Keno was first played in 200 before Christ by the Chinese army commander, Cheung Leung who utilized keno as a way to finance his declining forces. The metropolis of Cheung was waging a battle, and after a bit of time appeared to be facing country wide shortage of food with the excessive decrease in supplies. Cheung Leung had to come up with a rapid response for the economic disaster and to acquire income for his army. He therefore developed the game we now know as keno and it was a fantastic success.
Keno used to be referred to as the White Pigeon Game, seeing as the winning numbers were broadcast by pigeons from bigger cities to the tinier villages. The lotto ‘Keno’ was imported to the USA in the 1800s by Chinese migrants who headed to the States to jobs. In those times, Keno used 120 numbers.
Today, Keno is most often played with 80 numbers in just about all of the US land based casinos as well as net casinos. Keno is mainly played today as a result of the laid back nature of wagering the game and the basic fact that there are no expertise needed to play Keno. Regardless of the fact that the chances of winning are terrible, there is always the hope that you might win quite large with very little gaming investment.
Keno is played with 80 numbers with 20 numbers selected each game. Enthusiasts of Keno can select from 2 to ten numbers and wager on them, as much or as little as they are able to. The payout of Keno is according to the wagers made and the roll out of matching numbers.
Keno has grown in popularity in the US since the end of the 19th century when the Chinese characters were changed with more familiar, US numbers. Lottos weren’t covered under the legalization of wagering in the state of Nevada in 1931. The casinos renamed the ‘Chinese lotto’ to ‘horse race keno’ utilizing the idea that the numbers are horses and you are looking for your horses to place. When a law passed that levied a tax on off track gambling, Nevada casinos quickly adjusted the name to ‘Keno’.