06.11
The background of Keno
Keno was introduced in two hundred before Christ by the Chinese military leader, Cheung Leung who utilized this game as a way to finance his declining forces. The city of Cheung was at war, and after some time seemed to be facing national shortage of food with the dramatic drop in supplies. Cheung Leung needed to develop a fast fix for the economic adversity and to create money for his military. He therefore created the game we know today as keno and it was a great success.
Keno once was known as the White Pigeon Game, seeing as the winning numbers were broadcast by pigeons from larger cities to the tinier towns. The lottery ‘Keno’ was brought to America in the 19th century by Chinese immigrants who migrated to the United States to work. In those times, Keno used 120 numbers.
Today, Keno is regularly wagered on with just 80 numbers in a majority of the US based casinos along with internet casinos. Keno is largely enjoyed today as a result of the laid back nature of playing the game and the simple fact that there are no expertise required to play Keno. Despite the reality that the chances of getting a win are terrible, there is always the chance that you might hit quite large with very little gaming investment.
Keno is played with eighty numbers and 20 numbers are selected each game. Players of Keno can choose from two to 10 numbers and gamble on them, whatever amount they want to. The payout of Keno is according to the bets made and the matching of numbers.
Keno has grown in popularity in the United States since the close of the 1800’s when the Chinese characters were changed with more familiar, American numbers. Lotteries weren’t covered under the legalization of gaming in the state of Nevada in 1931. The casinos renamed the ‘Chinese lottery’ to ‘horse race keno’ employing the notion that the numbers are horses and you want your horses to place. When the Nevada government passed a law that taxed off track betting, the casinos quickly adjusted the name to ‘Keno’.