Keno was originally known as The Chinese Lottery in ancient China. The original Chinese Lottery was actually a teaching aid that was based on a children’s rhyme. The purpose of this rhyme was to teach children the thousand characters. This poem is known as "The Thousand Character Classic" and contained one thousand non-repeating rhymes.

 

Cheung Leung invented the game. He employed the first 120 characters of the Thousand Character Classic to create a system of betting. People who marked the right characters win prizes. These 120 characters were also subdivided into eight more sub categories. Over time, the game came to be known as the White Pigeon Game.

 

 

Keno Arrives in North America

 

In the 19th century, the game was brought to California. The term keno was actually the original name for bingo. The Chinese Lottery was nicknamed "Horse Race Keno" in America. Although gambling was legalized in the United States in 1931, lotteries were still considered illegal.

 

 

The Birth of the Keno Casino

 

Keno was introduced to the casinos in the early 20th century. Originally 80 numbers were written on pieces of paper and rolled up into tubes. At the start of the game, 20 numbers were drawn from the tubes and these were the winning keno numbers. Then the papers in tubes were replaced with wooden balls with numbers carved onto them.

 

Later a Nevada casino owner came up with a system of drawing numbered balls from a rotating cage. Nelson opened his own casino in Nevada in 1936, where the first legal casino Keno game was played.

 

As with any good game, technology played a crucial role in the widespread development of the keno game. Computers helped to make the game of Keno more efficient and quicker to play. There are many casinos that operate computer-controlled Keno cages. With the internet in the 1990s, the online casinos emerged. Online casinos are easier to play games at.

 

 

The Online Keno Casino

 

Keno has become one of the most popular of the online casino games. Online Keno is played in much the same way as the original game of keno. There is a board of 80 numbers and the player can choose up to 15 of these numbers. The online keno computer then selects the 20 winning keno numbers. How much the player will win depends on how many of his chosen numbers match the winning keno numbers. The payout odds are clearly displayed.