The Rules and Origin of Keno
Keno is a gambling game similar to lottery and bingo. It is a game of chance in which the player tries to guess which numbers will be drawn by the casino. The more numbers guessed correctly, the bigger the prize.
Keno Background
Keno is an old game. It is said to have begun in ancient China during the Han Dynasty. There was war and the local city government was running out of funds to sustain its army. Since they could not convince the people to donate money on their own, keno was invented. Apparently the people more avid gamblers than patriots and this form of gambling became a rich source of military funds. The inventor of Keno is said to have been named Cheung Lung. The game was later brought to the United States by Chinese immigrants in the 1800s.
Keno Rules
Keno rules and pay rates vary from one casino to another. Generally, you can pick a series of numbers, 1-20 out of 80 numbers. You then mark off your chosen numbers in a ticket. When it is time for the keno draw, you will check your ticket to see if you got the numbers as they are called. The more numbers you guess correctly, the more you win.
Keno is a game of chance with little to no skill involved. The house advantage is quite high, about 5%. But since it plays slowly in a live casino and you can bet small, the money you lose per hour that does no have to be very big.
Keno Odds
Of course, the more numbers you pick, the bigger your prize if you turn out to be right. But the odds of you getting it all right are lowered. For example, if you bet on 18 numbers, tough luck guessing ALL of them correctly.
The amount you stand to win also depends on how much you get initially. A casino's keno payout scheme is explained in flyers so study them before you play.
Keno odds are very poor for the player. What is more, the payout for each win often does not reflect the true odds. For example, a 7-number ticket has a 1 in almost 41,000 chance of hitting. Yet the casinos will often pay you as low as $2000 or $3,000 for the same. Clearly the payout does not reflect the true value of the bet.
Keno Fallacy
A common misconception about keno players and other gamblers is that previous results make a pattern that can be used to predict future draws. This is just not true. A keno draw has the same odds as any other keno draw when it started. One draw is quite independent of all others.
It is like a toss coin: It is always a 50/50 chance of heads showing, even if tails has appeared ten straight times already. You might say the heads have bigger chances of showing since tails appeared often. But past results have no bearing on the present! Think about it: If you didn't know a coin had been used in toss, what would you say are its odds? Would you say it depends on how often it has turned up heads first? Or would you just say 50/50?
And the same is true with keno. Keno numbers are quite random and there is no way to predict them. Any apparent pattern is just coincidence and cannot be relied upon. Remember this when you are betting.