• WHAT IS KENO?

Keno is easy to learn and fun to play. It is one of the oldest games played in modern casinos and almost certainly the one that has undergone the least change. Keno is played in much the same fashion as most national and state lotteries around the world.

The concept is very simple. There is a large Keno board with numbers from one (1) to eighty (80). In a basket, wire cage or plastic bubble there are balls numbered from one (1) to eighty (80). Twenty of the balls are drawn randomly and it is up to the player to predict which numbers will be drawn and to place a bet on as many as fifteen of those numbers. A player may choose to bet on any number of ‘spots’ (up to 15) for the price of one ticket. The price of the ticket is not dependent on the number of spots chosen. The more spots the player correctly predicts the higher the payout.


• IS KENO A FAST GAME?

Not exactly. In casinos, Keno is generally a pretty slow game. But that doesn't mean it isn't a fun game. It's a great way to take some time out from games that require a high skill level and quick process time or the deciphering of probabilities on the fly. Some people play Keno in between tables in order to relax a bit while still keeping their heads in the game. Video Keno is a little faster, as you do not have to wait between games.


• IS KENO A GAME OF SKILL?

Primarily, Keno is a game of luck. Think bingo. Visit How To Play Keno for more information on this topic.


• IS KENO A HIGH STAKES GAME?

Another great Keno quality is the fact that you can wager as little as $1. True, you can also bet several thousands of dollars, but if you want to have some fun and don't want to break the bank, then Keno just might be your game.


• HOW DO I PLAY A SIMPLE KENO TICKET?

Let's say you decide to play a $1 6-spot. Pick a blank Keno ticket, grab a crayon and cross out your 6 choices with a plain X. On the right of the ticket write "$1" and beneath that the number ‘6’ to indicate you are playing a 6-spot. Since you've already crossed out 6 numbers it's kind of redundant to write ‘6’ but this is used for cross-checking by the dealer, as well as being important when playing fancy combination tickets.

Having marked your ticket you now bring it to a dealer (also called a writer) at the front of the Keno lounge. It's a bit like standing in line at a bank since the dealer positions look much like teller windows. Hand your ticket and money to the dealer. He or she will make a copy of your ticket and give you the copy, retaining the original. All the original tickets are collected and bundled together someplace visible to a video camera, and the balls are mixed in the hopper. One of the dealers opens the portals and the chosen balls work their way out. One by one the dealer calls out the numbers and throws the switch that causes that number to light on the keno board. After the 20th and last number is chosen the dealers return to their stations. The few lucky winners rush to cash in while the rest of the players decide what numbers to pick for the next game.


• WHAT ARE SOME STRATEGIES FOR MARKING TICKETS?

There are a variety of strategies for playing keno. None of them provide you with any advantage, but they can be fun to play. Some of them can also be mighty expensive.

As with roulette you can ‘chase the old man’, meaning play those numbers that seem to be coming up more often than the others. The theory is that they will keep coming up again in the future. The reality is they don't come up any more than chance dictates. Or you can ‘let the old man chase you’, meaning play numbers that haven't come up in recent games, on the theory that they'll start coming up in order to make the long-run results for each number even out. Again, the reality is that the balls have no memory. Number 47 may not have come up in the last 10 games, but that has no predictive value. In such a case the molecules that make up ball number 47 do not strain themselves to ‘even the score’.

The Keno playing card is divided into an upper and lower half. After all, just about every game will see about half the house numbers drawn in the upper part and half drawn in the lower part. But it doesn't matter, the balls don't care what the playing cards look like. The house could print every card differently. A set of numbers that produces a balanced card for one configuration might be highly unbalanced in another. This will not cause one set of numbers to be drawn more often than any other set.

While not exactly a strategy, some players may find it entertaining to play somebody else's losing ticket. If the guy next to you gets up to leave, take his losing ticket to the dealer and say ‘play it again’. This takes a certain amount of timing, judgment and chutzpah (a byproduct of several Rumple Minze's on the house), but can be fun if pulled off well.


• WHAT'S A KENO RUNNER?

Most casinos offer ‘Keno runners’ as a courtesy to players who happen to be in the dining room or poker table, but still want to play Keno. ‘Keno girls’ are often dressed much like cocktail waitresses and carry trays with blank tickets, crayons and spare change so that patrons can play Keno anywhere in the casino.

A typical ‘comp’ lunch in Las Vegas takes just about long enough to play (and lose) four to five Keno games.

Usually Keno runners cruise the casino calling out ‘Keno?’ to no one in particular. If you wish to engage the services of a runner, merely answer by saying the word ‘Keno’ in a louder tone. The runner will stop by your table, wait for you to mark and pay for a Keno ticket, give you any change, and continue cruising.


• WHAT IS VIDEO KENO?

Video Keno offers the same odds as regular Keno, but the payoff scale may vary from the casino norm. You can use the math section to calculate your return from video Keno and compare it with the return from the casino's live game. Often you can find video Keno games where a casino doesn't have a live game, and the bet size is often lower. Nickel VK games are not uncommon.

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