Keno was first played in two hundred BC by the Chinese army commander, Cheung Leung who used keno as a finance resource for his failing forces. The city of Cheung was at war, and after some time seemed to be facing national shortage of food with the excessive drop in supplies. Cheung Leung had to come up with a quick fix for the financial disaster and to produce money for his forces. He therefore designed the game we now know as keno and it was a great success.
Keno once was well-known as the White Pigeon Game, due to the fact that the winning numbers were broadcast by pigeons from larger locations to the tinier villages. The lottery ‘Keno’ was imported to America in the 19th century by Chinese immigrants who migrated to the States for jobs. In those times, Keno used 120 numbers.
Today, Keno is most often gambled on with 80 numbers in just about all of American based casinos as well as net casinos. Keno is mainly played today because of the laid back nature of gambling the game and the simple fact that there are no skills needed to play Keno. Despite the fact that the chances of succeeding are terrible, there is constantly the possibility that you might hit quite big with very little gaming investment.
Keno is played with 80 numbers and 20 numbers are picked each round. Players of Keno can choose from two to ten numbers and wager on them, as much or as little as they are able to. The pay out of Keno is dependent on the wagers made and the roll out of matching numbers.
Keno has grown in popularity in the US since the close of the 1800’s when the Chinese characters were changed with , American numbers. Lotteries were not covered under the laws of gambling in the state of Nevada in 1931. The casinos adjusted the name of the ‘Chinese lottery’ to ‘horse race keno’ utilizing the concept that the numbers are horses and you want your horses to come in. When a law passed that taxed off track wagering, casinos quickly adjusted the name to ‘Keno’.
