The background of Keno
by Eden on Sunday, February 25th, 2007
Keno was created in 200 before Christ by the Chinese army commander, Cheung Leung who utilized this game as a way to finance his declining army. The city of Cheung was waging a war, and after a bit of war time appeared to be facing national famine with the excessive decrease in supplies. Cheung Leung needed to come up with a fast fix for the economic disaster and to acquire money for his forces. He therefore invented the game we know today as keno and it was a great success.
Keno once was known as the White Pigeon Game, because the winning numbers were broadcast by pigeons from larger locations to the tinier towns. The lottery ‘Keno’ was brought to the United States in the 19th century by Chinese migrants who came to the US for jobs. In those times, Keno used 120 numbers.
Today, Keno is regularly gambled on with 80 numbers in almost all of American brick and mortar casinos along with web casinos. Keno is mainly played today because of the laid back nature of betting the game and the simple reality that there are no skills required to enjoy Keno. Despite the reality that the odds of succeeding are horrible, there is constantly the hope that you could win quite large with a tiny gaming investment.
Keno is played with 80 numbers and twenty numbers are drawn each game. Enthusiasts 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 wagers made and the matching of numbers.
Keno has grown in universal appeal in the United States since the end of the 1800’s when the Chinese letters were changed with more familiar, US numbers. Lottos were not covered under the legalization of gaming in the state of Nevada in 1931. The casinos renamed the ‘Chinese lottery’ to ‘horse race keno’ utilizing the notion that the numbers are horses and you are wanting your horses to place. When the Nevada government passed a law that levied a tax on off track betting, casinos quickly changed the name to ‘Keno’.
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