Keno is a lottery-type game, which began over two thousand years ago in China. This game of chance was created by a man named Cheung Leung, in order to raise money for a weak army. Villagers were tired and disillusioned and Leung had no desire to raise taxes in order to attain the funds necessary to save his city.
Leung developed a game in which players had to buy tickets to play, and choose their "lot" from 120 Chinese characters. This innovation was introduced in the hope that the locals would try their luck, place their bets, and pay money to have a chance to win.
Leung's game proved to be very successful, and he managed to save his city by strengthening his army with money raised from the game. In those days, carrier pigeons were used to advise villagers of the results. For this reason the ancient game was sometimes known as the "White Pigeon Game". It is believed that the Great Wall of China was built with money made from the Keno game. Keno is a game of luck which is quite straightforward to play. Leung would have probably been very surprised to learn that his simple game would last for so many years and would become popular in many places around the globe.
Modern Keno
The game of Keno was brought to the United States by Chinese immigrants who arrived to work on the railways in the 1800's. For many years, the game was known as the "Chinese Lottery". In the original game, players had to choose Chinese characters rather than numbers.. These characters were part of an ancient Chinese rhyming poem. People who understood the poem and characters would often make their choice according to its meaning or artistic association. Once Keno reached America, the characters were changed to numbers so that it became a more attractive game for those who did not understand the Chinese characters.
Casino Keno
In the 1930's, Keno was introduced into the casino arena. However, although gambling had been made legal in parts of the United States, lotteries were not permitted in the casino, so the game was then renamed "Horse Race Keno", as a ploy to ensure its entrance to the casinos. Players were to make their choice out of eighty numbers in this lottery-type game, which officially was not a lottery. Once a tax was imposed by the US Government on off-track horse racing, the "horse race" part of Keno's name was dropped and the game became "Keno".
Playing Keno at modern casinos, a player chooses between one and twenty numbers out of a possible eighty. Twenty random numbers are then drawn and pay out is made according to how many of the chosen numbers actually appear in the draw. How to Play Keno
Online Keno
Today, the game of Keno, without further name changes, has made it onto the Internet at the online casinos. The online version of Keno has remained a lottery-type number game that is simple and fun to play. This game provides the player with the opportunity to make large winnings, even when placing a relatively small bet. The introduction of online Keno means that one can enjoy an updated version of this ancient game from the comfort of one's home.
The success of this ancient game and its lasting durability over the years do suggest that the appealing game of Keno will be around for many more years to come.
