April 26, 2024
Keno Online Rules

Keno General Rules: A Beginner’s Guide

Playing Keno is extremely simple. It is so simple in fact that it should only take you a little while to understand its rules and how it is played.

Keno is a simple and exciting lottery-style casino game that is easy to learn and fun to play. Before diving into the world of keno, it’s essential to understand the general rules governing the game. In this guide, we’ll outline the basic rules of keno to help you get started.

The Keno Cards

First of all you will need a Keno card or ticket. On the card you will notice all the numbers from 1 to 80. All the numbers from 1 to 40 are on the top half of the card, and the numbers 41 to 80 are on the bottom half of the card.

Pick Your Numbers

Before the game begins you must pick out the numbers you think will win and mark them on the card. You can pick any amount of numbers you want to, but no more than 20 and at least one number.

When the game starts, 20 random numbers will be chosen. When this process is complete the game is over and you will be paid according to how many numbers you got. If you have played ten numbers for example, but you only got 8, you will be paid accordingly. Of course, the payout would have been larger if you got all ten numbers that you played.

Select Your Numbers

  • Choose your numbers: Keno players typically select between 1 and 20 numbers (called spots) from a pool of 80 numbers (1 to 80).
  • Mark your selections: On a physical keno ticket, you’ll mark your chosen numbers with an “X” or fill in the corresponding spots. In video or online keno, you’ll select your numbers by clicking or tapping on the screen.

Determine Your Wager

  • Set your bet: Decide how much you want to wager on each game. This can usually be as low as $1, but some casinos or machines may have higher minimum bets.
  • Choose the number of games: In some instances, you can select to play multiple games with the same set of numbers. This is called a multi-race ticket.

The Keno Draw

  • The draw: A keno draw involves randomly selecting 20 numbers from the pool of 80. In land-based casinos, this is done with a ball machine or an electronic random number generator (RNG). Video and online keno games use an RNG for the draw.
  • Watch for your numbers: As the numbers are drawn, check your ticket or screen to see if any of your selected numbers match the drawn numbers.

Payouts

  • Winning combinations: Your winnings are determined by the number of spots you’ve chosen, the number of matching numbers (called catches), and the amount of your wager.
  • Check the payout table: Each casino or keno machine has a unique payout table that outlines the potential winnings for different combinations of spots and catches. Be sure to review this table before playing to understand the payout structure.

Large Payouts in Keno

Regarding the payouts in keno you should know that they vary from one casino to another. Usually the payouts are large, but this is mainly because the house edge is rather high. In fact Keno is one of the casino games with the highest house edge. If you play only 2 numbers for example your odds of winning are 6%.

This is a game that appeals to lottery fans. It is very entertaining, and even though the house edge is a bit high, the large payouts compensate for that, making this a wonderful game to play.

Claiming Your Winnings

  • Land-based casinos: If you’ve won in a land-based casino, you’ll need to present your winning ticket to the keno cashier to claim your prize.
  • Video and online keno: In video and online keno games, winnings are usually credited to your account automatically.

Keno is a straightforward and entertaining game that anyone can enjoy. By understanding the general rules of keno, including selecting numbers, determining your wager, following the draw, and claiming your winnings, you’ll be well on your way to enjoying this classic casino game. Don’t forget to review the payout table for each game, as this can vary between casinos and machines. Good luck, and have fun!

The Casino Game Keno

General Information About Keno

Getting the correct number combination in Keno may be insanely difficult but when you get it just right you might just win the biggest jackpot ever.

The goal of the game of Keno is to between 1 and 20 numbers on a card with 80 possible numbers match up 20 different numbers drawn by the house. The more cards that match and the higher the initial wager, the bigger your win will be.

Bad Reputation

One of the main reasons perhaps that Keno does not have the same following and name recognition as blackjack, roulette or craps is the fact that government gambling regulation in terms of house limits and house edges does not extend to keno and this has allowed many casinos to up the pay scales and create different pay tables that are extremely advantageous to them.

In fact, there are some keno games where the house edge can be as high as 66%, which when compared to the average house edge of around 2.5% on other non-slot casino games is something that is extremely obscene.

