Keno was introduced in two hundred BC by the Chinese army commander, Cheung Leung who used keno as a monetary resource for his declining forces. The city of Cheung was at war, and after a bit of war time seemed to be looking at a national shortage of food with the dramatic drop in supplies. Cheung Leung had to develop a rapid response for the financial disaster and to create revenue for his military. He therefore developed the game we now know as keno and it was a fantastic success.
Keno used to be known as the White Pigeon Game, because the winning numbers were sent out by pigeons from larger cities to the lesser towns. The lottery ‘Keno’ was brought to America in the 1800s by Chinese migrants who migrated to the US to work. In those times, Keno was played with one hundred and twenty numbers.
Today, Keno is generally bet on with eighty numbers in just about all of the US based casinos as well as web casinos. Keno is mainly loved today as a result of the relaxed nature of betting the game and the basic fact that there are no skills needed to enjoy Keno. Despite the fact that the chances of winning are terrible, there is always the chance that you could win quite big with very little gaming investment.
Keno is enjoyed with 80 numbers and twenty numbers are drawn each round. Players of Keno can pick from two to ten numbers and gamble on them, as much or as little as they want to. The payout of Keno is according to the wagers made and the roll out of matching numbers.
Keno has grown in universal appeal in the US since the close of the 19th century when the Chinese characters were replaced with more familiar, US numbers. Lottos weren’t covered under the legalization of wagering in the state of Nevada in Nineteen Thirty One. The casinos renamed the ‘Chinese lotto’ to ‘horse race keno’ employing the idea that the numbers are horses and you want your horses to come in. When the Nevada government passed a law that levied a tax on off track betting, Nevada casinos quickly altered the name to ‘Keno’.