• How To Play Keno
• A Kenobi Story
• Keno On The Go
• A Keno Pictures
• Host A Keno Party
• Keno Odds Chart

Expertise in any game is based on a mastery of the rules and strategies used in that game. Like most casino gambling games, keno is designed to make money for the house. Players win their prizes from the pool of wagers they make.

No amount of expertise will help you beat the rules in keno. Playing like an expert means making the best possible choices. It also means maximizing your potential for winning.

The best poker player in the world can’t beat a bad deal. Where the poker player has an advantage over the keno player is in the fairness of the game. Keno is an unfair game by design.

Some would say that makes winning all that much sweeter. I once heard someone compare playing a game with a low return to player to playing the highest level in an online strategy game.

The analogy is flawed, in my opinion.

Mark the “KENO 603 PLUS” box on your play slip for a chance to increase your KENO 603℠ winnings by 3, 4, 5 or 10 times. By marking “KENO 603 PLUS” the cost of your ticket will double. Choose how many “spots” (numbers) you want to play. Choose from 1 to 12 spots, and mark the spot. Mark your numbers from 1 through 80. Keno is a fast-paced, fun game that allows you to choose how many numbers to play, how much money to wager, where to play and where to check your winning numbers. Keno and Packaged Keno To Go (PKTG) are played using a field of numbers from one to 80, and you may choose up to ten numbers in that field. Keno – It’s Here! Keno is a fun, fast-paced game that gives players a chance to win $100,000 or more. Drawings are held every 4 minutes. Keno can be played at any PA Lottery retailer that sells Draw Games and can be watched live, in person, at select retailers.

But the player can still win by adapting his strategy to compensate for those disadvantages.

Whether you’re playing slots, chuck-a-luck, or keno, there’s nothing you can do to compensate for the advantage the house gives itself. The smart money says don’t bet on keno. But if you’re going to bet on keno, then bet smartly.

Here are several ways to bet like a keno expert.

1 – Master the Basic Concepts

As everyone knows, keno is a lottery game. What most people don’t realize is that it’s the low-quality version of lottery games. In a massive game like Powerball or Mega Millions, you could theoretically win $100 million.

I’ve never seen any version of keno that pays that much money. The largest keno prize I ever heard about was less than $10 million. It was awarded in Australia in 2018.

Hats off to anyone crazy, brave, and lucky enough to wager on the Pick 10. Three people in Australia have won it.

Most of the large keno jackpots I’ve heard about were from Pick 7 and Pick 8 games, and the prizes were in the hundreds of thousands.

Do the math. You’d have to win an unbelievable amount of unlikely drawings to win $100 million in keno. But every year, a few lucky lottery players win $100 million or more in Powerball, Mega Millions, or Euro Millions.

If you’re going to play keno games, you’re playing for less prize money. And the odds of winning are usually worse in keno than in other lottery games. The win may taste sweeter because of those disadvantages but you’re still winning less money.

How To Play Keno

Another thing most people don’t realize about keno is that there’s a multitude of keno games. Each game has its own rules, odds, and prize schedules.

They look very similar but, when you compare the details of keno games to each other, you find the differences. That means whatever strategy you think works best for one version of keno may not work as well for another version.

It’s similar to learning to sail in a dinghy versus learning to sail a catboat. Both types of sailboats will get you across a calm body of water despite their differences. And both will be swamped in a bad storm. But they’re still different types of sailboats.

2 – Study the Odds Carefully

There are three basic types of keno:

A Kenobi Story

1. Video keno
2. Live drawings
3. Scratch cards

The odds of winning keno differ from game to game. But the video keno machines can be programmed differently, too. Since more than one gaming company distributes keno, they don’t all use the same pay tables and random number algorithms.

Many video keno players prefer to play Pick 7 or Pick 8 games. They don’t win jackpots, but they do win smaller prizes.

The best odds fall somewhere in the mid-range picks.

Whatever keno game you choose to play, study the pay tables and odds for that game before you decide how many numbers to wager on.

If your best friend plays keno at a different location from you, on a different gaming platform, his favorite picks are probably not going to help you.

3 – Keno Demands Patience and Consistency

You’re wagering on random number drawings. Each drawing is a new game. The odds of winning don’t change no matter how many games you play.

One difference between keno and standard lottery games is that keno doesn’t duplicate numbers in a drawing. If the “1” is drawn in a keno game, it’s only drawn once.

