Bet Keno

Keno's roots are in China, and the game was brought to the United States by Chinese immigrants in the late 1800s. It was originally played with 80 Chinese characters, which in the United States were replaced by 80 Arabic numerals.

For a time in Nevada, each number was accompanied by the name of a racehorse, and the game was known as racehorse keno. The horses' names disappeared in 1951, when a tax on off-track betting on horses was passed. Operators didn't want their game mistaken as betting on the horses. Still, remnants of racehorse keno games remain. Many casinos still call each game a 'race' -- if you bet on more than one game at once, you buy a multirace ticket.

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Almost all Nevada casinos have keno lounges, where numbered balls are forced out through an air blower to determine the winners. Some tribal casinos in the upper Midwest also have live keno lounges, and Atlantic City began offering live keno in 1994. On riverboat casinos, keno enthusiasts play video versions, which have grown in flexibility and even offer bonus rounds in the video slot age.

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Online keno games allow you to easily adjust the amount you want to bet by clicking/tapping the ‘bet’ button on the game screen or the arrows beside it. Decide how many keno games you want to play. In online keno, you need to specify how many games you’d like to play before hitting the ‘Play’ button. Another Example of a Keno Paytable. This is the payout schedule for online casinos running on Microgaming software. If you like the look of it, here’s where to find Microgaming casinos. In a live casino keno game, where lots of players are gambling on the same draw, the most the house can pay out for any one draw is generally $50,000. The maximum KENO wager is $100 per bet slip. You may purchase KENO SPIN for an opportunity to multiply your prize up to 10 times. KENO SPIN costs an extra $1 for each KENO dollar wager. The maximum KENO wager with KENO SPIN is $200 per bet slip. A set of Finnish keno betting slips Keno / kiːnoʊ / is a lottery -like gambling game often played at modern casinos, and also offered as a game by some state lotteries. Players wager by choosing numbers ranging from 1 through (usually) 80.

Keno is one of the easiest games to play for real money online. Before you begin, you'll find a keno card with up to 80 numbers sequentially listed from 1 to 80. As this is essentially an online lottery game, you simply pick your numbers, wait for the Random Number Generator (RNG) to draw the numbers and be paid on how many you guessed correctly.

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How to Play

In the live version, the player may mark anywhere from 1 through 20 numbers on a card that has 80 numbers arranged in eight rows of ten. The player then takes the card to a keno writer and places a bet that the numbers selected will be among the 20 drawn in the next game. Alternatively, the player sitting in one of the casino restaurants can mark a card and give it with a bet to a keno runner, who takes it to the keno writer and then brings back the ticket. The bet is in multiples of the house minimum -- usually $1 nowadays.

After the 20 numbers are drawn, winning tickets are paid according to a table that varies from house to house. For example, a four-spot ticket with $1 wagered might return the $1 if two numbers hit, bring $5 if three numbers hit, and pay $120 if all four come in. But in another casino, the three-number hit might pay $6 and all four $125, and in another the payoffs might be $5 and $110. Because of the variation, no payback percentage is common enough to be called average. Paybacks range from below 70 percent to more than 80 percent.

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Bets

Straight ticket: Betting the numbers marked as a single wager is called betting a straight ticket. It's the simplest way to play, but many players like to bet more combinations. One popular method is the 'way ticket.' For example, a player might mark six numbers, circle two groups of three, and mark on the side of the ticket, '2/3, 1/6.' The player then would bet $3 to have $1 wagers on each of two three-spot combinations and on the six-spot.

King ticket: A number circled by itself is the king, which is used in all combinations marked. Let's say a seventh number in the previous example was circled as a king. The player then could mark '2/4, 1/7' to bet two four-number combinations -- the king joining each of the three-number groupings -- and the overall seven numbers.

Combination ticket: The player marks several number groupings and plays combinations of them. For example, a ticket with two-, three-, and four-number groupings can be played as 1/2, 1/3, 1/4, 1/5 (the two- and three-number groups together), 1/6 (two- and four-number groups), 1/7 (three- and four-numbers), 1/9 (all three groups). At $1 per game, the ticket would cost $7.

