Keno History

Origins of Keno

A simple explanation for the game of Keno is that this is a form of lottery or bingo. The origins of Keno lie hundreds of years ago in ancient China. An interesting story surrounds the history of the Keno game. It is told that the game itself was created by a man named Cheung Leung, who was desperate to do anything possible in order to save his troubled city in China. The idea behind the invention of the Keno game was in order to raise funds for a faltering army.

What is Keno all about?

In its early form, Keno contained 120 Chinese characters from which participants would choose. Bets were placed on the game. In this interesting and original way, it is recounted that Leung managed to collect money from the people. The tale describes that via the use of the game of Keno, Leung was successful in saving the city. In addition, it is generally believed that the Great Wall of China was built using money that was raised from Keno.

The Roots of Keno

This game, that was very popular among the Chinese community, was brought into the United States by immigrant railway workers in the 1800s. Although the original form of Keno was based on a choice of Chinese characters, it was later transformed to a game containing numbers, in order to create a more general attraction for a wider audience in the U.S. Keno was introduced to casinos in the United States in the 1930s. At this time, lottery games were not permitted inside casinos. Keno then earned itself a new name in order to avoid this hurdle. Keno became "Horse Race Keno' for a time in order to ensure its presence inside the casino walls. When taxes were introduced to off-track races, Keno's original name was restored, dropping the 'horse race'. The game of Keno managed to preserve its appeal and fascination and remained a casino form of entertainment.

Transformation of Keno to an Online Pursuit

Following the introduction of online casino games in the mid 1990s, it seemed only natural that at some stage, the game of Keno would make its way to the best online casinos. The online element now plays a part in the history of Keno. The game of Keno that is found at the best online casinos offers the player a choice of 80 numbers. In this online version of modernized Keno, a player chooses between one and twenty numbers out of the alternatives. Although Keno may be considered as a type of lottery, the great attraction of this exciting game is that there is no lengthy waiting involved to discover the outcome of the game.

Although it is clear that Cheung Leung had no intention of creating a casino winner, the game of Keno appears to have made its way into the history books.