Keno in Online Casinos

When you want to maximize your winning potential, you want to know your game through and through. You can find all the aspects of Keno down the guide, but there are three cornerstone factors to take into account when playing any Keno game:

• The trustworthiness of your online casino. The worst-case scenario is when you can’t withdraw your winnings from the casino. For that not to happen, choose only reliable casinos verified by gambling experts and highly ranked by players.
• Paytable & RTP (return to player) of your Keno game. Different Keno wagers pay differently. Therefore, stick with the wagers of the highest winning potential and play Keno games of the highest RTP rates.
• Bankroll management. It’s no secret that, just like any other game of chance, Keno is a game of negative expectations. Taking this into account, we would recommend you to spend no more than 1% of your total bankroll on a single Keno game.

How to Pick the Best Online Keno Casinos

As being said, you can either use our ready-made list of Keno casinos, or you can do your own research. If you stick with the latter, here are the most important factors to pay attention to:

• Licenses & security. Such licensors as the UK Gaming Commission, the Malta Gaming Authority, and the Kahnawake Gaming Commission do not issue licenses just like that, which means any online casinos licensed by the mentioned authorities (and a few other ones) comply with the highest standards of the industry. Security-wise, all credible casinos are audited by eCOGRA and testing agencies alike.
• Banking options. Not only should banking options be in abundance; they should also provide fast deposits & withdrawals with no fees, and the pending time (if taken by the casino) should be no more than 24 hours.
• Keno gaming library. You might not be content with a single version of Keno, so make sure to check if there are any other keno online casino games to play. Besides, check whether you can play Keno for free (many of the Keno casinos from our list enable the free-play mode even for unregistered users!).
• Bonuses & promotions. Chances are your casino runs at least one promo for newcomers, and it might even be a no-deposit offer. Take advantage of the opportunities at your casino.

History of Keno

Keno has come a long way to become the game we know today. Back in the days, it was a 120-character game popularized in Ancient China by the Han dynasty, which used it for collecting taxes for the never-ceasing war campaigns and – drumroll – the erection of the Great Wall of China, one of the seven world wonders.

We don’t know much about the period of Ancient China, but what we do know is that it was not until the beginning of the 18th century that Keno was brought to the U.S. by Chinese railroad workers who settled in San Francisco and started to play the game with locals. Shortly after that, the confusing Chinese characters were replaced with 80 numbers, and Keno was born as we know it today. That’s pretty much it: in fact, the 18th-century game had the same gameplay as its contemporary counterpart.

Finally, the emergence of free online Keno made it possible to reduce the excessive house edge of 30%+ to a much moderate 8% and even less, dispelling the myth that Keno doesn’t pay. Actually, it does pay, and we can name at least 3 Keno games with an RPT of 8% to 3.65%: Keno by Microgaming, Keno by NetEnt, and Keno by Playtech.

Keno Terms

Before you start playing at your top online casino with keno, it’s only wise to get acquainted with the most popular Keno terms that you can meet down the road:

• All-or-Nothing – a ticket that pays if you’ve matched all the numbers or neither of them.
• Bankroll – the total amount of money stored in your casino account.
• Board (Flashboard) – a panel displaying drawn numbers.
• Buy-in tournament – a competition with a prize pool shared among the winners.
• Call: an announcement of a number by a caller (a Keno operator).
• Catch (Hit) – the number that has matched one of your numbers.
• Catch-All/Catch-Zero – a type of Keno ticket in which the win condition is to match either all or none of the selected numbers (pretty much similar to All-or-Nothing).
• Combination ticket – a ticket that allows you to wager on different groups of numbers.
• Draw – the 20 drawn numbers.
• Free-play – a regime in which you can play with virtual credits.
• House edge – the advantage of the casino over players.
• RNG – a Random Number Generator used in casino games to determine the outcome of the game.
• Split ticket – a ticket for playing two Keno games simultaneously.
• Way ticket – a ticket with two or more bets and multiple winning chances.

At first glance, there’s nothing special about play Keno online: you pick your numbers, and there you go! However, inveterate Keno players know that it all comes down to playing with the right ticket and the right bet. On the one hand, you can go for the impossible 20 out of 20, trying to maximize your potential wins; on the other hand, you might be content with picking a single number and getting a moderate 2:1 payout. Finally, you don’t even have to start with real money – actually, such free online casino games like keno are best to practice with virtual credits until you’ve learned the ropes.

