How to Play Keno?
As you would find it in most traditional and online casinos alike, the standard game of Keno revolves around a board of 80 numbers, which are arranged in numerical order. The player must
select up to 20 numbers from the range of 1 to 80, and the aim is to match as many of those numbers as possible with the ones that are drawn by the Keno game.
When the Keno draw takes place, the game will generate
20 winning numbers from the range of 1 to 80. Offline casinos used to employ bingo-style ball machines to pick the winning numbers, but today - as at
online casinos - they use a computerized Random Number Generator to perform the same task.
The more numbers you match with the ones that have been drawn by the Keno game, the better. So someone who matches 6 out of 20 will win more than someone who matches 7 out of 20. Of course, the prizes available will depend on how many picks the player has made and the amount that has been wagered, so the potential payout for someone who has bet $10 and picked 15 numbers will be greater than for someone who has bet $5 or picked fewer numbers.
Try Keno for an entertaining casino experience!
Although it is theoretically possible for someone to pick and match all 20 numbers, the odds against them actually doing so are astronomical. Because of this, many casinos pay the top prize to anyone who can match 17 or more numbers, but even here, your chances of success are far slimmer than the odds of you winning a state or national lottery jackpot.
Interestingly, because the game always draws 20 numbers from a possible 80, the odds of a player matching no numbers at all from a selection of 20 are also more challenging than you might think. You would have a
1 in 843 chance of matching no numbers, a 1 in 86 chance of matching 1 number and a
1 in 20 chance of matching 2 numbers. All of those figures are for someone who picks the maximum of 20 numbers, so if you were to pick fewer than 20, the odds would obviously differ.
For all of the reasons just given, most regular Keno players tend to pick anything from 1 to 15 numbers. The prizes paid for such entries are determined by the casino to broadly reflect their chances of success but do note that word broadly. The
house edge in Keno can vary from 5% to as much as 35% or even more, so don’t expect to win over the long term even if you succeed in the short term. Then again, if you hit it big, just one success might be all you need!
Variations
There are several Keno games available at online casinos, with some allowing you to pick up to 20 numbers from 80 and others only allowing you to pick up to 10 or 15 numbers. Bonuses may also be paid for certain outcomes, such as matching the first or the last number drawn. What differs in most cases is how the game is presented, with some providing a traditional Keno experience and others, such as
Monkey Keno from Microgaming, dressing things up with monkeys on a desert island.
If you want some more fun in your Keno game, try Monkey Keno!
Why You Should Play
We have said that the odds of you winning the top prize in a game of Keno are often worse than the odds of you winning a lottery jackpot, and we have also told you that the house edge can vary between 5% and 35% or more, which equates to an RTP of no more than 95% and possibly 65% or lower. This being the case, why should you play Keno?
The short answer is purely for the entertainment value. Keno isn’t even in the same ballpark as blackjack or roulette as far as your chances of winning are concerned, but it does offer the exciting
possibility of landing a potentially life-changing prize. If you’re the kind of person who enjoys having an occasional flutter on the lottery, trying your luck at Keno once in a while will give you a similar thrill without you having to wait several days for the draw to take place.
Welcome bonus treatment
Because Keno is a game of pure chance which has a hefty house edge, there aren’t usually any restrictions on playing it to meet
welcome bonus wagering requirements. This means you could play the game with bonus funds and see how you like it before committing any of your own cash.
Do You Feel Lucky?
Keno is an entertaining game that is all about luck, so the question to ask yourself - to quote the legendary Dirty Harry - is: do you feel lucky? If you do, Keno just might help you to prove how reliable those feelings are!