Keno was introduced in 200 BC by the Chinese army commander, Cheung Leung who used this game as a financial resource for his failing army. The city of Cheung was waging a war, and after some time seemed to be facing national shortage of food with the excessive decrease in supplies. Cheung Leung had to come up with a quick fix for the economic adversity and to create income for his army. He therefore invented the game we know today as keno and it was a wonderful success.
Keno once was known as the White Pigeon Game, since the winning numbers were delivered by pigeons from bigger cities to the smaller villages. The lottery ‘Keno’ was imported to America in the 1800s by Chinese immigrants who headed to the US for work. In those times, Keno was played with one hundred and twenty numbers.
Today, Keno is generally bet on with 80 numbers in a majority of the US land based casinos as well as online casinos. Keno is commonly played today because of the relaxed nature of wagering the game and the simple fact that there are little skills required to play Keno. Despite the fact that the chances of getting a win are horrible, there is constantly the possibility that you will win quite large with a tiny gaming investment.
Keno is played with 80 numbers with twenty numbers drawn each round. Enthusiasts of Keno can select from two to ten numbers and bet on them, as much or as little as they are able to. The pay out of Keno is dependent on the wagers made and the matching of numbers.
Keno has grown in popularity in the US since the close of the 19th century when the Chinese characters were replaced with more familiar, American numbers. Lottos weren’t covered under the legalization of gambling in the state of Nevada in 1931. The casinos renamed the ‘Chinese lottery’ to ‘horse race keno’ utilizing the notion that the numbers are horses and you are looking for your horses to place. When the Nevada government passed a law that levied a tax on off track gambling, Nevada casinos swiftly altered the name to ‘Keno’.
