Keno Glossary
Your Guide to Keno Jargon and Terminology
- Bet – The amount of money wagered in any one game by a player.
- Cage – holds the Keno balls before they are drawn.
- Call – The actual act of calling the Keno numbers as they are drawn, usually over an intercom.
- Caller – The casino employee who calls out the numbers as they are drawn.
- Catch – when one of your numbers is drawn. ‘Catch 3’ means 3 of your numbers have been drawn.
- Combination Ticket – A single ticket with several different Keno wagers on it.
- Computer Ticket – A Keno ticket generated by a computer from the player’s handwritten ticket.
- Draw – When the 20 winning numbers are pulled out at random.
- Draw Sheet – A sheet produced by the casino showing the numbers drawn from the previous game. Has holes punched in it to make it easy to check your ticket.
- Group – Set of numbers that the player has circled to show they are to be seen as an individual way on the ticket (see ‘Way’).
- Hit – When a drawn number matches one of your numbers.
- House – The casino, or whoever else is running the game.
- House Edge – The percent of all wagers the house expects to win over time.
- Jackpot – The prize paid in a progressive game (see ‘Progressive’)
- Keno Balls – Numbered 1-80, used to make the draw. Similar to bingo balls or ping pong balls.
- Keno Board – The electronic displays that show the numbers as they are drawn.
- Keno Counter – The counter where players place their bets and collect their winnings.
- Keno Lounge – The area in a casino devoted to Keno.
- Keno Runners – staff who go throughout the casino collecting Keno wagers, and paying winners.
- Keno Writers – The Keno counter staff who take bets, produce tickets, and pay the winners.
- Limit – maximum amount a casino will pay out to all the winners in total during any one game.
- Live Keno – Keno with live draws played by multiple players, ie not video Keno.
- Net Win – The player’s winnings after deducting the cost of the ticket.
- Odds – The mathematical probability of an outcome.
- Payout Table or Schedule – The chart showing what each type of win pays.
- Progressive – A Keno game where the top prize (the Jackpot) increases until it is won.
- Quick Pick – A ticket with numbers chosen at random for the player by a Keno computer.
- Race – A single Keno game.
- Random Number Generator – A computer program used to randomly select numbers for a Keno game. Rate – The price paid for each separate wager on a ticket.
- Split Ticket – Two or more groups of numbers played as separate wagers on the same ticket.
- Spots – the numbers chosen by a player.
- Straight Ticket – The standard or basic ticket sold by a casino.
- Ticket – The Keno ticket with a grid of 80 numbers where the player marks their selections.
- Video Keno – Keno played by an individual player on a computerized machine.
- Wager – The amount of money bet.
- Way – One of the bets on a keno ticket that shows more than one bet.
- Way Ticket – A keno ticket with more than one bet on the same game.
- Winning Numbers – The 20 numbers drawn in the Keno game.