The History of Keno
Keno was first played in 200 before Christ by the Chinese military commander, Cheung Leung who used keno as a financial resource for his failing army. The city of Cheung was waging a battle, and after some time seemed to be looking at a country wide famine with the dramatic drop in supplies. Cheung Leung had to come up with a fast fix for the economic adversity and to produce income for his army. He therefore designed the game we know today as keno and it was a wonderful success.
Keno was well-known as the White Pigeon Game, because the winning numbers were broadcast by pigeons from larger municipalities to the smaller towns. The lottery ‘Keno’ was imported to America in the 19th century by Chinese expatriates who migrated to the US for jobs. In those times, Keno was played with one hundred and twenty numbers.
Today, Keno is normally enjoyed with just 80 numbers in most of American based casinos as well as online casinos. Keno is mainly played today as a consequence of the relaxed nature of playing the game and the basic fact that there are no skills needed to enjoy Keno. Despite the fact that the odds of succeeding are horrible, there is always the hope that you could hit quite big with little gaming investment.
Keno is played with 80 numbers and twenty numbers are drawn each round. Gamblers of Keno can select from two to ten numbers and bet on them, whatever amount they are able to. The payout of Keno is dependent on the bets made and the roll out of matching numbers.
Keno has grown in universal appeal in the US since the close of the 1800’s when the Chinese characters were replaced with more familiar, US numbers. Lottos were not covered under the legalization of gambling in Nevada State in 1931. The casinos altered the name of the ‘Chinese lottery’ to ‘horse race keno’ employing the idea that the numbers are horses and you are wanting your horses to come in. When a law passed that levied a tax on off track betting, casinos swiftly changed the name to ‘Keno’.
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