Theoretically, you have more chances to win at Roulette by throwing your chips on the table while blindfolded than to hit 20 numbers and win the jackpot in Keno. But you don't need to play all the. Somebody then realised that it’s a better idea to invent a new game of chance. It seemed like a win-win scenario: people would have lots of fun, some of could get rich, and the state’s budget would be filled. They say that’s how Keno was born. Whenever you see a grid with numbers from 1 to 80 on the screen, you will know it’s Keno.

Table Of Contents

• Keno players look for ways to win big more than they should
• Combinatronics can 'solve' the game of Keno
• Use the formula in this article to calculate your Expected Return (ER) when you play real money Keno games

Keno: you either hate it or love it.

Some Casino games are just like that - you either enjoy endless sessions regardless of the house edge and your winning chances…

…or even 50 seconds at the table will feel like a lifetime.

The game of Keno is one of them.

Some play Keno for hours at land-based and online Casinos while others still wonder why a game like this one is allowed on the Casino floor.

I write this guide assuming you belong to the first kind.

You shouldn't be looking for the basics of Keno strategy if you weren't planning to play Keno online and (perhaps) win some money, too.

What Can You Expect From This Article?

I'll tell you what this article is not:

This isn't a guide for beginners who don't know what Keno is.

If you have never played this game before, you don't need my Keno strategy tips. You need this other guide on how to play Keno to get started with the game.

It's also not a guide to picking the lucky numbers to win at Keno every time you play.

Don't shop for Keno numbers online, please. Nothing good happens to those who do.

Even the best Keno strategy or system can not guarantee a 100% success rate. The collections of hot and Lucky Keno numbers you see online are irrelevant.

Keno is a gambling game. It's fun, fast-paced, and loud. But it is not a predictable one.

I also don't plan on telling you how to pick lucky Keno numbers to increase your chances to win.

However, I do have more than a few Keno strategy tips to share with that will help you increase your chances to win.

Are you ready to start?

Keno Isn't for Suckers

Many self-proclaimed professional gamblers call Keno 'a game for suckers' for its horrendous house edge.

While this is theoretically correct (the 25 to 40 percent house edge of some Keno games is indeed almost criminal), those who understand gambling know that Keno offers a great value for money.

See the contradiction here?

On one hand, the house edge is big enough to show that you are likely to lose often and never hit the life-changing jackpot the screen promises you.

But then - think about how you play Keno.

A full game of Keno can last up to 10 minutes from start to finish and it might not cost you more than $1 or $2 to play.

Meanwhile, you get treated like a king with complimentary drinks and snacks flowing to your seat. That's because Casinos love Keno players.

Now, think about Slots.

At an average of six seconds per spin, how far will $1 or $10 bring you?

Keno is a great game to chill and fantasize about big and semi-impossible wins. It is a game for dreamers who want to have fun but don't want to spend an unreasonable amount of cash.

Make Sure You Get a Bonus to Play Keno

While land based Casinos treat you with drinks and snacks, online Keno sites keep you on their pages with bonuses and promotions.

As a Keno player, you need to spend some time to shop around for the best Keno deals, as long as they come from reputable and trusted names.

Sign up for a free account to activate a 100% Keno bonus!

Receive up to €500 to play online and test your Keno strategy!

Finding the right bonus to play might not seem an important part of an effective Keno strategy, especially if you think it's all about lucky numbers.

But the extra money you get when you register to play at a good online Casino is the best way to fight house edge and variance, and win money when your numbers are drawn.

To do this well, you need to do some research and not rely on the usual suspects.

With online Keno not being the most popular gambling game in the world, the sites that specialize in it are often niche ones.

Take CasinoMulti, for example.

While this might not be the best-known gaming website the world, their welcome bonus gives you up to €500 to play Keno online and that's a lot of money.

Hellovalot, if you ask me.

Especially when you see how many different Keno games you can play there. Their offer is impressive.

See it for yourself. Register a free account to access the lobby and see how many (and how good) they games of online Keno are.

Play Free Keno Games Online

Keno games are so cheap that most sites don't offer a free version of this game. If you don't pay, you can't play.

That's what I like about CasinoMulti is not like that.

Before this article turns too much into a serenade for this Casino (which isn't), let me tell you this:

You can play 13 Keno games for free if you register and choose to play for fun.

CasinoMulti is the only site to offer so many free Keno games. That's why I think they deserve a praise.

Through the free games you can:

• apply the strategy tips below
• understand Combinatronics is a real thing
• accept that Keno numbers come whenever they feel like - not when you ask them to.

Here's a handy list of 13 Keno games available for free and real money play:

Cold Numbers, You Say?

Don't base your Keno strategy on cold numbers and hot numbers - unless you want to be sure to leave your money at the Casino.

Whether you use the Quick Pick feature available at most online Casinos or you focus on your kid's birthday you have the same winning odds.

This isn't to say you should just use the Quick Pick option every time you play. Part of what makes Keno fun is the idea to call luck with what is dear to us.

So - make each game special.

