Play Online Keno

Keen on Keno? If you haven’t tried your hand at this classic game, you’re missing out.

Basically, Online Keno is pretty much a type of lottery with better odds at winning, but no life-changing payouts, so don’t give up your day job right yet.

It’s simple to play and should be considered mostly as an entertaining guessing game and a good way to have some fun. Here follows a bit of history and tips on how to play for pleasure (and some profit). 

KENO AND THE GREAT WALL OF CHINA - WOULD YOU BELIEVE?

The casino game Keno has a rather interesting history, and is in all probability the oldest betting game in existence today. The word ‘keno’ has French or Latin roots meaning ‘five numbers’, but the game originated in China as far back as 3000 years ago. Legend has it that the invention of the game saved an ancient city in a time of war, by raising funds to help build the Great Wall of China. (Thankfully, these days we doubt that any great walls will be funded by playing Keno.)

Keno was first brought to the USA in the 1800s by Chinese workers who came to San Francisco to help build the first transcontinental railway. In its original form, Keno had a Chinese name and used Chinese characters instead of the 80 numbers used today. Lotteries were illegal in the early 20th century, so for a time it disguised itself as ‘Horse Race Keno’, and although the fake horse-racing part was eventually dropped, rounds of Keno are still known in some casinos as ‘races’. Anyhow, that’s all history – so back to the future.

ENOUGH OF THE OLD STUFF - LET'S PLAY!

The Keno board is laid out in rows of 10 squares, numbered 1 to 80. To start, you must first decide on a bet value, and how many numbers you’re going to pick for a play. You can choose up to 15 numbers for any round of play. When you hit the play button the computer will generate a pick of 20 random numbers, and if any of those numbers coincide with your picks (which will be highlighted in yellow), you’ll win on those numbers.

The pay table on the left side of the board will reflect your potential winnings before each game, so you can keep track of what your wins (or losses) might be. Remember, the more numbers you pick for any round, you’ll need to be lucky with a good proportion of those to break even. For example, if your bet value is one coin and you pick 15 numbers, you’ll only double your money or better if 6 or more of your numbers are a ‘hit’. However, if all 15 hit, you win 10,000 coins. That’s pretty much like winning the lottery!

On the right side of the board, there’s also a function to choose a ‘quikpik’ option. But we think half the fun is figuring out what you think your lucky numbers might be – could your winning streak be linked to your grandma’s birth date, the age of your pet parrot, your zip code or your golf handicap? That’s up to you to decide.

KENO WINNING STRATEGIES

Keno is a game of chance so there is no way to control or predict which winning numbers will pop out of the computerized Keno ball generator. However, using savvy Keno strategies will help you get the most out of your keno game.

The general rule in online keno is that the more numbers you pick, the more money you can potentially win. No guarantee, but the possibility is there. If you pick one keno number, the most you can win is 3 times your bet. The higher the number of picks, the better your chances of bigger wins.

But whatever your style – cautious or cocky, penny pincher or splash-out spender, if you’re superstitious or a ‘what-the-heck hit quikpik’ kind of player, Keno guarantees hours of fun. Try it for yourself right here at Desert Nights Online Casino.