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Keno : The Basics
The second I turned 21, I got a job in the Keno department of a local casino. It was the only job I could get—having no training. Soon after, I completed my training and moved in the pit (Craps, Blackjack, Pai Gow, Roulette, etc). Anyway, Keno was a fun game to play and operate. It’s basically the lotto. Good Keno places will run games pretty fast—every five minutes. Online Keno allows you to play at whatever speed you desire and if you’re in a casino without a Keno area, there’s usually Keno machines. I am going to run down the basics of Keno and in minutes you’ll be ready to play.
The Board
The Keno board has 80 numbers (1-80). Each Keno game consists of drawing out twenty of those eighty numbers on the Keno board. Those twenty numbers will come out all over the place.
The Keno Ticket
The Keno ticket is divided into two halves. The top half has the numbers one through forty and the bottom half has the numbers forty-one through eighty.
When you play Keno, you are guessing what twenty numbers are going to come out. You can bet one number, two numbers or all the way up to twenty numbers. The more numbers you bet, the higher the payout. When a number you bet on comes up, it’s called “catching the number.” Numbers are referred to as “spots”, so if you bet three numbers, your ticket is a 3-spot ticket.
Example: You bet on 4, 32, and 56. You have just placed a 3-spot ticket. If one and three come up, you caught two of your numbers. Here is an image example of a 3-spot Keno ticket.
The Payoff
By betting more numbers on your ticket(s), you increase the payoff amount. You can also win money for getting close. Each Keno house has their own payoff amount and that’s why it’s important to shop around for the best payoffs before playing. It’s good to know what type of ticket(s) you plan on playing before shopping around. Some houses might have terrible payoffs for 3-spot and 4-spot tickets, but superior pay for 7-spot and 8-spot tickets. If you planned on playing 7-spot tickets, the pay on 3-spot and 4-spot tickets is not important.
Example Payoff: 6-spot ticket for $1
Catch: 3 Payoff: $1
Catch: 4 Payoff: $6
Catch: 5 Payoff: $100
Catch: 6 Payoff: $2200
In the above example, catching half of the numbers returns the bet wagered. Catching all but one number results in a 100 to 1 payday.
Specialty Tickets
Up until now, we have been talking about “straight tickets”. You can however place a specialty ticket that uses ways, groups and kings. These tickets are really just the same as a straight ticket, but they make placing tickets tidier. If you know how to create these tickets, and the casino allows them, you can sum up all your bets in one space.
A King is basically a number that will be in all combinations. If, for example, you want to place a way ticket with the numbers one, two and three, with the two being the king and you want to play all possible 2-spots, then you would have: 1-2 and 2-3. The combination 1-3 would not be played since it does not include your king. In case you are confused, what I just said was the exact same as placing two 2-spot tickets with the numbers 1-2 on one and 2-3 on the other.
Groups are simply groups of numbers. You could mark a ticket that has 1-2-3 in one group and 4-5-6 in another group. In doing so, you decide to play two 3-spots (1-2-3 and 4-5-6) and one 6-spot (all numbers). Again, you could have turned in three separate straight tickets to accomplish the same thing. Specialty tickets allow you to save time, when the casino accepts them.
Example: In the following image example, you will see a Keno ticket with two groups of three selected. This ticket could be played as: two 3-spots and one 6-spot.
Conclusion
Playing Keno can be very fun or very frustrating. Just remember, it’s basically like the lotto—a game of chance. When playing online or on a machine, a random number generator (computer program) determines which numbers come out. In a casino, balls are sucked up out of a cage. While the payoffs don’t come even close to representing the probability of winning, Keno is a game where you can go from $1 to $1000s in a matter of seconds. Believe it or not, I have a winning record in Keno. However, I don’t usually play high spot tickets. I stick more towards the 1,2,3 and 4-spot tickets. Less payoff and no way to hit the big score, but winning is more often.
