Gamblers will find that playing the internet version of keno in the online casino is more straight forward in terms of placing bets. As can be surmised by anyone stepping foot in a land-based casino, offline keno requires the use of keno tickets. The simplest of these are Straight Tickets and 20-Spot Tickets.

To fill out a Straight Ticket, obtain a blank ticket and a crayon (provided with the tickets), and simply mark through the numbers you would like to bid on. Most casinos will let you pick up to fifteen numbers on a straight ticket. However, always be sure to look through the casinos pamphlet anyways – It will tell you the maximum number of picks as well as the payoffs.

The next step is to mark on the ticket’s upper-right corner the amount you would like to bet (All casinos vary with their maximum allowable wagers). In most establishments, you will find it common to see $1 or $2 minimums. Remember that the amount you write on the ticket covers all your selected numbers. In other words, your bet does not change with the amount of numbers you pick – Only your payout and odds of winning do.

After marking your wager, write in the amount of picks in the right margin of the ticket, below the bet amount. You are now ready to turn in your ticket to the keno counter, as well as pay up your wager – You will then be given a printed receipt. After the drawing is finished, take your receipt back to the counter and collect your winnings.

As for the 20-Spot Ticket, it is played just like a Straight Ticket, except that you must pick twenty numbers. Mark the upper-right corner of the ticket with a 20, and the amount of your bet in the right-hand margin and you are ready to turn your twenty-spot in.

Just keep in mind that the odds of winning anything on this ticket are not good at all. A 20-Spot Ticket is when playing keno looks most like a mega-jackpot lottery. Although hitting seventeen to twenty numbers would be a huge payout, the odds range from 1 in 90 million (for 17 numbers) to 1 in quintillion something (for twenty numbers). Your best odds are for hitting 4, 5 or 6 numbers (over 60% chance), which still does not pay out.

The probability chart for 20 spot keno. Each probability is the odds of receiving that amount of numbers when you pick a certain amount of numbers. Click on picture to see full size.

At an Online Casino

You will not usually find this type of keno ticket offered online. Most online keno games include 10-Spot tickets. Your odds of hitting 10 numbers out of 10 picked is still very slim. 20 numbers will still be drawn on a single play of the game. But your odds of hitting all 10 numbers is 0.00001024% or once in 9.7 million draws.

Keno has one of the largest house advantages of all of the casino games. This advantage can be up to 15%. This means that your expected wins on $100 wagered would be $85. The least house advantage is available when you bet 7 numbers, but this is still at least 10%. This large advantage is why state lotteries offer keno that can be played in bars and other venues. It is guaranteed money that comes back to the government.

The lotteries themselves have the worst disadvantages towards the players. The advantage towards the entity that is holding the lottery draw is between 30% to 50%. The state governments allow these lotteries because it also guarantees that the government will make more money than it loses to gamblers. Then, they use the guise of telling people that these profits go to schools or some other charitable organization to make it seem okay to gamble in this way. Makes you wonder why these same government entities talk out of both sides of their mouths when they make online gambling illegal.

This is also why online casinos that offer slots bonuses will often include keno in with the bonus. Online Slots are the other casino games that have a large house advantage, between 10% and 20% depending on the machine. These casinos have to award bonuses to slots players to keep the players loyal. Otherwise, they would eventually drain their players account and leave for another website. This is why you see the slot clubs offered at the casinos. If they didn’t offer these perks, the people wouldn’t continue to play.

Whereas in online keno, using keno tickets is not so much a concern, and actually has no use in the online casino version of the game whatsoever, the standard version of keno found in land-based casinos, is dependent upon using – and as far as the player is concerned – understanding the different types of keno tickets.

Chances are that if you play online keno, you have played keno in a brick ‘n mortar casino at one time or another. And even if you have never played keno before, when you find yourself becoming an avid online keno player, chances are you will yearn to play keno at a one-of-a-kind keno casino room – like the one’s in Las Vegas.

Keno gamblers are quite unique, joining together to form keno communities – gamblers who play keno for the love and fun of it, and contrary to what some gamblers say, a good chance at winning some money. So, if you think you do not need to know about keno tickets, you may want to think again.

There are potentially five different versions of keno that you might find in a casino. Aside from the straight ticket used in standard keno games, there is the 20-spot ticket, Top/Bottom Keno, multi-game keno, and the Way Ticket.

Straight Ticket – The simplest version of keno, a straight ticket lets players choose from one to fifteen numbers on a single ticket. The more numbers selected, the greater the payout.