When you compare a Pick 4 keno game to a typical four-ball live lottery game, those lottery games use four machines with the same number of balls. Daily drawings sometimes produce four duplicates in these games.

Many people do bet on 0-0-0-0 in their states’ daily four-ball games. Since keno doesn’t allow duplicate numbers, your chances of picking the right numbers are less than in any other lottery game. That means you’ll hit in a lower percentage of games.

The advantage of playing keno over a daily drawing game is that you can play video keno as often as you wish. Even live drawing keno is played several times per hour on state networks.

To compensate for keno’s poor odds, you must budget for as many games per day as you can. You’re making in volume what you lack in probabilities.

4 – Play Multiple Cards in Each Game

In my opinion, it’s best to make minimum wagers. Regardless of how many numbers you pick, you should play several cards per game.

This is sometimes called “pattern betting” because you’re spreading your picks across the multiple cards in patterns or spreads.

Wagering on spreads allows you to cover more numbers. You won’t be able to combine numbers from multiple cards but the idea is that you’re more likely to hit a winning combination by playing multiple cards.

If you play Powerball, you choose your numbers and buy your ticket. The basic price is $2. You can add up to $5 per ticket to maximize your non-jackpot prizes up to 10 times.

In keno, you simply wager a multiple of the basic bet.

The idea is to use a pattern because the drawings rarely, if ever, result in more than two sequential numbers.

It’s less expensive to bet $1 on a keno card. Some keno games offer a “bonus” that costs extra, but in basic keno, there’s only one bet per card.

With a set of cards covering different spreads, you have better chances of winning a non-jackpot prize. This is true for any kind of lottery game, but it’s the most economical way to play keno.

Conclusion

Keno appeals to many people because it’s easy to get started with the game. After a while, people fall into a style or habit of play that makes them feel comfortable.

You’ll want to experiment with different picks and different patterns. Although there’s no way to guarantee you’ll win anything, you’ll find that some picks and spreads work better for you than others.

The effectiveness of your choices depends on where you play keno and how often you play.

Some experts like to say that there is no keno strategy, this is not true. There is always a way to get an edge in any game no matter how small. It may not generally be considered the sexiest game in the world of gambling, but keno has millions of devoted enthusiasts. And why not? It’s a consistently thrilling lottery-style game that’s easy to learn, readily available in a number of different formats, and one that can yield mega-dollars for those who master its many subtle intricacies. But let’s deal with the basics here.

When describing keno to beginners, some gambling experts compare it to bingo. This is at least partially apt, in that both are essentially numerical. Yet to take that comparison too far would be to underestimate the many unique traits that make keno so compelling. Unlike bingo, keno players have the freedom to choose the numbers for each card.

How to Play keno

1. You decide how much you wish to bet on a particular round, and how many numbers you wish to choose. You can choose between 1 and 20 numbers, the payouts vary depending on how many numbers you pick and how many of them get drawn.
2. You now get to pick your numbers as you would if you were playing a Lottery. As with most Lotteries, many sites will give you an option to get the numbers picked for you at random. The numbers in Keno go from 1 to 80.
3. The game now starts and 20 of the 80 numbers are chosen at random.
4. If one of your numbers is picked, this is known as a ‘Catch’. You get paid depending on the number of Catches you get during the game.

Example
In the example free play game above, you start with $1,000 free credits. You can change the value of each game, this can be from $0.01 to $10.00. Click on Quick Pick and 10 numbers will be randomly chosen. You can change these if you wish, remove some or add more. Note that each time you add or remove a number, the paytable changes, both in terms of the minimum number of ‘catches’ you need to receive a payout and the level of each payout.

Once you are happy, click either Play 1 to play 1 game with those numbers, Play 5 to play 5 consecutive games with those numbers, or Play 10 to play 10 games with them. Remember that each game will cost you the same amount, so if you choose $1 per game and then Play 5, you will pay $5 – 5 games X $1 per game.

You will then see 20 numbers of the 80 get drawn at random, these will be marked off on the main game area with a red cross, and that you have will be marked off with a yellow square and will show on the right-hand side.
After each game, all winnings will get paid automatically into your balance and once all games have been played, you can start again.

Keno Payouts

The payouts for Keno differ from casino to casino, so ensure you look around to get the best payout if Keno is your game of choice.

