The History of Keno
Keno was created in 200 BC by the Chinese military leader, Cheung Leung who utilized keno as a finance resource for his failing army. The metropolis of Cheung was at war, and after awhile of war time appeared to be looking at a country wide shortage of food with the drastic drop in supplies. Cheung Leung had to come up with a rapid response for the economic disaster and to produce money for his forces. He therefore designed the game we know today as keno and it was a great success.
Keno once was referred to as the White Pigeon Game, due to the fact that the winning numbers were broadcast by pigeons from bigger locations to the lesser towns. The lottery ‘Keno’ was imported to the United States in the 19th century by Chinese expatriates who came to the United States to jobs. In those times, Keno used 120 numbers.
Today, Keno is typically played with just 80 numbers in a majority of the US brick and mortar casinos along with net casinos. Keno is largely played today as a result of the laid back nature of playing the game and the simple fact that there are little expertise required to play Keno. Despite the reality that the chances of getting a win are horrible, there is constantly the chance that you might hit quite big with very little gambling investment.
Keno is played with 80 numbers with 20 numbers picked each game. Players of Keno can pick from two to 10 numbers and wager on them, whatever amount they want to. The payout of Keno is according to the wagers made and the matching of numbers.
Keno grew in acceptance in the United States near the end of the 1800’s when the Chinese characters were changed with more familiar, American numbers. Lotteries were not covered under the legalization of gambling in the state of Nevada in 1931. The casinos changed the name of the ‘Chinese lottery’ to ‘horse race keno’ employing the idea 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’.