How to Keno and Win Big

You’ve mastered poker and roulette. You can win at blackjack with your eyes closed (don’t do this). What new challenges are out there for casino bosses like yourself? 

Ever heard of keno? No, it’s not a new diet. It’s an exciting and seriously underrated casino game. When we show you how to play keno online, it might just be your new favourite.

 

Where did Keno come from?

Like most online games, Keno started offline, shall we say, “back in the day.” 2,000 years ago in China, to be more precise. Supposedly it was used to raise money to stop the Han Dynasty War and build the Great Wall of China.

Word on the street is that may not actually be true, though.

What is true, is that the game came to the US in the early 20th century via Chinese sailors. But since Keno was classified as a lottery, which was illegal, the clever little devils in the US started calling the game ‘racehorse keno’ and pitched it as a racing game instead.

So that’s your history lesson for today. Since you’ve indulged us, let’s turn our attention to the pressing matter at hand: how to play, and how to win. Let’s get to it. 

 

What is Keno?

Essentially, it’s a cross between bingo and a lottery. Thank you and goodnight.

Oh, you want a bit more information on how to play Keno? Sure. Here’s what you need to know:

• Players have cards which show numbers ranging from 1-80
• Players have to pick a collection of these numbers to bet on
• A random number generator picks twenty numbers
• Players are paid depending on the number of drawn numbers match their selections, and the wager they’ve placed.

There are a few terms you need to know, too:

• Race – A game of Keno
• Ticket – The cards that you use to pick numbers
• Spots – The numbers the players pick on each card
• Pay table – This tells you how much you can win. It factors in your wager and how many spots you’ve chosen.

 The best thing about Keno online is that you can win life-changing sums of money, which is why it’s known as the Lotto Lovers’ Game.

 

The Lotto Lovers Game 

 

Why do people love Lotto? Clue – it’s not because they love balls with numbers on them (well they might, but that’s not for this article). It’s because you can win astronomical sums of money. 

And who doesn’t want to do that? No-one, that’s who.

Of course, the odds are slim, though someone has to win. (That’s a power ballad just waiting to be written.) But like Lotto, it could be you, especially if you’ve got your strategy and technique down.

The biggest difference between Keno and Lotto is that Keno allows for more flexibility in your strategy. They let you decide how many numbers you want to pick. 

Lotto, on the other hand, requires you to pick a set amount of numbers. Pretty hard to have any “technique” there. You want to work your money, honey.

 

Best Keno strategies

So now you know how simple it is to play online Keno, but what you really want to know is how to win.

The first important fact to know is that the games are completely random. Each number has exactly the same chance of being drawn, so there’s nothing you can do to affect the odds. 

The second important titbit is that 20 numbers are being drawn from 1-80. 

That means there are 3,535,316,142,212,174,320 possible combinations of numbers. That is not a typo; it’s just a whole lotta combinations. (What comes after trillion, anyway?) We do not suggest attempting to memorize them. Even you, Rainman.

Instead, get a strategy. Popular Keno strategies include:

• Favorited numbers: Maybe your birthday. Maybe your age. Your shoe size. Whatever. As long as your favourite numbers are below 80, go for it. 
• Hot and cold numbers: You might think that because 6 has been drawn for the last 10 games, it’ll definitely get drawn in the next game. Or you might think it’s about time 6 wasn’t picked. If you recall at the beginning of this instructional, each number has exactly the same odds of being selected in a game, so take your pick: math or intuition.
• Patterns: Odd numbers, even numbers, twenty numbers in a row, etc. Patterns are everywhere in numbers. So it only makes sense to use them in your Keno game.  

 Or, if it’s more your style, you could always pick twenty random numbers and hope Lady Luck is online that day.

 

Keno Probabilities

Don’t worry, this won’t be a math lesson. It’s like this.

If you pick one number, and twenty numbers are drawn from 1-80, the chances of your number being drawn are 1 in 4. SO, the payout would be 3 times your stake. Got it? Great. 

Pick more numbers and the odds of you landing all of them gets bigger and bigger. A smart technique is to pick between 4 and 8 numbers. This gives you the best profit-risk odds. 

See? That wasn’t so bad. Strategy is not a scary word.

Knowing how to play is important, but so is the “where” part of how to play Keno. Make sure you check the pay tables. These can vary between sites. We’ve seen the payout for hitting two numbers vary from as much as 7:1 to 12:1. 

Now you’re ready to play your new favourite game. Go forth and win jackpots at Bodog.(and you’re welcome).