Keno
Keno is one of the oldest known gambling games played in a casino.
Believe it or not, keno was invented 3000 years ago in China.
It
was the ruler known as Cheung Leung that invented the game during the
Han Dynasty. During his time as ruler, his dynasty was becoming drawn
out because of all the money needed for war. They wanted to exhort more
money from the people but were unable to do so.
Since Cheung
Leung was no longer able to tax out his people he though of an ingenious
way to raise money. He invented a game that is very similar to the game
of keno being played today. He created this game of chance in which
people will wager their property.
The game of Keno Cheung Leung
invented was based on the poem "The Thousand Character Classic". The
poem was a way for Chinese people to learn to count up to a thousand
without any repeating characters. The poem comprised of 250 phrases with
4 characters each. Only 120 characters were used out of the 250. The 120
characters were later on subdivided into 8 characters for each
subdivision.
The prize of one subdivision that won would be ten
tales (a Chinese form of currency). If their subdivision lost, three li
of their property will be taken. The game is still being played in China
but with a reduced number of characters. Instead of using 1000
characters the game played today uses only 80 characters.
The
game eventually refinanced Cheung Leung`s dynasty. As the game became
more popular it became known as "The Game of the White Pigeon". The name
was derived from the dove that relayed the news of success or losses to
mountainous regions of China. The game eventually became famous
nationwide. It was also keno that funded part of the Great Wall of
China.
Keno picked up it's pace in the early 20th century. San
Francisco became the home of people who were usually not welcomed in the
mainland. Together with the Chinese immigrants that arrived was the game
of keno. Keno became a success in the underground.
The Chinese
immigrants later on saw that this game was also enjoyed by the Americans
as the the Chinese characters were changed into numbers. Keno was later
on seen as a form of lottery. That's why when gambling was legalized
keno wasn't included.
Keno, one of the most popular casino games
today, is a fast paced lottery-style game. After the developed often
video keno machine, it’s only been a matter of time until online keno
shows up. Similar to offline keno, this game is about picking numbers,
and if they come up, winning according to the payoffs set by the casino.
The origin of the Keno game played nowadays is an ancient Chinese
game called Kino. The game has been very popular for thousands of years
among all the levels of society, and it’s believed to be invented during
the reign of the Han dynasty around the 3rdcentury BC. The game is said
to be used as a sort of a state lottery to raise funds for the
construction of the Great Wall of China.
Following the
immigration waves of the 19th century, Chinese newcomers, who came as
immigrants and worked on the assembly of the trans-continental railroad,
introduced the game to the United States, and it gradually spread and
became more and more popular. Currently, keno games can be found on many
brick-and-mortar casinos, which even create special lounges for the
players. Some countries use an adaptation of the game as part of their
national lottery programs. Similarly to the development of video poker
machines, there are also video keno machines, where the players play
alone and in a faster pace.
Keno can also be found on online
casinos, of course. Some casinos offer live keno games with a live
dealer that can be viewed via a webcam, but the most popular versions of
online keno are based on video keno, where players can double the speed
with turbo mode and enjoy crisp graphics.
Online video keno games
usually resemble a slot machine or a video poker game, where the player
can activate the game and its features using buttons or by clicking on
the game screen. In online video keno, the player picks the numbers he
wants to bet on by clicking on them (Up to 20 numbers in some casinos).
In some game versions there is an auto-pick function where the software
picks automatically for the player.
