Keno is one of the old-school casinos games that out there. It evokes memories of Las Vegas of old, of the smoke filled rooms with players watching expectantly as the numbers come up, all in the hope of hitting the big jackpot and taking home a life-changing sum of money. And nothing has changed, other than you can now play it online, in the comfort of your own home, if a keno lounge is not a place you want to hang out in.
Keno is a game of luck – it is all about picking numbers you believe will come out, just like lotto. But, unlike lotto, you do not have to pick all the numbers correctly. In fact, you decide how many numbers you would like to pick.
You can pick as few as 1, or as many as 20 for any one game of keno and your payouts vary depending on the numbers you pick. For example, if you pick 6 numbers, and you hit 2, you are going to win more than if you picked 10 numbers and hit 2. This amount differs in every live casino, and it does tend to vary amongst online casinos, although often casinos using the same software will have the same pay tables for keno. So, the fewer numbers that you pick on your game slip, the greater the payout compared to picking more numbers. It is a slightly confusing system, but once you get the hang of it, it does start to make sense.
Because the game is so simple, there are very few bets you can place when playing keno. As mentioned earlier, you can pick up to 20 numbers on one ticket, and the payouts differ depending on the amount of numbers picked. This is called a ‘straight’ ticket or bet, and it usually covers one keno draw. It is called a ‘straight’ bet because there are no combinations required; all the numbers are in play on the ticket.(Get 20 free spins on the Mariachi 5 slot, win real cash. Click here and use code DANSPINS20 during signup.)
However, there is also a combination bet, known as a ‘way’ ticket, which again involves a player selecting numbers – it is usually 4 or more when playing a combination bet. The player will then mark on the ticket the various combinations of numbers that they would like to play. So, you may mark 5 numbers on the ticket, and you want to play every combination of 2 numbers, every combination of 3 numbers, every combination of 4 numbers, as well as the full 5 numbers. This gives the player more chances of winning, but it would also cost more.
In the 5 number example, there are 26 individual bets (10 combinations of 2 numbers, 10 combinations of 3 numbers, 5 combinations of 4 numbers and one combination of all 5 numbers). So, at a cost of $1 per bet, the total outlay would be $26. If you were to bet the 5 numbers straight, it would only cost you $1, but the payouts would be different, as you would only be playing on the 5 number pay table, whereas you would be playing on the 2 number pay table, the 3 number pay table, the 4 number pay table and the 5 number pay table in the combination bet.
The lack of betting options is one of the reasons that keno has withstood the test of time, and is still offered in most casinos. It is not something you have to think too hard about when playing, you simply pick some numbers you like or you think are lucky, and wait for the draw to happen. In other casino games, you may be overwhelmed by the number of bets on offer (such as all the different areas on a roulette table, or all the boxes and writing on a craps table), but keno is the antithesis to that. Yes, a combination of numbers does start to throw some work into the mix, but they are not a prerequisite of the game. If all you want to do is have a flutter and hope to cash big without exerting your grey matter, grab you’re a keno ticket and a pen, or click on the keno section of your online casino, and that is really all there is to it.
You might want to check out my article on the Different Types of Keno Games. In that article I highlight games that have different styles of bets such as a “Starball” or “Wildcard numbers”.
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Different types of Keno betting, list of all Keno bets
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