Definition of Keno betting
Keno is a betting game played with cards (tickets) that have numbers written on them. The numbers are written in squares, usually from 1 to 90. Players mark or circle as many numbers as they want. They can bet on as many or as few numbers as they want, but when they reach the maximum number allowed, they must submit or register their tickets and pay according to the number of numbers they have chosen. At fixed intervals every day, a total of 20 numbered balls or marbles are drawn randomly and the house will pay according to the number of numbers that each player has registered.
Origin of Keno
Keno originated in China and has a long history, dating back at least 1500 years. The original Chinese name for the game was piao or pai-ko piano, which means “white pigeon ticket”, so called because the tickets were sent by carrier pigeons.
Since around the 3rd century BC, the game of Piao has been played in most parts of China, usually organized by one or more casinos with the permission of the provincial authority, who then also gets a “small amount” of the profits.
The original ticket used was the piao and is still widely used in Chinese communities, where the game continues to be popular. It has the first 80 characters in Qianziwen (“Book of a Thousand Characters”) instead of numbers. This classic work of Chinese literature, by an unknown author, includes exactly 1,000 Chinese ideograms (or characters), all different from each other, and was so popular among Chinese intellectuals that these characters were sometimes used in place of the corresponding numbers from 1 to 1,000.
How does Lotto/bingo relate to Keno?
Baige piao (or pak-a-pu, as it evolved known in the West) is the forerunner not only of keno but also of lotto and bingo. Keno came in the western United States in the 1840s with Chinese immigrants. At the beginning of the 20th century, the game gained famous among non-Chinese groups in the United States under the name Chinese lottery games, in which the characters were converted to numbers. At the moment, it also acquired the name keno, which is a corruption of the French word quine (“group of five”). In 1933, keno was presented in betting houses in Reno, Nevada, under the name Race-Horse Keno, with names of horses instead of numbers on the cards so as not to conflict of interest with state laws involving lotteries. Those Nevada laws were modified in 1951, after which keno evolved a game with numbers. Today, Keno is played (with many daily drawings) in nearly all American casinos as nicely as in many casinos in Australia, South Africa, South America, and East Asia. The house benefit in casino keno is significant—about 25 percent. Keno is also provided as a game (usually with weekly drawings) by many lottery businesses around the world.
