Keno is a popular game of chance that uses a lottery-style system to decide whether players win or lose. Many modern casinos offer keno games to its players, whether in traditional bricks-and-mortar venues, or online, like the games you can see on this page.
Despite its name being of Latin origin (quine or quini both refer to the number five, as in five winning numbers), many sources claim the game’s history stretches back to Ancient China, where the government used funds generated from keno players to contribute to the cost of building the Great Wall of China. The game existed there right through to the 19th century – along with its sister version Pakapoo – when Chinese immigrants took the game to the USA.
Keno’s simplicity goes a long way towards explaining why it’s so popular today. The rules are as follows:
Many players enjoy the speed of the game, too, as it takes less than a minute to make their picks and then find out the winning numbers. However, this can also be risky as it’s easier to lose track of how much money you’re spending.
As you’re probably aware, pay-outs and probabilities are two very different things. If you have a 5/1 chance of winning a bet, it doesn’t mean the casino will give you five times your stake back as winnings.
The keno pay-outs offered by casinos vary significantly as they’re not necessarily based on the actual probabilities of players hitting a certain amount of numbers.
Some games offer bigger prizes for matching 4 or 5 numbers but award a smaller amount for matching 2 or 3. It’s up to you to choose the one you prefer!
Note: It’s important you’re aware of the odds and payouts for each game before you play for money, that way you’re in the best position to make sensible betting decisions.
Like with virtual slots, many keno games adopt special themes that are designed to grab the attention of the player and add something to the playing experience.
A quick look through the range of keno titles on Casino Guru might reveal a game based inside a chicken coop where the winning digits appear on eggs, or another in Ancient Egypt where scarab beetles uncover the lucky numbers.
While the designs may vary, the bottom line remains the same. Guess as many winning numbers as you can – the more you get correct, the more you win.
If you’re hoping to play keno on your mobile device, then you’re in luck. Most keno games in our collection support mobile play and you can find these by clicking on the ‘Advanced’ filter on this page and selecting the ‘Mobile Devices Supported’ box.
These titles translate well to tablets or smartphones thanks to HTML-5 technology which has helped boost the number of great mobile-friendly casinos. It’s likely that these will continue to grow in popularity over the next few years as casinos continue to employ the latest technology.
You can play keno for free via this page in a matter of seconds. Simply go to the list of games and choose one that you like the look of. Once you click the ‘play’ icon, you should see the game load and become ready for you to start.
You can sort through these titles by using the on-page filters. To find your favored style, go to the ‘Game Theme’ section and choose from the list there, or you can see games from popular developers by hitting the ‘Game Provider’ filter.
No. Casino Guru has thousands of free titles for you to try out for fun. Playing games without money means you can enjoy the best in casino technology risk-free, and it also lets you learn the rules so that you’re better equipped if you DO decide to play for money.
To browse through these games, just go to our free casino games page which has games from every casino genre you can think of, from virtual slots to baccarat.
No. Every title on our database is browser-based, meaning you just click on it and play, providing there are no technical problems. You will never have to download extra software to access games on this site.
Yes. The rules are exactly the same, except you don’t win real money...but you don’t lose any, either!
Keno is a lottery game, so it’s very difficult to form a strategy that will improve the chances of you making a positive return over time.
However, it is possible to calculate the odds to know if the expected payout matches the probability of it happening. There are several keno calculators online that can do the maths for you, then it’s simply a case of matching it up with the casino prize. We must stress, however, that this is not a way to make money, but just to know if you’re getting a reasonable deal or not.
Also, following good gambling principles is a type of strategy. If you follow measures that limit the amount you bet (and lose), stop you from using borrowed funds and encourage you to view gambling as a form of light entertainment, then, in a sense, you’ve already won.
Take a look at our How to gamble safely page for a detailed look into a sensible gambling mindset.
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