A player marks a Keno ticket with a crayon and turns it in with his bet. The player gets back a similar ticket from the Keno runner or from the house teller that shows the numbers the player picked and the amount of the bet. This is proof of the bet and when it wins is used to collect on the ticket. That is the basic rules for the simple Keno bet. Play KENO at all retail locations and watch the drawings at a KENO monitor location or on demand here. You can wager $1, $2, $3, $4, $5, $10 & $20. Choose from 1 to 10 numbers (called the 'spot') out of a pool of 80 numbers. You may use a bet card or the Auto Pick feature.
How to Play keno You decide how much you wish to bet on a particular round, and how many numbers you wish to choose. You can choose between 1 and 20 numbers, the payouts vary depending on how many numbers you pick and how many of them get drawn. You now get to pick your numbers as you would if you were playing a Lottery. Shop Around for the Best Keno Odds and Prizes. You cannot play every possible variation of keno in.
Keno History
Keno can be traced back to a game that was created more than 3,000 years ago by Cheung Leung, the leader of the Han Dynasty in China. The game was based on a popular Chinese poem, “The Thousand Character Classic” which used 1,000 Chinese characters in an effort to help people learn to count. The game used 120 of these symbols. The numbers of symbols used in the game has declined over time and the game we know today uses 80.
Keno was introduced into the United States in the mid-1800s by Chinese immigrants who came over to work on the railway lines. In order to attract more US players to the game, the Chinese characters were replaced by numbers. Draws in keno are often referred to as “races” in reference to the fact that keno became known as “racehorse keno” and was considered to be a lottery at a time when gambling games were outlawed in the US.
Different Keno Tickets
There are different types of tickets in a game of keno with the most common type being a straight ticket for a single game. Other tickets will allow you to combine different aspects of the game. A way ticket allows you to mark multiple games on one ticket. A combination ticket allows you to combine groups of straight bets on one ticket. A split ticket allows you to play more than one ticket on a single card.
Beginning a Keno Game
Before you can begin a game of keno you must select your numbers. You need to select at least 4 numbers (spots) and no more than 10 (although this amount may vary according to the casino). If you are playing online keno, this is a simple process as you just mark your numbers and place your bet. You then wait until the numbers have been called and compare your numbers with the called numbers.
Winning at Keno
Twenty numbered balls are randomly selected out of 80 possibilities. Your numbers are compared to the numbers that are drawn and if any of your numbers match up, you could be a winner. The number of matching spots that you need to win will vary according to the casino, but typically if you play 5 spots, you will need 3 matches to win anything. The more matches you have, the higher your wins and the payouts increase dramatically for every extra number you have. For example, if you match 3 out of 5 numbers, you may win 3 to 1; if you match 4 out of 5 numbers, you may win 26 to 1 and if you match 5 out of 5 numbers, you may win 332 to 1.
If you are playing online keno, you simply wait to see if your numbers match and you will be paid out accordingly. It is slightly more complicated if you are playing land-based keno as you will need to check your ticket and present any winning tickets to the keno desk before the next game begins in order to collect your winnings. Please click here for our more detailed article on how to win at Keno.
Table Of Contents
- This is the most complete collection of Keno tips on the web
- It's a perfect article to know how to get the best odds to win at Keno machines
- It covers also topics like 'the best Keno numbers' and the 'top bonuses you can use to play Keno online'
Keno is probably the most underrated casino game out there because it is too controlled by luck.
While this is somehow true (it's a gambling game), there are some tips that can help you figure out optimal play. Especially if you play the game correctly and apply some smarts to the way you manage your money.
The Best Keno Games Online!Use these Keno strategy tips to play the top Keno games online. Sign up for free to access all games.
Play NowThis isn't an article that promises you'll win at Keno every time you play.
Whether you win at Keno or not is a matter of luck, like it happens with all gambling games.
If you are looking for misleading content on ways to win at Keno, I am sure you can find plenty of Keno strategies that are created to make you lose every time.
You can't really beat the house edge at any casino game, and playing not realising this is a big mistake.
Nevertheless, I prepared a few tips for you that actually work to increase your chances to win at Keno.
It's not a betting system with a funny name. Neither it is a strategy cheatsheet to win every single bet. Also, these are not the kind of tips that would get you kicked out of a casino in Las Vegas.
These are the Keno strategy tips that were proven to work by many players worldwide. And there's no harm in trying them yourself, especially since you start by playing Keno for free online here.
1. Choose Casinos (and Games) With Better Payouts
This may seem obvious to you but you'd be surprised for how many players it's not.
Even when you have your favorite online casino to play slot machines or other casino games, it may not be the perfect fit to play Keno there.
You need to check how many variants of Keno they have and what are the payouts for guessing the right numbers.
In most online casinos you can either choose up to 10, 15, or 20 numbers to bet on and 20 numbers out of 80 are drawn.