However, at the same time, what you will find is that most offline casinos will offer many different pay tables and allow you as a customer to choose the one that you want to play on. This means that you can effectively choose the house edge for the game that you play and therefore if you are knowledgeable enough about the mathematics of the game you can keep the house edge as low as possible.

For example, there are some offline casinos that have keno games with house edges as low as 4% and therefore some of the bad reputation of the keno game is unfairly received.

Online Reputation

The interesting thing about Keno as it relates to online casinos is that the reputation issue is taken to the next level of extreme. Whereas some offline gambling institutions will take advantage of people in order to try and offer ridiculous bets like the 66% house edge bet mentioned above, there are also casinos that try to balance that out and get the reputation of the game back to neutral by offering extremely reasonable house edge percentages like 4%.

This is pronounced to a degree that is almost ridiculous in the online casino world. In casinos that have software packages that they created themselves, they have a lot of flexibility over their Keno games and many of them will actually go ahead and try to offer bets that are classical “sucker bets” in which the player has absolutely no chance of winning anything at any time.

However, there are also other online casinos such as Microgaming casinos that will offer very fun and reasonable Keno games in order to balance this out and when that is considered in the big picture you can see how shopping around and finding an online casino with a very good mathematical house edge is crucial if you happen to be a person that plans on playing a lot of Keno.

Keno Terminology List

Keno Terms

In this Article we Present to You an Extensive list of the Most Commonly Used Terminology in Keno!

Today, you can play keno both offline as well as online. If you are new to Keno, you would do well to know the different terms used in the game. What is an ‘all or nothing’? Or a ‘ball game’? What does someone mean when he uses the term ‘buy-in tournament’? This article provides a glossary of these and some other terms used in Keno.

The Most Important Keno Terms to Know

Keno: This is today’s version of an ancient Chinese lottery. You get to draw 20 numbers out of a total of 80 (nowadays the total is 120), and you win if you are able to correctly guess the numbers drawn.

All or Nothing: This is a term used in Keno to represent a ticket that pays only if you draw all the numbers picked, or if you draw none of the numbers picked.

Ball Game: This is the most common form of Keno nowadays. In this form of the game, plastic balls represent the numbers.

Blank: This is a term used to represent an unused Keno ticket.

Blower: The blower is part of the machine that is used to dispense the plastic balls used in Keno. With the blower, the game operator can force the balls into a tube, using air.

Buy-in Tournament: This is a type of Keno tournament where you have to pay a pre-determined fee upfront. Once you pay the fee, you are eligible to play in a specific number of games or play a set number of tickets. In a buy-in tournament, you get to keep any money you win.

Cage: The cage is no longer used in Keno games today. Basically, it was a wire cage used in the earlier days to hold Keno balls. Today, you mostly find plastic hoppers. The term ‘cage’ also denotes a specific area in a casino where only employees are allowed, and where you can find Keno workers.

Catch: This is a term used to denote a number that you have called in a Keno game.

Catch-all: This is a type of Keno game where you have to get all the numbers marked on your ticket. Another game is Catch-zero, where you must ensure you do not get any of the numbers that you have marked on your ticket.

Close: This is a term used to identify that period in time when the casino stops writing any more Keno tickets. The time period usually stretches from just prior to the draw till immediately after the draw.

Fractional Rate Ticket: This term is used to represent a ticket that you can play for a fraction of the standard rate.

High End Ticket: This term is used to refer to a Keno ticket that pays you more if you catch a high number of spots. However, if you catch a lower number of spots compared to the standard ticket, you win less or even no money.

High Roller Ticket: This is a Keno ticket whose minimum pricing is high.

House Edge: This term is used to represent the percentage of bets that the house, i.e. the casino, can hope to win over time. The standard house edge is 30%, though this number is not necessarily the same for all casinos.

Keno Glossary –  Summing Up

The above are some of the terms that you will encounter when you start playing Keno. You would do well to read up more about the large number of terms related to Keno before going ahead and trying your luck at the game. We have further glossary lists on our site so check them out!