19th century by Chinese immigrants who came to the United States for jobs. In those times, Keno was played with one hundred and twenty numbers.

Today, Keno is typically played with just 80 numbers in just about all of the US brick and mortar casinos along with online casinos. Keno is mainly enjoyed today because of the relaxed nature of betting the game and the basic reality that there are little skills required to play Keno. Despite the fact that the chances of getting a win are terrible, there is always the possibility that you could win quite big with little gaming investment.

Keno is played with 80 numbers and 20 numbers are drawn each round. Players of Keno can pick from 2 to 10 numbers and gamble on them, as much or as little as they want to. The payout of Keno is according to the bets made and the matching of numbers.

Keno grew in acceptance in the US near the end of the 1800’s when the Chinese characters were replaced with , American numbers. Lotteries were not covered under the legalization of wagering in the state of Nevada in 1931. The casinos renamed the ‘Chinese lotto’ to ‘horse race keno’ employing the notion that the numbers are horses and you are wanting your horses to come in. When a law passed that levied a tax on off track wagering, the casinos quickly altered the name to ‘Keno’.