How to Play Keno

Keno is a game of chance very similar to a lottery. In fact, the original name for Keno was the Chinese lottery because of keno’s history and roots in China. The game of keno is very simple to play, although there are very minor variations in betting and game structure.

How to Play Keno

You begin playing keno by first deciding how much you want to bet. This varies, depending on the game of keno you are playing but is generally a minimum bet of $1, just like the lottery. Each round of keno is called a race and in each race there are twenty numbers pulled in a drawing. The object is to match as many of your numbers as possible to the twenty that were drawn. There are 80 numbers to pick from in Keno.

The payouts vary by however many numbers you wager and so do the odds. As with the lottery, the possibility of winning a huge jackpot for a small wager entices gamblers to play. The jackpots in keno are sometimes “life-changing” amounts, but are usually in the tens of thousands of dollars, a substanstial figure for a dollar bet.

Selecting your numbers

Any given number in any given race in keno has the same exact chance of being drawn, no matter what happened on the previous race. The odds, for instance, of the number 3 being drawn are 79 to 1 this game and every consecutive game for that matter.

It is important to note that some keno “experts” advise you to play fewer numbers because the likelyhood of matching 3 numbers is greater than matching 5 numbers. This is true but it also important to note that the payouts are proportionally smaller the fewer numbers you play.

When playing keno, I am of the opinion that you should play whatever numbers you like, based on whatever rationale you like. It’s silly and naive to think that there is some big secret to keno or that there is even some sort of strategy. Examples of numbers I always play are my kid’s birthdays or me and my wife’s birthday, etc. I’ve seen all sorts of combinations, I’ve even heard of people who always play the numbers that showed up in the previous race, swearing that numbers repeat themselves over and over again.

The fact is, there are many types of possible bets in keno and terminology to go along with them such as the straight bet, the way bet, the king, and the combination way bet. This, of course, is just a fancy way of describing a certain way to bet in keno.

Where to Play Keno

Now that you know how to play keno, why not give it a try? If you have a casino nearby, check out their keno room the next time you visit them. If not, maybe you will want to know where to play online keno. Well, we have a full list of online casinos offering keno. I suggest reading some of our online casino reviews and find one that’s right for you.