Keno’s History
Keno was created in 200 BC by the Chinese army commander, Cheung Leung who utilized this game as a monetary resource for his declining army. The city of Cheung was at war, and after a bit of war time seemed to be facing country wide shortage of food with the excessive decrease in supplies. Cheung Leung needed to create a rapid response for the financial calamity and to produce income for his forces. He, as it follows designed the game we now know as keno and it was a great success.
Keno once was well-known as the White Pigeon Game, seeing as the winning numbers were delivered by pigeons from larger locations to the lesser villages. The lottery ‘Keno’ was imported to the USA in the 19th century by Chinese expatriates who migrated to the States for work. In those times, Keno was played with one hundred and twenty numbers.
Today, Keno is most often wagered on with 80 numbers in most of the US brick and mortar casinos along with net casinos. Keno is largely played today as a result of the relaxed nature of betting the game and the basic reality that there are no skills required to play Keno. Regardless of the reality that the odds of succeeding are appalling, there is always the possibility that you could win quite large with a tiny gaming investment.
Keno is played with 80 numbers and twenty numbers are picked each game. Players of Keno can select from two to ten numbers and bet on them, as much or as little as they want to. The payout of Keno is according to the bets made and the matching of numbers.
Keno grew in universal appeal in the US near the end of the 1800’s when the Chinese letters were replaced with , American numbers. Lottos were not covered under the legalization of wagering in Nevada State in Nineteen Thirty One. The casinos adjusted 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 the Nevada government passed a law that levied a tax on off track gambling, Nevada casinos swiftly altered the name to ‘Keno’.