Keno was created in 200 BC by the Chinese military commander, Cheung Leung who utilized keno as a financial resource for his declining forces. The city of Cheung was at war, and after a bit of time seemed to be facing country wide famine with the excessive drop in supplies. Cheung Leung had to come up with a rapid response for the economic calamity and to acquire money for his forces. He thusly created the game we know today as keno and it was a great success.
Keno was known as the White Pigeon Game, due to the fact that the winning numbers were sent out by pigeons from larger municipalities to the lesser towns. The lottery ‘Keno’ was brought to America in the 1800s by Chinese expatriates who migrated to the US for work. In those times, Keno used one hundred and twenty numbers.
Today, Keno is typically bet on with just 80 numbers in most of the US land based casinos as well as internet casinos. Keno is largely played today because of the relaxed nature of playing the game and the simple fact that there are no skills needed to enjoy Keno. Despite the fact that the odds of getting a win are terrible, there is constantly the hope that you will win quite large with very little gambling investment.
Keno is played with eighty numbers and 20 numbers are drawn each round. Enthusiasts of Keno can pick from two to ten numbers and bet on them, as much or as little as they want to. The payout of Keno is dependent on the bets made and the matching of numbers.
Keno has grown in popularity in the US since the close of the 1800’s when the Chinese letters were changed with , US numbers. Lottos 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 notion that the numbers are horses and you are wanting your horses to place. When the Nevada government passed a law that levied a tax on off track betting, the casinos quickly changed the name to ‘Keno’.