20 Spot Ticket – As the name implies, this ticket lets bettors pick up to twenty numbers. Giving tremendous payouts for hitting more than fifteen numbers, 20-spot is just like a straight game but with more difficult odds of winning.

Top/Bottom Keno – Of the eighty numbers on a keno ticket, a top/bottom ticket lets players select either the top half of the ticket, or the bottom half. If eleven or more numbers of either the top or bottom half of the ticket are hit, the payoff is 2 to 1 (normally). Each extra hit over eleven numbers pays off increasingly more. Some games payout if either more than twelve numbers, or less than eight numbers are hit.

Multi-game Keno – This keno game lets players use the same ticket for successive games in a row. Depending on the casino, this can range from 2 to 1,000 consecutive keno games. The multi-game ticket lets you keep playing the same exact numbers for each ball drawing. At the end of your cards run, you can then collect your cash winnings.

Way Ticket – In a way ticket, players can combine multiple straight ticket wagers onto a single ticket. For instance, if you want to play two separate five-spot tickets, you can mark all ten numbers on a single way ticket and circle the two five-spot groupings ( You can even use the same number for both groupings) You are also permitted to combing the two groupings into a single ticket if you so choose. In this example, a ten-spot ticket would be permitted.

Here are some more general tips to picking numbers and how to bet when you playing online:

• If you are a beginner, you should select between 4 and 6 numbers. This will give you a large payout if you select all of them correctly. You will still have a good chance to win your money back as well.
• You should select two consecutive numbers, like 19 and 20 for example, when picking your usual numbers. Statistically, consecutive numbers come up very often. The same is true with lottery numbers.
• You should keep your numbers the same. If you don’t like keeping the exact same numbers, than select a couple of numbers to keep and change the others out. You should keep these numbers for at least 10 to 20 draws before you change.

Keno Strategy

Keno is a game of chance. When you pluck out numbers from 1 through 80, it is random. When 20 numbered balls out of 80 are drawn, it is equally random. Join those two variables together and you can expect either of two random outcomes. One is the 50% possibility of a match: one or more of your keno slots matching one or more of the winning numbers. The other, obviously, is the 50% possibility of a no-match.

At best, what affects a game of keno is the law of probabilities. What is the probability that one of your number picks will show up in the winning results? What is the probability that two, or three, and so forth, of your keno slots will be included in the winning numbers?

This is as much of a betting strategy as you can logically employ when playing keno. It can be of use if you want to find which casinos offer the best odds in keno. Otherwise, your best bet as a keno strategy is no doubt smart money management. That is, manage your bankroll in order to maximize your wins and minimize your losses.

While Keno cannot generally be regarded as the sexiest game world of gaming, however, there are millions of devoted fans. And why not? It is always exciting raffle-style game that is easy to learn, easy access to many different forms, and which can produce mega-dollars that is dominated by its many subtle intricacies. But let’s deal with the basics here.

When describing Keno for beginners, some gambling experts compare it to bingo. This is apt, at least in part, that both games are mostly numerical. Remains to be done, that the comparison too far, should not underestimate the number of unique features that make keno so convincing. Unlike bingo, keno, players can freely choose the numbers of each card.

Keno cards have a total of 80 digits, but the player is also awarded to the level of personal responsibility, because they can select as many (or few) numbers as he wants. And it’s not a nuclear physicist to find out how to meet the card: you only need to circle or other wise mark each has its own selected numbers of good old # 2 pencil like you Used back in school (assuming you have been born before the computer age. If so, do not be afraid . Keno does not discriminate against old pieruista.)

Once you’ve selected numbers to make the card back to the Registry at keno department. The clerk records the numbers and then hand your receipt. Do not miss out on this (potentially) valuable paper! Although the seller to remember faces and would like to help, not to win a receipt in hand, you can collect exactly $0.00 for your efforts.

Keno Strategies

OK, so you have no strategy # 1: Always be sure to keep the keno receipt. Let’s move on something a bit more complicated, we have?

Once you have selected a number, stand as a nice keno booth and watch the action develops, a large video monitor. It is when the winning numbers appear on the lights. If you’re the winners of the character card. Do not procrastinate, or sit there congratulating yourself repulsive long. You need to get back to the Keno booth to redeem your winnings, because the new lottery that began within five minutes.

