Keno - Modern

Play Keno at Club USA Casino

Numbers are picked at the "keno booth". "Keno runners" will walk around shouting "keno!" and offering number selection cards to anyone interested in playing.

After picking numbers and recording them at the keno booth, the player will then watch either a "big board" in which winning keno numbers will light up or on a video monitor showing the selected numbers found throughout the casino. As the winning numbers light up, the player usually marks them on his or her card with a bright-colored marker. A winning ticket needs to be taken to the keno booth immediately if it is an individual game ticket, as drawings usually take place every five minutes. If the player tries to redeem a winning ticket when the next drawing starts, it is void and no money is paid out.

To avoid having a void ticket, a keno player can purchase a "multi-race" ticket with the same picked numbers on anywhere from 2 to 20 tickets. When the maximum number of games (matching the number of tickets) is finished, the player can then redeem any winnings and avoid the peril of a void ticket. Another option is the "stray and play" ticket, which is usually a number of games greater than 30. Unlike standard keno tickets, the "stray and play" doesn't have to be redeemed immediately and is often good for up to a year after purchase.

In the State of Nevada many Las Vegas casinos have introduced their own keno games. The odds of winning are about the same as in traditional keno games, except a keno player may select from a very large number of so called "special" games. These games are often changed and revised to introduce an element of newness and excitement, yet basic principles always remain the same – the house always has a tremendous advantage over the player.

Lottery versions of Keno are now used in many National Lotteries or state licensed Lotteries around the world. The games have different formulas depending on the wanted price structure and whether the game is slow (daily or weekly), or if it is a fast game with just minutes between the draws. The drawn numbers are typically published on TV for the slow games and on monitors at the point of sale for the fast games. A video keno machine typically has a far greater payout and win-rate than a traditional keno game.

From Wikipedia's