Keno was first played in two hundred BC by the Chinese army commander, Cheung Leung who utilized keno as a way to finance his failing army. The metropolis of Cheung was waging a battle, and after awhile of war time appeared to be facing country wide famine with the drastic decrease in supplies. Cheung Leung had to create a rapid response for the economic disaster and to create money for his army. He thusly invented the game we now know as keno and it was a wonderful success.

Keno used to be known as the White Pigeon Game, since the winning numbers were sent out by pigeons from larger municipalities to the lesser villages. The lotto ‘Keno’ was brought to America in the 1800s by Chinese immigrants who headed to the United States for jobs. In those times, Keno used 120 numbers.

Today, Keno is typically gambled on with just 80 numbers in just about all of the US land based casinos along with internet casinos. Keno is mainly loved today because of the relaxed nature of playing the game and the simple fact that there are no expertise required to enjoy Keno. Regardless of the fact that the odds of getting a win are horrible, there is constantly the hope that you might hit quite large with little gaming investment.

Keno is played with eighty numbers with 20 numbers drawn each round. Players of Keno can select from 2 to 10 numbers and wager on them, whatever amount they want to. The pay out of Keno is dependent on the bets made and the roll out of matching numbers.

Keno has grown in universal appeal in the US since the end of the 1800’s when the Chinese letters were replaced with more familiar, American numbers. Lotteries were not covered under the legalization of gambling in the state of Nevada in 1931. The casinos renamed the ‘Chinese lotto’ to ‘horse race keno’ utilizing the idea that the numbers are horses and you are wanting your horses to come in. When a law passed that taxed off track gambling, casinos swiftly altered the name to ‘Keno’.