The History of Keno
Saturday, 3. November 2007
Keno was first played in 200 BC by the Chinese army commander, Cheung Leung who utilized keno as a way to finance his declining army. The city of Cheung was at war, and after awhile of war time seemed to be facing country wide shortage of food with the drastic drop in supplies. Cheung Leung had to come up with a quick fix for the economic calamity and to acquire income for his army. He thusly invented the game we know today as keno and it was a wonderful success.
Keno was well-known as the White Pigeon Game, since the winning numbers were broadcast by pigeons from bigger locations to the smaller villages. The lottery ‘Keno’ was imported to the United States in the 19th century by Chinese immigrants who headed to the States to jobs. In those times, Keno used 120 numbers.
Today, Keno is normally enjoyed with just 80 numbers in just about all of the US land based casinos along with web casinos. Keno is mainly played today because of the laid back nature of gambling the game and the simple fact that there are no skills required to enjoy Keno. Regardless of the reality that the odds of succeeding are appalling, there is constantly the possibility that you will hit quite large with very little gambling investment.
Keno is enjoyed with 80 numbers and twenty numbers are selected each round. Gamblers of Keno can select from 2 to ten numbers and gamble on them, as much or as little as they want to. The pay out of Keno is dependent on the bets made and the matching of numbers.
Keno has grown in universal appeal in the United States since the end of the 1800’s when the Chinese characters were replaced with more familiar, American numbers. Lotteries weren’t covered under the legalization of gaming in Nevada State in 1931. The casinos renamed the ‘Chinese lottery’ to ‘horse race keno’ utilizing the concept that the numbers are horses and you want your horses to place. When a law passed that taxed off track betting, Nevada casinos quickly changed the name to ‘Keno’.
Posted in Keno by Branden