The best payouts online usually look like this.
| How many numbers chosen | How many of them get drawn & Payout |
|---|---|
| One | One 1 to 1 |
| Two | One 1 to 1, two 9 to 1 |
| Three | One 1 to 1, two 2 to 1, three 16 to 1 |
| Four | One 0.5 to 1, two 2 to 1, three 6 to 1, four 12 to 1 |
| Five | One 0.5 to 1, two 1 to 1, three 3 to 1, four 15 to 1, five 50 to 1 |
| Six | One 0.5 to 1, two 1 to 1, three 2 to 1, four 3 to 1, five 30 to 1, six 75 to 1 |
| Seven | One 0.5 to 1, two 0.5 to 1, three 1 to 1, four 6 to 1, five 12 to 1, six 36 to 1, seven 100 to 1 |
| Eight | One 0.5 to 1, two 0.5 to 1, three 1 to 1, four 3 to 1, five 6 to 1, six 19 to 1, seven 90 to 1, eight 720 to 1 |
| Nine | One 0.5 to 1, two 0.5 to 1, three 1 to 1, four 2 to 1, five 4 to 1, six 8 to 1, seven 20 to 1, eight 80 to 1, nine 1200 to 1 |
| Ten | One 0, two 0.5 to 1, three 1 to 1, four 2 to 1, five 3 to 1, six 5 to 1, seven 10 to 1, eight 30 to 1, nine 600 to 1, ten 1800 to 1 |
This progression can follow further if you can choose more than ten numbers. For example, if you can choose 15, for guessing all of the right you'd be paid out 10000 to 1.
Not bad, right?
These are the optimal payouts when playing Keno online. Don't go for anything offering less.
As a rule, online casinos have better payouts than brick-and-mortar ones. Thus, it's always better to play online.
The best payouts I've seen are available at Quickfire (Microgaming) Keno platforms. One I really like is a simple classic platform to play called Monkey Keno.
If you play Monkey Keno, the numbers are not drawn but thrown to the board by a monkey. And they come in the form of coconuts.
The return to player ratio of Monkey Keno is 94.9 percent, and the game features the following special features:
- you can choose games randomly instead of selecting individual numbers
- you can choose to autoplay the game
- it shows hot and cold maps (the numbers which were drawn most and least in the game)
2. Play For Free to Get a Hold of The Game
Keno is not a complicated game. Thus, many Keno players dive right into real money play. And they lose, a lot.
No matter what casino game it is, always play it for free first to get a hold of the game.
There may be some major differences in payouts or minor differences in the game platforms. Casinos may be lagging a lot and thus restarting the game before it's finished.
While it makes little difference when playing for free, it may cost you lots of bets when playing for real money.
And even if you learn the best tips on how to improve your chances to win at Keno and you're 100 percent sure of your skills, still practise for free first. You never know what can happen.
But it's always better if something wrong happens and you don't lose your cash in the process.
Keno Betting Slip
3. Select Between Four and Eight Numbers
When you have an option to choose up to 15 or 20 numbers with the same wager, the logical question is how many numbers is the right number?
Many Keno beginners believe the more, the better. It makes sense, considering the more you choose, the better chances of getting more of them correct you have.
But keep in mind that the payouts change depending on how many numbers you choose in total.
If you guess five out of five chosen, your payout may be of 50 to 1. That's really sweet. But if you guess five out of 10 chosen, that reduces to 3 to 1.
So, what's the optimal number?
Think about it. When you choose less than four, any chance of winning is extremely low. There are 80 numbers in the Keno machine (or RNG), after all.
Then again, if you choose more than eight, you will always need to hit at least four or more numbers to get any extra money above what you've already spent for the wager.
And that's not that easy either.
Though, if there is a progressive jackpot attached to the game, it may be worth to choose more numbers. If you can afford that, of course.
4. Choose Consecutive Numbers or The Cold Ones
The next tip related to numbers is which numbers to choose when betting. A common advice is to choose the consecutive numbers.
When it comes to playing video Keno, the numbers are drawn by a random number generator, thus the outcomes are random. But many Keno players researched the outcomes and believe playing consecutive numbers can help you.
Same goes for the cold numbers - the numbers that haven't been drawn the longest period of time.
Does it work betting like that? No.
Sometimes it does. Sometimes it doesn't. It's 100% down to chance. If you don't have a different betting strategy, you may as well try it.
If you play for free, you have nothing to lose. And maybe you'll discover what Keno numbers are most worthy of betting on.
When it comes to betting on cold numbers, or the opposite, choose a platform that shows what were the most and least drawn numbers in the game.
One of such platforms is Monkey Keno.
5. Play at a Reliable Casino
If you want to know how to get full chances to win at Keno game, many of your choices need to be related to a specific game platform and casino. Since we talked about the payouts and platforms already, it's time to cover the casinos.
The casino needs to be trust-worthy. Even if you discovered a brilliant Keno strategy, it's pointless if all your money will go to the illegal casino and you'll never see your winnings.
My advice?
Not only it has both of the Keno platforms mentioned (the classic game of Keno and Monkey Keno, of course), but there are also great Keno variants you can try for free and for real money.
Yes - you can play all of these games FREE. No registration or deposit necessary.
And once you're ready to play for real money, check out this surprise bonus!
So - you only have one decision to make:
What Keno game will you play first?