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Progressive Jackpots

For higher-number totals played, or for bigger bets, many keno games offer progressive jackpots. Sometimes the progressive jackpot gets high enough that the house is actually offering more than 100 percent payback. Late in 1994, the jackpot on a $2 eight-spot ticket surpassed $200,000 at a casino in Las Vegas. At the $250,000 jackpot cap, the player would have an edge of 17.4 percent. Now that doesn't mean a player could sit down and win steadily at a 17 percent rate. Results can vary wildly over a short period of time. A player can expect to hit eight-of-eight on the average of once every 230,000 trials, and the casino's eight-spot was paying nothing below five-of-eight spots, so only 2 percent of all tickets would collect anything at all.

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Strategy

Overall, the returns at keno are too infrequent for anyone to play the game seriously. A game or two over breakfast in the casino coffee shop or relaxing in the keno lounge is plenty for many people. But some players on a tight budget enjoy sitting in the keno lounge, being served free drinks and playing a buck at a time as an inexpensive way to spend the day.

For someone who wants to play seriously enough to go from casino to casino, the best strategy is simply to compare pay tables and play at the house that pays the most for the number of spots you select. There is no strategy for selecting numbers -- any number is as likely to come up as any of the others.

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Bet Keno

Video Keno

Video keno is essentially the same game -- he same 80 numbers arranged in the same eight rows on a video screen. Just touch the screen to pick your numbers. Pay tables usually are better than at live keno, but you also play the video game much faster and risk more money per hour than with the live game. Keno machines have followed the growth of video slots, increasing in popularity at the nickel level. Quarter and dollar games also are available.

Regardless of how it's played, keno has emerged as a casino staple since being introduced to the United States more than 100 years ago.

©Publications International, Ltd.

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Laura Klusaite
Keno

Table Of Contents

  • This is the most complete collection of Keno tips on the web
  • It's a perfect article to know how to get the best odds to win at Keno machines
  • It covers also topics like 'the best Keno numbers' and the 'top bonuses you can use to play Keno online'

Keno is probably the most underrated casino game out there because it is too controlled by luck.

While this is somehow true (it's a gambling game), there are some tips that can help you figure out optimal play. Especially if you play the game correctly and apply some smarts to the way you manage your money.

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This isn't an article that promises you'll win at Keno every time you play.

Whether you win at Keno or not is a matter of luck, like it happens with all gambling games.

If you are looking for misleading content on ways to win at Keno, I am sure you can find plenty of Keno strategies that are created to make you lose every time.

You can't really beat the house edge at any casino game, and playing not realising this is a big mistake.

Nevertheless, I prepared a few tips for you that actually work to increase your chances to win at Keno.

It's not a betting system with a funny name. Neither it is a strategy cheatsheet to win every single bet. Also, these are not the kind of tips that would get you kicked out of a casino in Las Vegas.

These are the Keno strategy tips that were proven to work by many players worldwide. And there's no harm in trying them yourself, especially since you start by playing Keno for free online here.

1. Choose Casinos (and Games) With Better Payouts

This may seem obvious to you but you'd be surprised for how many players it's not.

Even when you have your favorite online casino to play slot machines or other casino games, it may not be the perfect fit to play Keno there.

You need to check how many variants of Keno they have and what are the payouts for guessing the right numbers.

In most online casinos you can either choose up to 10, 15, or 20 numbers to bet on and 20 numbers out of 80 are drawn.

The best payouts online usually look like this.

How many numbers chosenHow many of them get drawn & Payout
OneOne 1 to 1
TwoOne 1 to 1, two 9 to 1
Three One 1 to 1, two 2 to 1, three 16 to 1
Four One 0.5 to 1, two 2 to 1, three 6 to 1, four 12 to 1
FiveOne 0.5 to 1, two 1 to 1, three 3 to 1, four 15 to 1, five 50 to 1
SixOne 0.5 to 1, two 1 to 1, three 2 to 1, four 3 to 1, five 30 to 1, six 75 to 1
SevenOne 0.5 to 1, two 0.5 to 1, three 1 to 1, four 6 to 1, five 12 to 1, six 36 to 1, seven 100 to 1
EightOne 0.5 to 1, two 0.5 to 1, three 1 to 1, four 3 to 1, five 6 to 1, six 19 to 1, seven 90 to 1, eight 720 to 1
NineOne 0.5 to 1, two 0.5 to 1, three 1 to 1, four 2 to 1, five 4 to 1, six 8 to 1, seven 20 to 1, eight 80 to 1, nine 1200 to 1
TenOne 0, two 0.5 to 1, three 1 to 1, four 2 to 1, five 3 to 1, six 5 to 1, seven 10 to 1, eight 30 to 1, nine 600 to 1, ten 1800 to 1

This progression can follow further if you can choose more than ten numbers. For example, if you can choose 15, for guessing all of the right you'd be paid out 10000 to 1.