Write down a list of numbers that mean something to you, perhaps make each group challenge each other taking notes on how often one prevails over the other and, don't stress too much about the results.

In lottery-like games like Keno, you just need to sit back and wait for the numbers to be drawn.

Multi Race Cards

The best way to save some time, especially if you plan on playing the same numbers all over again, is to pick the Multi Race Cards that most online Keno sites offer you.

The Multi-Race cards allow you to play the same numbers over a series of consecutive Keno games.

Multi-Race Cards don't increase your chances to win money at Keno but help you save time and spare you from the annoyance of having to click on the same numbers times and times again.

Winning Odds in Keno

Your interests in Keno strategy tells me you don't know much about the odds in Keno and your true chances to win big on this Casino game.

** Spoiler Alert: these numbers might kill your love for Keno **

But since I promised to tell you everything you need to play Keno with the best strategy there is - let's have a look at some scary numbers.

What are the chances you will hit all the 20 numbers?

The key to winning big and to bring home the seven-figure top prize offered in many Keno games is to play for 20 numbers and nail all of them. So, the question is: how likely is this to happen?

To paraphrase Joan Kung, here's where 'Learning Mathematics Helps Us Be Virtuous.'

Numbers show there are 3,535,316,142,212,172,000 different ways for a group of 20 numbers to be picked from a total of 80 numbers.

Theoretically, you have more chances to win at Roulette by throwing your chips on the table while blindfolded than to hit 20 numbers and win the jackpot in Keno.

But you don't need to play all the 20 numbers, do you?

If the 20-spot ticket isn't going to be included in our games for obvious reasons, let's see what happens when you play Keno with a 6-spot ticket.

Your winning chances increase (but don't jump from your chair just yet).

If you sum up the probabilities you have to catch 0, 1, or 2 numbers (the three occasions where you don't win anything) - things get a little on the sad side.

That's because you discover you have 83.78% chances to lose your game. And that's not to mention the 13% on the table, because that's when you win nothing more than your initial bet.

That's why a good bonus is SO important.

Adding free money to your bankroll you finance your losing games in the hope that when Lady Luck decides to smile at you, it's with a win of 4, 5, or 6 numbers.

Because that's where the real money is.

In case you are curious to see the odds of hitting all the numbers, including those in between 6 and 20, the table below is for you:

Cold / Hot Numbers in Keno

Since I mentioned them earlier, let's go a little deeper on the concepts of Cold Numbers and Hot Numbers in Keno.

Cold Numbers: These are the numbers drawn less frequently. Usually, a number is added to the list of the cold numbers when it isn't drawn for 15 consecutive times.

Hot Numbers: These are the numbers that are drawn most frequently in a sequence of five Keno games. Some will tell you there are numbers that are hotter than others: don't believe them. It isn't true.

Combinatronics to Win at Keno

Here's where things get a little more complicated. If you made it till this part of my Keno strategy guide, take a deep breath and get ready to swim through numbers and calculations.

What is Combinatronics? 'Combinatorics is a branch of mathematics about counting – Combinatorics can help us count numbers of orders in which something can happen.' (Source: Mathigon)

I am not going to go into all details of Combinatorics (after all, even the MIT says 'it is not an easy task' to define it), but I want you to learn this:

The way Keno works allows you to calculate your expected return every time you play - and this doesn't often happen in gambling.

Combinatronics helps calculate the different ways you can arrange a portion of a larger group of items - exactly what happens with the numbers in Keno:

There's 80 of them, but only 20 help create a winning combination.

After you apply Combinatronics to understand the probabilities in Keno you can calculate the Expected Return (ER) and figure out how much money you are likely to win (or lose) in a given number of games.

Here's how you calculate : ER = Payoff x Probability

Using an example provided by the always useful Mensa Guide to Casino Gambling (see here) by Andrew Brisman, we can proceed to calculate the E (Expectation), the exact amount of money we can expect to win or lose over the long run with a given bet:

For the table above, we have that:

How To Win Keno Easy

E = Total ER - Amount Bet: 0.7008 - 1 = 0.2992

(And that's also how you calculate the House Edge, which here is of 29.92%)

Play Keno Online

This concludes our journey through the bizarre world of Keno strategy.

If you have questions, remarks, or you would like to talk about Combinatronics and its applications to win at Keno, you are welcome to leave a comment below - I would love to talk Keno and Keno strategy with you.

Otherwise, just play it!

_{(Cit. Mad Men: Season 5, Episode 8)}

CasinoMulti features the best Keno games you can find on the internet and they welcome you with €500 as a welcome bonus.

Can it get any better than that?

It Kennot!

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Whenever you’re gambling, no matter the game, you’ll eventually lose a wager. But avoiding loss isn’t actually about winning or losing. It’s about not spending your entire bankroll on a proposition.

Keno critics are quick to say the game isn’t worth playing, yet thousands of people sign up for poker tournaments. 85% of poker tournament players win nothing in any given tournament.

All criticisms and rebuttals aside, if you’re not playing in a tournament to the bitter end, you always have the option of not placing another bet in any game.

