Played in many real casinos world over, and pretty much in every bingo hall, Keno is a fairly popular casino game. Even smaller gambling establishments ( ones that cannot afford live poker, blackjack, bingo or keno) have video keno – a game which is exactly like online keno.
The single thing that makes Keno stand out from all other casino games is the house edge. The house edge in Keno amounts to as much as 66% ( while other games come with a house edge in the range of 1 -5%)
Remember this next time you decide to settle down for a game of keno.
The game itself consists of the player choosing a few numbers ( from 1 to 20) and marking these numbers on a keno ticket. ( in online Keno, this task is performed automatically by the software) Numbers are drawn at random (or they are selected by a random number generator in the case of online keno) what the player wins, is dependent on the following factors: the amount of his/her initial bet, and the drawn numbers that match the ones on his ticket.
The more matching numbers there are, the more times the initial bet is multiplied. Some casinos offer as many as 20 numbers that players can pick ( number picking is done at the keno booth, in a real casino and at the click of a mouse in online keno.) but most are limited to 10 or 15 numbers. The odds of someone hitting a 20 number jackpot are 1 to 3.5 quintillion.
In a real casino you’ll often see “keno runners” who walk around and offer keno tickets to anyone who might be interested. Big casinos have a “big board” on which the numbers drawn light up. Every player will then be able to match the numbers on his ticket up against the ones on the big board.
Again, online Keno does all this automatically, all you need to check is whether you won or not, and if you did, how much?
In order to cash in your winning ticket you need to take it to the keno booth right away. At any rate, you need to have it cashed in before the next round starts, and that usually starts in about 4-5 minutes. If you fail to show up at the booth with your ticket in that time-span, it will be voided and you’ll lose the money you would’ve otherwise won.
In order to avoid having to run to the booth as soon as the game ends, you can either purchase a multi-race ticket or a stray and play ticket. The multi-race one will feature a whole bunch of tickets ( usually up to 20) with the same number selection. At the end of 20( or a number corresponding to the number of tickets he has in his multi-race) rounds, the player can present the multi-race ticket to the keno booth and pick up any winnings he may have had.
The stray and play ticket will usually be valid for more than 30 rounds of keno, and players in possession of such tickets will be able to cash them in for up to a year after purchase. Many Las Vegas casinos feature a large variety of keno games. They’re mostly variations of the same basic gameplay introduced to make it all the more appealing to the public, but the house edge on all these games remains the same.
What exactly can you do to better your chances at keno? Not much really, but you can choose the type of keno you play.
7 spot keno is a lot better than the 10 spot one. It only gives the house a 39% edge, but by far the best from a player-perspective, is 3 spot keno. The house will only have a 38% edge, here, still, if you compare that to other casino games it doesn’t sound too enticing. ( 38% house edge means that you get a 62 cents return on every dollar you invest)
10 spot keno is the worst kind of keno game with the biggest house edge.