Not bad, right?

These are the optimal payouts when playing Keno online. Don't go for anything offering less.

As a rule, online casinos have better payouts than brick-and-mortar ones. Thus, it's always better to play online.

The best payouts I've seen are available at Quickfire (Microgaming) Keno platforms. One I really like is a simple classic platform to play called Monkey Keno.

If you play Monkey Keno, the numbers are not drawn but thrown to the board by a monkey. And they come in the form of coconuts.

The return to player ratio of Monkey Keno is 94.9 percent, and the game features the following special features:

  • you can choose games randomly instead of selecting individual numbers
  • you can choose to autoplay the game
  • it shows hot and cold maps (the numbers which were drawn most and least in the game)

2. Play For Free to Get a Hold of The Game

Keno is not a complicated game. Thus, many Keno players dive right into real money play. And they lose, a lot.

No matter what casino game it is, always play it for free first to get a hold of the game.

There may be some major differences in payouts or minor differences in the game platforms. Casinos may be lagging a lot and thus restarting the game before it's finished.

While it makes little difference when playing for free, it may cost you lots of bets when playing for real money.

And even if you learn the best tips on how to improve your chances to win at Keno and you're 100 percent sure of your skills, still practise for free first. You never know what can happen.

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But it's always better if something wrong happens and you don't lose your cash in the process.

3. Select Between Four and Eight Numbers

When you have an option to choose up to 15 or 20 numbers with the same wager, the logical question is how many numbers is the right number?

Many Keno beginners believe the more, the better. It makes sense, considering the more you choose, the better chances of getting more of them correct you have.

But keep in mind that the payouts change depending on how many numbers you choose in total.

If you guess five out of five chosen, your payout may be of 50 to 1. That's really sweet. But if you guess five out of 10 chosen, that reduces to 3 to 1.

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So, what's the optimal number?

Think about it. When you choose less than four, any chance of winning is extremely low. There are 80 numbers in the Keno machine (or RNG), after all.

Then again, if you choose more than eight, you will always need to hit at least four or more numbers to get any extra money above what you've already spent for the wager.

And that's not that easy either.

Though, if there is a progressive jackpot attached to the game, it may be worth to choose more numbers. If you can afford that, of course.

4. Choose Consecutive Numbers or The Cold Ones

The next tip related to numbers is which numbers to choose when betting. A common advice is to choose the consecutive numbers.

When it comes to playing video Keno, the numbers are drawn by a random number generator, thus the outcomes are random. But many Keno players researched the outcomes and believe playing consecutive numbers can help you.

Same goes for the cold numbers - the numbers that haven't been drawn the longest period of time.

Does it work betting like that? No.

Sometimes it does. Sometimes it doesn't. It's 100% down to chance. If you don't have a different betting strategy, you may as well try it.

If you play for free, you have nothing to lose. And maybe you'll discover what Keno numbers are most worthy of betting on.

When it comes to betting on cold numbers, or the opposite, choose a platform that shows what were the most and least drawn numbers in the game.

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One of such platforms is Monkey Keno.

5. Play at a Reliable Casino

If you want to know how to get full chances to win at Keno game, many of your choices need to be related to a specific game platform and casino. Since we talked about the payouts and platforms already, it's time to cover the casinos.

The casino needs to be trust-worthy. Even if you discovered a brilliant Keno strategy, it's pointless if all your money will go to the illegal casino and you'll never see your winnings.

My advice?

Not only it has both of the Keno platforms mentioned (the classic game of Keno and Monkey Keno, of course), but there are also great Keno variants you can try for free and for real money.

Yes - you can play all of these games FREE. No registration or deposit necessary.

And once you're ready to play for real money, check out this surprise bonus!

So - you only have one decision to make:

What Keno game will you play first?

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The promotion presented on this page was available at the time of writing. With some Casino promotions changing on daily basis, we suggest you to check on the site if it still available. Also, please do not forget to read the terms and conditions in full before you accept a bonus.