Online Casino Games 101: Keno

by Elizabeth Nguyen, News Staff Writer

November 14, 2007

If you are a bingo fan, chances are you would have fun playing Keno at one of the many online casinos offering it. This ancient Chinese numbers game derives it popularity from its tremendous flexibility – the many ways that players can win money from playing it. Before the days of internet casinos, Keno was (and still is) played like the lottery, with little slips of paper and pencils to mark off the player’s choice of numbers. After filling in their slip, the player would have to wait for a period of time (maybe even days) to find out what numbers were drawn, and what winnings –if any- they were entitled to.

Online casino Keno play has changed all this, however. Keno players can place bids in real time, and very quickly find out whether they are winners, thanks to the computerized aspect of online gambling.

The premise behind online casino Keno is quite simple, actually. Players chose anywhere from one to twenty numbers on a ticket of eighty numbers, one through eighty. The internet casino software then randomly selects twenty numbers, and players are paid out (or lose money) off how many “hits,” or matching numbers, their card contains.

Obviously, the odds of selecting every number on twenty choices are infinitesimally small, and would result in tremendous winnings. Most of the time, however, players must content themselves with partial matches, or winning out on just a few numbers. Online gambling fans acknowledge that Keno has a larger house edge than many selections, but that fact has done little to diminish the title’s vast popularity.

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