The History of Keno
Thursday, 21. May 2026
Keno was introduced in 200 BC by the Chinese army leader, Cheung Leung who used keno as a way to finance his failing forces. The city of Cheung was waging a war, and after awhile of war time appeared to be looking at a country wide shortage of food with the drastic drop in supplies. Cheung Leung had to create a rapid fix for the financial disaster and to acquire money for his forces. He thusly designed the game we know today as keno and it was a wonderful success.
Keno was referred to as the White Pigeon Game, due to the fact that the winning numbers were broadcast by pigeons from larger municipalities to the smaller towns. The lotto ‘Keno’ was imported to America in the 1800s by Chinese immigrants who came to the US to work. In those times, Keno used 120 numbers.
Today, Keno is generally played with eighty numbers in most of American land based casinos as well as internet casinos. Keno is commonly enjoyed today because of the relaxed nature of wagering the game and the basic reality that there are little skills required to enjoy Keno. Regardless of the reality that the chances of coming away with a win are horrible, there is constantly the hope that you might win quite large with very little gambling investment.
Keno is enjoyed with 80 numbers with twenty numbers selected each game. Gamblers of Keno can select from 2 to ten numbers and bet on them, as much or as little as they are able to. The payout of Keno is according to the wagers made and the matching of numbers.
Keno has grown in popularity in the US since the end of the 19th century when the Chinese letters were changed with , American numbers. Lotteries weren’t covered under the laws of gaming in the state of Nevada in 1931. The casinos renamed the ‘Chinese lotto’ to ‘horse race keno’ employing the idea that the numbers are horses and you want your horses to come in. When the Nevada government passed a law that levied a tax on off track gambling, Nevada casinos quickly changed the name to ‘Keno’.
Posted in Keno by Branden