Keno was first played in two hundred BC by the Chinese military leader, Cheung Leung who used keno as a way to finance his declining army. The metropolis of Cheung was waging a war, and after some time seemed to be looking at a country wide famine with the dramatic drop in supplies. Cheung Leung had to come up with a fast fix for the financial calamity and to produce revenue for his military. He therefore designed the game we now know as keno and it was a great success.
Keno used to be referred to as the White Pigeon Game, since the winning numbers were sent out by pigeons from bigger cities to the lesser towns. The lotto ‘Keno’ was imported to the USA in the 1800s by Chinese newcomers who headed to the States for work. In those times, Keno used 120 numbers.
Today, Keno is normally gambled on with 80 numbers in just about all of the US land based casinos along with online casinos. Keno is mainly played today because of the laid back nature of wagering the game and the simple fact that there are little expertise needed to enjoy Keno. Regardless of the reality that the odds of coming away with a win are terrible, there is constantly the chance that you could hit quite big with a tiny gaming investment.
Keno is played with 80 numbers with twenty numbers selected each game. Gamblers of Keno can select from two to 10 numbers and gamble on them, as much or as little as they want to. The pay out of Keno is dependent on the wagers made and the matching of numbers.
Keno grew in popularity in the United States near the close of the 1800’s when the Chinese characters were changed with more familiar, US numbers. Lotteries weren’t covered under the laws of wagering in Nevada State in 1931. 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 gambling, the casinos quickly altered the name to ‘Keno’.