Online Keno Real Money Casinos for Desktop

Nowadays, the majority of internet-based casinos have at least one Keno game available to play in their suite of online casino games. Generally speaking, you’ll be able to find more online Keno games available to play on desktop than you would on mobile. All the online casinos above in our ‘Best Keno Online Casinos’ list definitely have Keno games which are playable via desktop.

Keno Casinos Online for Mobile

As a modern day player, you might enjoy gambling whilst on the go. And if you do, you can also typically enjoy a quick game of Keno via your mobile device too should you wish to. Generally, you’ll find that most online gambling sites out there nowadays will host more than one mobile Keno game on their mobile-optimized site or app. However, this will vary from casino to casino. So have a look see before you attempt to sign up to one and play for real money online.

Online Keno vs. Land-Based Keno – What’s the Difference?

Keno is a luck-based game which is played using a card, a blower, and a few markers. At land-based casinos, there are two variations of Keno. These include both Live Keno and Video Keno. In Live Keno, numbers are drawn there and then by a live presenter, while in Video Keno numbers are drawn by a machine. In both versions of the game, numbers are drawn haphazardly and are in no way predetermined.

Online Keno

Online Keno is a virtual replica of Keno that’s found at land-based casinos. The game, which strongly resembles Video Keno, features the same components as the classic version of this game follows the same set of rules the classic land-based version does. Each online Keno game uses a Random Number Generator (RNG) in order to generate different outcomes.

On opening an online Keno game, one finds a Keno card and a digital blower containing 80 balls. As a player, you’ll need to select numbers to place your bets on and wait to see if any of the spots are hit. Provided that you do manage to hit a number of spots, you’ll be able to receive a payout. Generally, you’ll find that bets can be placed on 1-20 spots. However, this will vary from game to game. Hence, we always recommend reading up on the rules before playing for real money.

How to Play Keno Online

Learning how to play Keno is fairly straight-forward. In Keno, a player needs to select between 1 to 20 numbers out of any number between 1 and 80, either at random or as numbers of the player's choice, in the hope that they will be the same numbers generated by the machine he or she is playing at. A player is not limited to one ticket and, in fact, playing multiple tickets at different wagers would increase a player's probability of winning.

In some casinos, a player is limited to a number of selections he or she may make per line, but this is not always the case, and there are plenty of online casinos which will let you pick your entire selection of numbers in direct sequence.

History of Keno

Keno has one of the more evolved histories out of any casino game and in fact, the Keno story can be divided into two main parts:

Ancient Keno History

Around the year 200 BC, ancient Chinese scrolls tell of a ruler, Cheung Leung of the Han Dynasty, who invented a game similar to Keno. The story goes that Leung's city was engulfed in war for many years and running out of money and supplies. The myth states that the citizens of Mr. Leung's city no longer wanted to contribute to war funds. To raise money for supplies, Mr Leung invented a game very similar to Keno, except instead of using 80 numbers he used 120 symbols. The game was an instant success and helped save the city. Keno is also rumored to have helped fund the building of the Great Wall. In ancient China, Keno used to be known as the White Pigeon game. Apparently, carrier birds were used to deliver the winning numbers from the big city to the small village.

Modern Keno History

Keno came to America with Chinese immigrants, many of whom settled on the West Coast in places like San Francisco during the middle of the 19th century. With this influx of immigrants came an abundance of Chinese culture. The game continued to be played in America and soon it became known as the 'Chinese lottery.'

At first, Keno had problems penetrating mainstream America, mainly because the 'Chinese lottery' was still played with symbols. As the lottery evolved into its current numbers form its popularity exploded. Gambling was legalized in Nevada in 1931; however, lotto was not legal in casinos. To bypass the law, casinos changed the name from the 'Chinese lottery' to 'horse racing keno'. The idea was that instead of lotto a player had to choose a horse with a number and hope that the horse came in when randomly selected. Soon the state government created a law taxing off-track gambling and the sharpies in the Nevada casinos had to quickly adapt. They changed the name again, this time to simply Keno, or Online Keno, which is what the game is called today.