The History of Keno: From Ancient China to Online Casinos
There are accounts, both documented and legendary, that suggest Keno has its origins in China. One popular legend says that Cheung Leung developed Keno to raise money from his people, since it was the only option left to fund an ongoing war.
This legend dates back roughly 3,000 years to the Han Dynasty. The people of his city were tired of paying such heavy taxes, so Leung came up with Keno as an exciting alternative to more taxation. The original game used 120 characters, taken from the 1,000 Chinese characters featured in the ancient poem “The Thousand Character Classic.”
These characters were placed on a type of lottery board, and players would place bets and mark their chosen spot. According to legend, the game became hugely popular and quickly spread to surrounding villages, where it became known as “White Pigeon,” since carrier pigeons were used to deliver the results to players in more remote areas.
It’s also said that Keno helped raise money to build the Great Wall of China, though this came much later. It’s worth noting that historians treat these origin stories as popular legend rather than confirmed fact, there’s little hard historical evidence behind them, but they remain the most widely repeated version of Keno’s story.
The Keno played at top online casinos today looks quite different from the original game. Modern Keno uses 80 numbers instead of the original 120. In China, Keno is still sometimes played with Chinese characters, but the number has also been reduced to 80 over time.
Keno Migrates to the US
During the 19th century, large numbers of Chinese immigrants arrived in the US, bringing the game of Keno with them. At the time, it was known as the Chinese Lottery, and it became especially popular in San Francisco, home to a large Chinese immigrant community.
The original characters were swapped for English numbers. Making the game easier for English-speaking players to understand and join in on. This was the real start of Keno in the US, though there was a catch: lotteries were considered illegal at the time.
To keep the game alive, operators renamed it “Horse Race Keno.” Reframing it as a racing game where each number stood in for a horse. Players could then pretend they were betting on a race, complete with racing terminology, to get around the lottery laws of the day.
By the 20th century, lotteries became legal, and Keno was able to return to its original format and move into casinos properly.
When Keno first appeared in land-based casinos, numbers were written on paper and rolled into tubes. Twenty of the eighty tubes were drawn to reveal the winning numbers. Over time, wooden balls replaced the paper tubes, and the numbers carved into the wood became known as “peas.”
Warren Nelson ran the first legal Keno game in 1936 at the Palace Club in Reno. Using balls drawn from a rotating cage. Around the same time, Joe Lydon separately introduced the game at the Fremont in Las Vegas. Keno played in land-based casinos today is usually generated by computer. With players filling out a play form and crossing off their chosen numbers as they’re drawn.
How Keno Payouts Have Changed Over Time
Keno’s payout limits have grown considerably since those early casino days. In 1963, the maximum total payout for a Keno game was capped at $25,000. That cap was raised to $50,000 in 1979. And in 1989, maximum payout limits were scrapped altogether. Since then, individual casinos have been free to set their own limits. Which is part of why some modern Keno jackpots can reach truly life-changing sums.
History of Online Keno
During the late 20th century, the internet changed the way gaming worked, and online casinos quickly adopted Keno as a favourite game, developing dedicated versions for the digital world.
There are variants of Keno and online roulette that can be enjoyed at online casinos today, but traditionally, the game still uses 80 numbers. These days, the numbers are generated using an RNG, and players don’t need to fill out any paper forms, since everything is handled automatically.
Keno has come a long way since its early days, evolving into a popular casino game at both land-based and online casinos.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is the Cheung Leung origin story actually true?
It’s impossible to say for certain. Most historians treat it as legend rather than documented fact, since there’s little solid historical evidence to back it up. Still, it’s the most widely told version of Keno’s origin, and it’s a fun piece of the game’s folklore either way.
Why does modern Keno use 80 numbers instead of 120?
>>Over time, the game was simplified to make it faster and easier to play, both in Chinese Keno and in the version that eventually took hold in the US.
Is online Keno fair, given there are no physical balls or tubes?
Yes. Online Keno relies on a certified Random Number Generator to produce results, working on the same principle of fairness as a physical draw, just handled digitally instead.
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