Strategy # 2: Booth always back in time!
Assuming you do not trust yourself to beat that margin of five minutes each time, always reserve the option to purchase “multi-racial” flag. These are the same numbers you have selected any of 2-20 tickets. When the maximum amount of games (matching the number of tickets) is finished, you can get away with lazy butt and go to redeem your winnings.

Yet an additional option is known as “stray and play” ticket, which you can usually make several choices of 30 games or more. Heck, you can take a cruise on the ocean and not have to worry about back to port in time to redeem the numbers. Most of the “stray and play” tickets are good for even an entire year after purchase!

Now you know some of the key strategies to win keno. If you are an experienced player, it may seem stupidly obvious. But it never hurts to revive fundamentals, and if you’re a new player, which is little information to help you to make your experience more enjoyable for keno.

Adding to the allure of playing Keno, over the years, many different card/ticket types have become available for playing Keno. Below, we have provided you with a quick and easy explanation of each type of card or ticket.

Replay Tickets

If you are a player who likes playing the same numbers or favorite combination, this is the card for you. By playing this type of ticket, you won’t be bothered with having to fill out a new card every single game. Simply hand your duplicate ticket from the first game to a runner/writer stating that you wish to play the same exact numbers.

If you want to change the amount of money you wish to wager, make sure you communicate this to the runner/writer. This replay card will be accepted as an original ticket for the next game and you will then receive a new duplicate with the new game number on it. You are allowed to repeat this process as many times as you want. In fact, after you win and you are collecting your money, most casinos or sites will ask you right then and there if you wish to replay the same ticket.

Straight Tickets

This basic ticket is the most commonly played ticket. With this ticket, you simply mark your chosen numbers and wait for the drawn numbers to show.

Using this type of card you must first select how many numbers/spots you want to play. Usually 1-15 spots. Some places even allow 20 or more on straight tickets. If you are looking to play for a higher payoff, it is recommended that you play 4-8 numbers. Below 4 spots, your payoff won’t be worth the average 30% casino take.

Next you will want to choose how much you want to bet. Most commonly, you will find these tickets to be $1.00. Some places even have tickets starting at 70 cents or lower.

Split Tickets

Split tickets are simply two or more straight tickets on one actual ticket. Each part of the ticket is contrived of a group of numbers that you either circle or separate by a line drawn between the two. Each group of numbers must have their own unique group that is not shared with any other group.

There really isn’t any advantage to split tickets, they just simply allow you to play 2 or more games on the same sheet of paper. Remember though, you cannot use the same number more than once.

Way Tickets

These tickets can become complicated and expensive. First of all, there are only two real reasons to use way tickets. One being convenience, the other being fractional rates.

If it is easier for you to mark multiple games on just one single ticket, than way tickets might be just the ticket for you. For example, on a way ticket, say you circle three different three-number groups. By writing the fraction 3/6 in the margin, you indicate that you want to bet each of these groups in combination with each of the other groups to form a possible six-spot bet.

The denominator (6) of the fraction (3/6) means that you want to play six-spot bets, and the numerator (3) indicates that the group you have circled may be combined in three different ways to form six-spot tickets; the first group combined with the second group, the first group combined with the third group, and the second group combined with the third group.

As far as the fractional rates go, you will find that some casinos will let you play for as little as 10 cents per way. Remember, it usually costs $1.00 to play on a straight ticket.

Since the payoffs on way tickets are the same as playing the same games in multiple tickets, it is not recommended for you to use way tickets if in any way they confuse you, and fractional rates do not interest you. With the example given above, it is easy to see why.

Combination Tickets

This type of ticket allows players to combine groups of straight bets on one ticket in many different ways with the player wagering an amount for each possible combination. Players can also combine straight bets and way bets on one ticket. You need to make sure that the groups bet on a combination ticket are clearly marked. This designated area is usually located on the right side of the ticket.

King Tickets

This type of ticket will have one number circled to form a group by itself. This number is called the king number and it can be used in combination with other groups of numbers on a ticket.

Like way and split tickets, on king tickets, you will (typically) mark the number of combinations played and the amount of your bet marked on the right side.

Special Tickets

This is a type of ticket that some casinos use to promote their keno games. Usually, these tickets have to be played during a specific and predetermined way and will have a different payoff schedule. Most of the time the schedule will be printed right there on the card. By offering a higher payoff amount, the casino is more likely to draw a larger amount of players.

Keno is one of the oldest casino games out there with roots that stretch back over three thousand years to the days of the Han Dynasty when Cheung Leung was said to have become one of the first players of the game.

