Keno was introduced in 200 before Christ by the Chinese military commander, Cheung Leung who utilized this game as a financial resource for his failing forces. The metropolis of Cheung was at war, and after awhile of war time seemed to be looking at a country wide shortage of food with the dramatic decrease in supplies. Cheung Leung needed to create a rapid response for the financial disaster and to create money for his military. He, as it follows invented the game we know today as keno and it was a wonderful success.

Keno once was known as the White Pigeon Game, since the winning numbers were delivered by pigeons from larger cities to the smaller villages. The lotto ‘Keno’ was brought to America in the 19th century by Chinese immigrants who headed to the States for work. In those times, Keno was played with one hundred and twenty numbers.

Today, Keno is most often bet on with just 80 numbers in almost all of American land based casinos along with online casinos. Keno is mainly liked today as a consequence of the relaxed nature of playing the game and the simple fact that there are no skills required to play Keno. Despite the fact that the chances of getting a win are horrible, there is always the possibility that you will hit quite large with very little gaming investment.

Keno is enjoyed with eighty numbers with 20 numbers drawn each round. Players of Keno can select from two to ten numbers and wager on them, as much or as little as they are able to. The payout of Keno is dependent on the wagers made and the roll out of matching numbers.

Keno has grown in popularity in the United States since the close of the 1800’s when the Chinese letters were changed with more familiar, US numbers. Lotteries weren’t covered under the laws of wagering in Nevada State in 1931. The casinos altered the name of the ‘Chinese lottery’ to ‘horse race keno’ employing the idea that the numbers are horses and you are looking for your horses to come in. When a law passed that levied a tax on off track gambling, Nevada casinos quickly altered the name to ‘Keno’.