A standard payout structure is shown below (all amounts are payouts to 1):

Keno Odds

When playing a 20 spot game, so you choose 20 of the 80 numbers available, the odds are as follows:

The odds of picking 0 correct numbers is around 1 in 843

The odds of picking 1 correct number out of 20 is around 1 in 86

The odds of picking 2 correct numbers out of 20 is around 1 in 20

The odds of picking 3 correct numbers out of 20 is around 1 in 8

The odds of picking 4 correct numbers out of 20 is around 1 in 4.8

The odds of picking 5 correct numbers out of 20 is around 1 in 4.2

The odds of picking 6 correct numbers out of 20 is around 1 in 5.2

The odds of picking 7 correct numbers out of 20 is around 1 in 8.8

The odds of picking 8 correct numbers out of 20 is around 1 in 20

The odds of picking 9 correct numbers out of 20 is around 1 in 61

The odds of picking 10 correct numbers out of 20 is around 1 in 253

The odds of picking 11 correct numbers out of 20 is around 1 in 1,423

The odds of picking 12 correct numbers out of 20 is around 1 in 10,968

The odds of picking 13 correct numbers out of 20 is around 1 in 118,084

The odds of picking 14 correct numbers out of 20 is around 1 in 1,821,881

The odds of picking 15 correct numbers out of 20 is around 1 in 41,751,453

The odds of picking 16 correct numbers out of 20 is around 1 in 1,496,372,110

The odds of picking 17 correct numbers out of 20 is around 1 in 90,624,035,964

The odds of picking 18 correct numbers out of 20 is around 1 in 10,512,388,171,906

The odds of picking 19 correct numbers out of 20 is around 1 in 2,946,096,785,176,811

Keno On The Go

The odds of picking 20 correct numbers out of 20 is around 1 in 3,535,316,142,212,173,800

The odds of getting all 20 numbers are a virtually impossible one in over 3.5 quintillions! As you can win by selecting significantly fewer numbers though, there are good returns to be had if your luck is in. As a result, when playing Keno, it is important to research the paytable to ensure you are getting the best possible returns for guessing between 2 and 8 numbers correctly as these are the payouts that you are most likely to win.

Keno Strategy

There is no magical Keno strategy that will guarantee you a win but there are many tips you will learn here to give you the best possible odds.

Although you can win higher amounts if you pick more numbers, the odds of winning reduce as you need more Catches in order to win.

As the numbers are chosen using a Random Number Generator, each of the 80 numbers has just as much chance as the others of being drawn, there will always be some Players who have numbers that they consider to be lucky though.

Generally speaking, the odds in Keno are about the same as those in Slots. There are better games with a higher chance of winning than Keno.

Keno cards have a total of 80 numbers, but the player is granted an additional level of personal responsibility by being able to choose as many (or as few) numbers as he or she desires. And it doesn’t take a nuclear physicist to figure out how to fill out a card: all you do is a circle or otherwise mark each of your chosen numbers with a good old #2 pencil as you used back in school (assuming you were born before the computer age). If this is the case, fear not. Keno does not discriminate against anyone’s age.

Once you’ve selected your numbers, carry the card back to the clerk at the keno booth. The clerk will record those numbers and then hand you a receipt. Don’t lose this (potentially) valuable piece of paper! Even if the clerk remembers your face and would like to help out, without a winning receipt in hand you will collect precisely $.00 for your efforts.

A Keno Pictures

OK, so there you have tip #1: always be sure to keep your keno receipt. Let’s move on to something a bit more complex, shall we?

Host A Keno Party

Once you’ve picked your numbers, settle into a comfy keno booth and watch the action unfold on big a video monitor. That’s where the winning numbers show up in lights. If you’ve got winners, mark your card accordingly. Be sure not to dally, or sit there congratulating yourself for an obnoxious length of time. You need to get back to the keno booth to redeem your winnings, as a new drawing will probably start within five minutes.

Tip #2: always get back to the booth on time!

Assuming you don’t trust yourself to beat that five-minute margin every time, you always retain the option of purchasing a “multi-race” ticket. These include the same set of your chosen numbers anywhere from 2 to 20 tickets. When the maximum number of games (matching the number of tickets) is finished, you can then get off your butt and go redeem your winnings.

Yet an additional option is known as a “stray and play” ticket, which usually lets you make number choices for 30 games or more. Heck, you can take an ocean cruise and not have to worry about getting back to port in time to redeem your numbers. Most “stray and play” tickets are good for up to a whole year after purchase!

So now you know a few essential strategies for winning keno. If you are an experienced player, they may seem stupidly obvious. But it never hurts to brush up on the fundamentals, and if you are a new player, every bit of information will help make your keno experience more enjoyable.

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