Keno rules and Keno strategy
Keno, which came to Europe in the 1800th century, is one of the oldest games that exist. Over the past years, Keno has become very popular and almost every online casino offers this game. Keno has a lot in common with lotto and bingo so if you are in to these games of luck, you will love Keno!
How to play online Keno
One of the reasons why Keno has become so popular is that it is extremely easy to learn how to play Keno. You get a ticket consisting of 80 numbers and you have to choose from 1 and up to 10 numbers from 1-80 that you want to play. The amount of numbers you have to choose depends on which online casino you play on. Sometimes you even have to choose up to 20 numbers. But the basic principle of Keno is to choose as many winning numbers as possible. You can either choose the numbers yourself or let the computer choose them for you automatically.
When you have chosen your numbers and placed your bet, the computer draws 20 random numbers. If some of these winning numbers match the ones you have chosen, you win. It is as simple as that.
How much do I win??
The payouts in Keno are based on the following:
- The amount of the bet.
- How many numbers you have chosen.
- How many of your numbers match the winning numbers
The more numbers you play and the more matches you get, the higher is the payout. E.g. if you choose only 1 number and this number is among the winning numbers, the payout will be very low. But if you choose 10 numbers and only 7 of them match the winning numbers, you will win a lot more. And of course, if you have all the 10 numbers right you get the maximum payout which is often a progressive jackpot.
In short: if you want to win the big jackpot you should choose as many numbers as possible but then the chances of all these numbers actually matching the winning numbers are a lot smaller.
How many Keno numbers should I choose?
There is no right answer to this question but you can find inspiration in probability calculation as illustrated in the table below:
| |
Match |
| |
0 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
9 |
10 |
11+ |
| Numbers selected |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| 1 |
75,0 |
25,0 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| 2 |
56,0 |
38,0 |
6,0 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| 3 |
41,6 |
43,1 |
13,9 |
1,4 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| 4 |
30,8 |
43,3 |
21,3 |
4,3 |
0,3 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| 5 |
22,7 |
40,6 |
27,0 |
8,4 |
1,2 |
0,1 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| 6 |
16,7 |
36,3 |
30,8 |
13,0 |
2,9 |
0,3 |
<0,1 |
|
|
|
|
|
| 7 |
12,1 |
31,5 |
32,7 |
17,5 |
5,2 |
0,9 |
0,1 |
*0,1 |
|
|
|
|
| 8 |
8,8 |
26,6 |
32,8 |
21,5 |
8,2 |
1,8 |
0,2 |
<0,1 |
*0,1 |
|
|
|
| 9 |
6,4 |
22,1 |
31,6 |
24,6 |
11,4 |
3,3 |
0,6 |
<0,1 |
*0,1 |
*0,1 |
|
|
| 10 |
4,6 |
18,0 |
29,5 |
26,7 |
14,7 |
5,1 |
1,1 |
0,2 |
<0,1 |
*0,1 |
*0,1 |
|
| 11 |
3,3 |
14,4 |
26,8 |
27,8 |
17,8 |
7,4 |
2,0 |
0,4 |
<0,1 |
*0,1 |
*0,1 |
*0,1 |
| 12 |
2,3 |
11,4 |
23,8 |
28,0 |
20,6 |
9,9 |
3,2 |
0,7 |
0,1 |
*0,1 |
*0,1 |
*0,1 |
| 13 |
1,6 |
8,9 |
20,7 |
27,3 |
22,7 |
12,6 |
4,8 |
1,2 |
0,2 |
<0,1 |
*0,1 |
*0,1 |
| 14 |
1,1 |
6,8 |
17,6 |
25,9 |
24,2 |
15,2 |
6,6 |
2,0 |
0,4 |
<0,1 |
*0,1 |
*0,1 |
| 15 |
1,1 |
6,8 |
17,6 |
25,9 |
24,2 |
15,2 |
6,6 |
2,0 |
0,4 |
<0,1 |
*0,1 |
*0,1 |
It is very easy to use the table. If you choose 5 numbers, the probability that none of your numbers are drawn is 22.7 % whereas the probability that 2 of your numbers are winning numbers is 27.0 %. But you only have 0.1% chances that all of your 5 numbers are drawn.
Maybe you are more interested in the big jackpot? Imagine that you choose 14 numbers. Then you have a 2.0 % chance of matching 7 winning numbers. But the chances of matching all 14 numbers are very small which is illustrated in the table as *, which means that the odds are very low. The chances of matching all 14 numbers are as low as 0.00000000257 or1:389 millions! But when a player actually makes it, the jackpot is huge.
Keno strategy
Keno being a game purely based on luck, there is really nothing you can do to enhance your chances of winning since the winning numbers are drawn randomly. That is why there is no winning proof strategies that can make you win the jackpot. In spite of that a lot of players use popular ‘theories’ hoping that this will help them. Some players prefer choosing:
- a number that has not been drawn for a long time.
- a number that has just been drawn.
- numbers in a row like 2, 3 and 4.
- numbers at a ticket that did not win the last time.
- numbers by intuition.
It is questionable whether these strategies work or not but one thing you definitely should do is to find the casino that has the highest payouts and that does not have high minimum wages.
It is no secret that the house edge in Keno is very high (about 30 %) and that is why is it important that you play for fun and does not see this as an easy way to get some quick money. You should also be aware that online Keno is a very fast game and you should be sure not to get carried away and bet without thinking since you risk betting a lot in a short time without realizing it.
That being said, it is important to point out that in spite of the high edge of the house, Keno offers some great jackpots that are difficult, yes, but not impossible to win. And it is the thought of winning the big jackpot in one second that makes Keno such a charming and exiting game.