Today, it can be hard to know just how much trust to put in these stories but there is a fair amount of evidence to suggest that Leung was heavily involved in the creation of Keno as he used the game to generate revenue for his dynasty. He was with dire need of funds with which to conquer his enemies, but unfortunately his subjects did not favour violence and therefore did want to contribute to his war fund.

The story goes that Leung created the game of Keno as a way to encourage his people to indirectly fund his expansion efforts – a ploy which turned out to be hugely successful.

The game was brought to the Americas by Chinese immigrants who came to work on the railroads around San Fransisco around the middle of the nineteenth century. With the size of the game being reduced from the original 90 numbers to 80, the game became hugely popular.

Unfortunately, the Americas had a strict anti-gambling law in place at the time which made wagering of any kind illegal. Keno was seen as a game of chance due to it being known as “Chinese Lottery” and so it became difficult for the public to play the game legally.

To get around this issue, it was decided that the name of the game had to be changed. What had been known as the “Chinese Lottery” became “Horse Race Keno” with the numbers supposedly representing horses in a particular race. Players would then chose which “horses” they believe would take top spots, even though they had no interest in horse racing at all.

This practice still goes on today, with each round of Keno generally being referred to as a “race” by those casinos or lounges who run Keno games.

When the anti-gambling law finally lifted, Keno games still found themselves being strictly regulated. In 1963 the highest payout for a Keno game was capped at $25,000 in Nevada. That limit was raised in 1979 to $50,000 payout and in 1989, the Nevada Gaming Commission finally lifted all limits on Keno prize payouts, which has paved the way for the huge multi-million dollar prizes that we see in Keno Casinos around the world an on the internet.

As the game spread across the country, the original Chinese symbols were gradually replaced with numbers to allow the new American players to pick up the game more easily.

Despite gambling not becoming legal until 1931, the game of Keno continued to thrive largely due to the fact that it was considered a lottery game and was therefore exempt from the tight gambling regulations.

Keno is basically a type of lottery game. You will pick one of more numbers and hope that these numbers are drawn for a winning ticket. You will find keno played all over the world, but especially in the United States and the United Kingdom.

I would be hard pressed to find a local bar that didn’t offer Keno games. Unlike the lottery, you don’t have to wait for a day or more to get another chance to win. The Keno games at the bar will usually have drawings about every 2 to 5 minutes or so.

Of course, the amount that you can win depends on two factors: How much you bet and How many numbers you bet on.

When you play keno online, the idea is exactly the same. However, instead of waiting for the next Keno drawing, you can play an instant keno game whenever you want. I have provided an instant keno game below that you can practice on.

In most Keno games, you will be required to select at least 2 numbers and as many as 10 numbers on a keno ticket. However, in this Instant Keno game, you will be required to select at least 3 numbers.

When I play Keno, I usually limit the numbers played between 3 and 5 numbers on a ticket. The reason is that I do this is because of the smaller odds of winning with more numbers played.

Let’s say you bet on 10 numbers: You will need to hit on at least 5 numbers to win on your ticket. If you get 5 numbers, you will win 5 times your bet.

Bet on 9 numbers – You will need to hit at least 4 numbers, which will payout 2 to 1

Bet on 8 numbers – You will need to hit at least 4 numbers, which will payout 3 to 1

Bet on 7 numbers – You will need to hit at least 4 numbers, which will payout 5 to 1

Bet on 6 numbers – You will need to hit at least 3 numbers, which will payout 2 to 1

I don’t really like many of these. I would say that if you were going to bet on a higher amount of numbers, either bet on 6 or 9 numbers. Both of these have 2 to 1 payouts that are more likely to hit than 7, 8 or 10 numbers.

Why do I like to bet on 5, 4 and 3 numbers in Keno?

If you bet on 5 numbers, you will win a 5 to 1 payout if you get 3 numbers. You will win 25 to 1 if you hit on 4 numbers. Meanwhile, hitting all 5 numbers still pays out very high at 250 to 1 on your bet.

If you bet on 4 numbers, you will win 2 to 1 if you get 2 numbers. You will also win 5 to 1 if you hit on 3 out of 4. Getting all 4 numbers correct will still pay out a high amount at 100 to 1.

3 numbers is the least that I will ever bet on. This is because you will still receive a nice win if you get 2 out of 3 or 3 out of 3 numbers correct. 2 out of 3 pays out 5 to 1 and all 3 correct pays out 20 to 1.