Online Keno is easy to learn and lots of fun to play. It's like playing the state lottery, except that it gets drawn a dozen times or more every day! Online Keno is a game of chance where numbers fall at random. Online Keno applies the same rules as land based casinos. The player plays on an online screen card where the player clicks on numbered cells in order to cross or uncross a number.
Object of the Game
The player's objective in this game is to choose the individual numbers or combinations of numbers that will be drawn.
Playing the Game
From the 1-80 numbers displayed on the card, the player can choose up to 10-15 numbers per game (this varies between online casinos). Once the player has chosen their numbers, the player must enter the amount they want to wager and click on "play". The numbers are drawn randomly, and a star icon is placed on your winning number cells.
The player is then shown the prize money for the amount the player has wagered on that game. There is also a history column that displays the numbers that have occurred on previous games. When playing online Keno, the more a player wagers, the bigger the payout.
Below is an example of a payout table for a player who selects 10 numbers and wagers $1 for that game.
There are many different ways to play the game of Keno, depending on what type a ticket a player buys. These types of tickets can be divided into six basic categories:
Straight Tickets
This is the basic ticket, and the most common. Nothing tricky here. You simply mark your numbers and wait for the draw. Of course there are a few more details.
You must determine how many spots you want to play. Most casinos allow you to choose 1 to 15 spots, and some even allow you to choose 20, 32 or 40 numbers on a straight ticket. You will normally want to play 4 to 8 numbers. Below 4 spots, your payoff isn't worth the average 30% casino take. At 8 numbers, your odds are about 230,115 to 1. At 9 spots it jumps to 1.38 million to 1, and at 15 spots your odds of hitting all 15 are an unrealistic 428,010,179,098 to 1, or about 428 BILLION to 1!
Your last decision is to determine how much to wager. Common straight tickets are $1.00, although some are 70 cents or lower. You can also play multiples of the base rate. For example, you could play a $1.00 ticket for $5.00, and your winnings will be multiplied by 5 times the $1.00 payout rate. But there is one thing you must be aware of when playing multiples of the base rate; the casino will not pay more than the aggregate limit on any one game. So if the aggregate limit is $50,000, your payout will never exceed $50,000, no matter how much you bet.
Split Tickets
A split ticket is basically 2 or more straight tickets played on the same physical ticket. Each logical ticket consists of a group of numbers that are either circled, or separated by a line. Each game (group of numbers) must have it's own unique numbers, and can not share numbers with any other group.
There is no advantage to a split ticket. It simply allows you to play two or more games on the same piece of paper. One disadvantage is that you can not use the same number more than once.
Way Tickets
Way tickets can be complicated. So the first thing you should know is that there are only two reasons to play a way ticket.
The first is convenience. If it is more convenient for you to mark multiple games on a single ticket, a way ticket may be for you.
The second reason to play a way ticket is fractional rates. Some casinos will let you play for as little as 10 cents per way, instead of the usual $1.00 you would have to play on a straight ticket.
The payouts on way tickets are the same as playing the same games in multiple tickets. If way tickets confuse you, and you are not interested in fractional rates, there is no reason for you to tackle way tickets.
Combination Tickets
Combination tickets allow players to combine groups of straight bets on one ticket in various ways with the player wagering one unit for each possible combination.
Players can also combine straight bets and way bets on one ticket. The groups bet on a combination ticket should be clearly marked on the right hand side of the ticket.
King Tickets
A king ticket has one number that is circled by itself. This number is referred to as the King and is used in combination with other groups of numbers on a ticket.
King tickets are marked similarly to way and split tickets with the number of combinations played and the amount wagered per group displayed on the right hand side of the ticket.
Special Tickets
Casinos sometimes promote their keno games by offering special tickets. A special ticket must be played in a certain pre-determined manner and pays off using a different pay schedule. This payout chart is usually marked on the special ticket itself. Special tickets usually offer slightly better deals than other keno tickets and are used to entice players.
An example of a special ticket is called top and bottom. A player pays $5.00 for this special ticket and chooses either the top 40 or the bottom 40 numbers on a card. If all twenty numbers drawn are in the section the player selected, they usually get paid around $100,000. If none of the numbers drawn are located in the section the player selected they still receive around $100,000. All other options are paid according to the special payout schedule.
The Strategy :
Playing 2 numbers will increase the player’s chances of winning all 2, however the online casino is aware of this and adjusts the winning ratio in view of that. Selecting 10 numbers and winning the 10 numbers will give the player the best payouts, but the odds of achieving this are very slim.
If a player’s gambling intentions are to win consistently, games such as blackjack or craps are more suitable. However, the advantage of playing Keno is that a player can gain instant riches without going into debt. The average online Keno game costs from $1 - $10 and most online casinos will have a maximum wager of around $70.
Online Keno is a fun and exciting game of pure luck, so when choosing your numbers, hope that luck is on your side!
