Keno

If you’re looking to try something new at your favorite online casino, a traditional Chinese game has emerged from the past to infiltrate casinos worldwide and become a favorite among thousands of players. It’s online Keno, which you can now enjoy at Keno.team. Will you be one of the newest fans?

What is online Keno?

Keno is a game similar to bingo mixed with a lottery: there's a card with fixed numbers, you select some of them, and then random numbers are drawn: depending on how many you match, you'll win nothing, a little… or a lot!


Online Keno, therefore, is simply the online adaptation of this traditional casino game.


img

Tracing the Origins of Keno

The game’s origins can be traced back to China, although its age and true origins remain a mystery. Traditional accounts take us back some two millennia, when a general named Cheung Leung invented it as a fundraising system. Engaged in a long war, the army ran out of funds, so this general adapted a wooden board game with Chinese characters, which was used to learn to read, and turned it into a game of chance by drawing symbols from a drum. The possibility of winning attracted many players, who placed bets and thus helped finance the campaign.

Keno became one of the most popular forms of entertainment, a must-have in gambling establishments, and in the 19th century, Chinese immigrants brought it to the United States, where it became as successful as in its native East. Since then, it is not as widespread as online blackjack or roulette, but it is undoubtedly a classic that is present in every casino.

How exactly do you play online Keno?

img

The exact format of each online Keno game may vary depending on the provider, but the mechanics are always the same.

  • The center of the screen is occupied by the "card" with the numbers. Depending on the game, these are numbers from 1 to 40, and in other games, it may be from 1 to 80.
  • Then you must choose between 2 and 10/20 numbers from the card.
  • Once you have chosen them, the game begins to draw numbers, like bingo.
  • And your prize, or lack thereof, will be determined by how many of the numbers you marked are among those drawn. The more, the bigger the prize.

And be careful with this last point, because if you are used to other games, you might get confused and bet inappropriately!


How (and how much) can you win in online Keno?

To win money playing online Keno, you need to understand how the betting system works when choosing between 2 and 10 numbers.

If you’re used to games like online roulette, you might think that, since you can choose between few and many numbers, you’ll win more money with fewer numbers, right? A straight bet on a single number pays 35 to 1, while a dozen or more numbers have a much lower payout, as it’s easier to win.

But Keno works differently because it doesn’t involve a single number like in roulette, but several. Therefore, you can win multiple times. In fact, the more numbers you match in a single round, the higher the prize multiplier will be, as shown in this image of the online Keno game from Games Global.

This is because, mathematically, the difficult part is matching several numbers in a row. Matching one is relatively easy. Matching two is somewhat more difficult. The third number will be more difficult to guess, and getting 4, 5, 6, or more correct numbers becomes not impossible, but very difficult.

Therefore, in online Keno, the more numbers you add, the higher the bet multiplier will be.

And in games where you can choose between low, medium, or high risk, this won’t affect the probability of winning, but rather the multipliers:

With low risk, guessing one number wins 0, but guessing two already gives you a win of x1.1, and the third, x1.3. The multipliers will increase to x2, x4, etc., for subsequent correct guesses.

With medium risk, matching up to two numbers wins no prize, with better multipliers increasing from there: x1.8 for the third, x4 for the fourth, and so on.

With high risk, three wins will win no prize; the first prize is awarded for matching the fourth number, but again, the multipliers increase very quickly from there.

Knowing this, you decide how to play!