01.07
Keno’s History
Keno was introduced in 200 before Christ by the Chinese military leader, Cheung Leung who used this game as a monetary resource for his declining forces. The city of Cheung was waging a battle, and after awhile of war time seemed to be looking at a national shortage of food with the dramatic decrease in supplies. Cheung Leung needed to create a rapid fix for the financial calamity and to acquire money for his army. He, as it follows created the game we now know as keno and it was a great success.
Keno was referred to as the White Pigeon Game, seeing as the winning numbers were sent out by pigeons from larger municipalities to the tinier towns. The lotto ‘Keno’ was brought to America in the 19th century by Chinese expatriates who came to the States to jobs. In those times, Keno used 120 numbers.
Today, Keno is regularly enjoyed with just 80 numbers in almost all of American brick and mortar casinos as well as internet casinos. Keno is commonly enjoyed today because of the relaxed nature of wagering the game and the simple reality that there are no skills required to enjoy Keno. Despite the reality that the odds of getting a win are horrible, there is constantly the hope that you could win quite large with little gaming investment.
Keno is played with 80 numbers with 20 numbers drawn each round. Gamblers of Keno can select from two to ten 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 universal appeal in the United States near the end of the 19th century when the Chinese characters were replaced with more familiar, US numbers. Lotteries were not covered under the laws of gambling in Nevada State in 1931. The casinos altered the name of the ‘Chinese lotto’ to ‘horse race keno’ employing the idea that the numbers are horses and you are wanting your horses to come in. When a law passed that taxed off track gambling, Nevada casinos quickly adjusted the name to ‘Keno’.