Playing Keno is kind of like playing the lottery, but with better odds and more versatile ways to place your bets. There are two general ways to play Keno – in a live casino setting, or in an online casino.
The online casino version of Keno is much easier and certainly a lot faster. In a live casino, Keno results are scheduled for a specific time. You have to fill out a slip, hand it to the Keno guy that walks the floor and wait for the numbers to come up on the big Keno screen.
Whichever way you play Keno, the rules are basically the same.
Keno – The Basics
Keno is a lottery game with 80 numbers displayed on the screen. During the game, 20 numbers will be randomly chosen. Your job is to choose which numbers you think will hit, betting on anywhere from 1 to 20 numbers. The more numbers you bet on, the higher the payout becomes. Also, the more numbers you pick, the less numbers will actually have to hit to win.
For example, choose only 1 number and it must hit to win, paying 3:1. Select 2 numbers they both must hit, paying 12:1. Selecting 5 numbers requires at least 3 of them to hit, paying 1:1 for 3, 10:1 for 4, or 800:1 for all 5.
Note that the odds of selecting 1 number and winning are 4 in 1, while the odds of selecting and hitting all 20 numbers are about 1 in 3,535,316,142,212,173,800 (or 3.5 quintillion).
Keno Bets
At an online casino, your bets are limited to simply choosing 1 thru 10, 15 or 20 numbers, with the payouts displayed on the screen according to the amount of numbers you’ve selected. Simple enough, right? But the range of Keno tickets you can purchase in a live casino is much more complex.
Straight Ticket: The simplest of all Keno tickets, you just mark all of the number you wish to bet on, up to a maximum of 20.
Split Ticket:
A Split ticket allows you to play two rounds of Keno in a single game. You will choose one group of numbers, then another group of numbers. Unfortunately, you cannot have any of the same numbers in both groups. If you want to use the same number in both groups, you’ll need two separate Straight Tickets.
Way Ticket: Way Tickets are recommended for more experienced Keno players as they are a bit complicated. You choose one large group of numbers, then circle several groups within those numbers. Each smaller group is called a Way. If any of your selected Ways hits, you win. To play Keno online now, check our casino reviews to find your favorite casino site.
Combination Ticket: also recommended for experienced Keno players, this ticket allows you to play a Straight bet and Way bets on the same ticket.
King Ticket: the King Ticket is like a Split Ticket, but allowing you to select one number to appear in all groups. A single number is circled as the King number. You then circle two or more groups of numbers. The King number is added to all groups.
Keno Pay Table
The Keno pay table is enormous since there is such a wide range of numbers to be bet on, and the payouts change each time you add another number to the mix. On top of that, the actual pay table can vary from one casino to the next. For these reasons, we won’t bother typing up a complete pay table. Be sure to observe the Keno pay table in your chosen live or online casino before playing.
Online Casino Keno
Playing online Keno is just a meter of clicking the numbers you’d like to bet on, then running the game. You will be able to choose a minimum of 1 number, up to a maximum of 10, 15 or 20 numbers. The payouts are displayed on the screen for the amount of numbers you’ve chosen.
Online Keno generally offers a ‘Quick Pick’ button where 10 numbers are automatically selected for you at random. You should also have the option to ‘Play 1′, ‘Play 5′ or ‘Play 10′. This is number of Keno games that will instantly run their course using the selected numbers and bet amount. The results of each play are shown on the right side of the screen, as are your total profits, if any.