Keno’s History
Sunday, 1. June 2025
Keno was introduced in two hundred before Christ by the Chinese army commander, Cheung Leung who used keno as a financial resource for his declining forces. The city of Cheung was waging a war, and after some time seemed to be looking at a country wide shortage of food with the drastic decrease in supplies. Cheung Leung needed to create a fast response for the financial calamity and to create money for his forces. He, as it follows designed the game we know today as keno and it was a fantastic success.
Keno used to be known as the White Pigeon Game, seeing as the winning numbers were delivered by pigeons from bigger cities to the tinier towns. The lottery ‘Keno’ was imported to America in the 19th century by Chinese newcomers who migrated to the United States for jobs. In those times, Keno used 120 numbers.
Today, Keno is regularly bet on with eighty numbers in most of American brick and mortar casinos along with net casinos. Keno is mainly played today because of the relaxed nature of betting the game and the simple fact that there are little expertise required to play Keno. Despite the fact that the odds of coming away with a win are terrible, there is constantly the hope that you could win quite big with little gambling investment.
Keno is played with eighty numbers with twenty numbers picked each round. Gamblers of Keno can pick from 2 to 10 numbers and gamble on them, whatever amount they are able to. The pay out of Keno is dependent on the bets made and the matching of numbers.
Keno has grown in universal appeal in the United States since the end of the 1800’s when the Chinese letters were replaced with more familiar, American numbers. Lottos were not covered under the laws of wagering in the state of Nevada in 1931. The casinos adjusted the name of the ‘Chinese lotto’ to ‘horse race keno’ utilizing the idea that the numbers are horses and you are wanting your horses to place. When a law passed that taxed off track wagering, casinos swiftly changed the name to ‘Keno’.
Posted in Keno by Reed