How to Play Keno Online

1. Choose your Keno casino. Decide on the casino you’re going to play: either DYOR or use the ready-made list of classy Keno casinos you can see up the page. Note that all our casinos enable the free-play mode, so you can hone your style to perfection even before making your first real-money bet.
2. Choose your Keno game. In addition to traditional 80-ball Keno, there are 40-ball Keno and about a dozen different types of Keno tickets, which gives you more than enough room for choice. Whether you want to minimize the risks or maximize your profits, you’ll have such options.
3. Choose your lucky numbers & make your wager. Most Keno games allow you to pick from one to 20 numbers out of 80 in play, as well as to wager different amounts of money on your picks. The more numbers out of the selected ones match, the bigger the prize.
4. Pray to the gods of luck, wealth, and happiness. Once you’ve picked your number and made your bet, you can no longer affect the outcome. Therefore, relax and let the stars align.

Now that you know how to play keno, you can learn Keno betting options and strategies.

Keno Betting Options

Unfortunately, there’s no single bet that would allow you to have at least the slightest advantage over the casino. Of course, that applies to all games of chances and cannot be changed, which is why we would recommend you to play for pleasure in the first place and execute proper bankroll management. That said, there are dozens of bets you can take depending on the odds and the payout you’re willing to get. Let’s mention a few wagers with the highest and lowest winning odds in classic 80-ball Keno:

• 1 out of 1 matched: 1:4 odds and 2:1 payout.
• 2 out of 2 matched: 1:17 odds and 10:1 payout.
• 2 out of 3 matched: 1:8 odds and 2:1 payout.
• 3 out of 3 matched: 1:73 odds and 25:1 payout.
• 2 out of 4 matched: 1:5 odds and 1:1 payout.
• 3 out of 4 matched: 1:24 odds and 5:1 payout.
• 4 out of 4 matched: 1:327 odds and 50:1 payout.
• 8 out of 10 matched: 1:7,385 odds and 500:1 payout.
• 9 out of 10 matched: 1:163,382 odds and 10,000:1 payout.
• 10 out of 10 matched: 1:8,911,712 odds and 200,000:1 payout.

Note that these are less than a half of possible wagers, and you can also play different types of tickets – split tickets, way tickets, and combination tickets – which significantly enlarges the number of ways to win. Luckily, you can have a decent practice in the demo play before betting with real money.

Keno Strategies

We won’t lie to you: there are no Keno strategies that can guarantee you a win or at least a break-even at the end of your casino session. Nevertheless, the two key game parameters – the payout and the winning odds – are still in play.

• Payouts. As you can see, there are a whole bunch of different payouts in Keno, from 1:1 and up to 200,000:1 and even higher. But, of course, the truth is that the chance of hitting a 200,000:1 payout and the ones alike are so small that it makes no sense trying. On the flip side, 1:1, 2:1, 5:1, and 10:1 are the payouts to work with.
• Winning odds/RTP/House Edge. The winning odds, coupled with the payout, determine the expediency of playing. For example, you would rather go for 1:4 odds and 2:1 payout for 1 out of 1 matched than the same payout but with the winning odds of 1:8 for 2 out of 3 matched.

Chances-wise, you can maximize your winning potential by picking the most beneficial game version (different casinos may offer different paytables for the same bets) and take bets with the most favorable odds/payout ratio. And it goes without saying that at least a few preliminary free plays are a must to gain confidence in your playstyle.

Tips for Playing Keno

Here are the final tips to take into account before dipping your toes into the waters of the real-money Keno game:

• Start with a free-play mode. Risking to sound like a broken record, we can’t help but emphasize the importance of demo play, especially if you’re new to the game. Take at least a few tentative plays to find out whether it works for you.
• Don’t put the cart before the horse: start small. Even if you feel you’ve mastered your style with virtual credits, the real-money game is a different beast. We would recommend you to start with the minimum bet and increase it as you see you are just as good with real money.
• Play Keno games with the most generous paytables. Keno games are all about paytables. Compare the winning odds with the potential gains to pick the optimal Keno version.
• Take advantage of casino bonuses. There are at least two bonuses that can grant you free chips at Keno: welcome bonuses (a percentage of your first or a few first deposits) and no-deposit bonuses (free chips given to you once you’ve signed up for the casino).
• Play for pleasure, not gains. Whether you like it or not, there’s no way to outplay the casino. But that may not even matter if you play for pleasure, feeling the unique camaraderie at live Keno games or whatever you’ve come for!