Common sense tells us to manage our budgets and keep losses to a minimum. When players are totally dependent upon random luck, like in the game of keno, the time to stop playing is when it stops being fun.

I won’t include any psychological or motivational talking points in the seven ways to avoid losing keno below, but the way you look at gambling is important. If you’re only paying for entertainment and you always have a good time, you walk out a winner every time.

Keep in mind, keno payouts do range across the board. If I talk about doubling your money below, that’s based on a specific pay table. I also refer to the worst payouts so, hopefully, the games you play will pay better. Keno pays whatever the game runner decides.

1 – Never Bet the Bank

Betting theory is not my thing. I’m sure someone has studied all the angles. A friend once said to me,

“your chances of winning are the same whether you bet all your money or only bet a little.”

I’ve never seen him make a bet that big. The point is well taken. In a fair game, you have the same chance to win regardless of how much you wager.

Some older slot machines changed your chances of winning if you played fewer paylines. The advertised payouts were based on maximum payline betting. Hence, eliminating some of the paylines to save on your bets was a negative proposition. Each bet cost you more in the long run because it was less likely to pay off.

All things considered, I’d rather not spend my last $20 on a keno bet. I wouldn’t put my last $20 on any one bet. If there’s a smaller bet than your casino bankroll that has the same chance of winning, play the smaller bet and live to gamble another day.

2 – Play the Spreads

This is a controversial idea. It probably comes from people who belittle keno players. “Spreads” are the patterns players use to pick their keno numbers.

The bettor believes that the game’s outcome will fall into a certain region of the number line. Keno players who use spreads hedge their wagers by betting on multiple spreads.

It’s pretty simple to do this. Since the game is drawing 20 numbers out of 80, you think about which numbers you’d like to see come up.

Some players use the “hot” and “cold” numbers as bases for their spreads. Since the drawings are random, there’s no guarantee that any one number will come up in the next game. But “hot” and “cold” numbers are real statistical patterns.

3 – Play the Middle Picks

There’s no simple way to define the “middle” picks in keno. Every casino and lottery gaming authority has its own keno rules.

If the game allows 10 picks, the best odds are usually found for the four-spot, five-spot, and six-spot picks. Some players say the seven-spot picks are also good. If the game allows 15 to 20 picks, the odds may converge on a different set of “middle” picks.

A five-spot game is comparable to playing most major lotteries. A seven-spot game goes beyond the major lotteries in number of main spots.

4 – Only Make Minimum Bets

This strategy is not quite the same as “never bet the bank.” If you never bet the bank, there’s nothing to stop you from betting half the bank.

It’s easy to overthink your wagering strategy. If you only bet half the bank, should you bet the second half if you lose the first bet or divide it in half again?

These trick questions are clever ways to confuse people who lack experience. When you’re down to the last dollar you can bet, you either finish paying for your entertainment or you walk away.

I’ve had nights where my bankroll bobbed up and down by 10% to 20%. I thought those were good nights. I didn’t lose much and I won a little.

Minimum wagering is less fun than maximum wagering. It’s a survival strategy. Some people only want to make minimum bets so they can spend more time in the casino.

5 – Play the Small Picks

If you’re only making minimum bets, then play the small picks. Remember that every keno game has its own rules. These examples are only for illustrative purposes. Check the odds and payouts in each game you play.

Players can double their money or better if they win a one-spot game. The chances of any number being drawn are 1 in 80. Because 20 numbers are drawn, the player’s chances of picking any of the 20 numbers are 1 in 4.

That’s the best probability you’ll ever get in keno. Other picks that may pay double include catches on:

1. Five numbers in a 10-spot game
2. Four numbers in an eight-spot or nine-spot game
3. Three numbers in a five-spot game
4. Two numbers in a three-spot game

The math is simple. If you only want to double your money (not a bad payoff but not great), then your best bet (literally) is to play one-spot games.

6 – Play the Maximum Minimum Payoff Games

This is almost the opposite of the previous strategy. On the assumption that you’re going to lose more often than win, the idea is to get the most bang for your buck.

In this strategy, you play the two-spot game. You must catch two numbers to win but the odds are about 1 in 17. That’s not bad for keno.

Many odds tables claim better odds for winning on higher spot games. Don’t fall for that trick. Those odds are for winning ANY of the prizes on the ticket.

A four-spot game has better than 1 in 4 odds but there are three prizes. To match or beat the payoff on a two-spot game you need to catch all four numbers. That’s about a 1 in 36 chance.

You’ll never get a payout that matches the odds in keno. I’ve never seen such a game. But the odds for the best payouts arguably get worse as you play more spots.

7 – Back Other Players

Instead of playing your own keno game, pay others to play it for you. As long as they’re not choosing the same numbers, you are spreading your risk.

For this strategy to have any chance to pay off, you can’t provide the entire bankroll for the other player.

Staking a keno player is not like playing poker. You’re not betting on someone else’s skill. You’re betting on a wider spread of choices.

Best Way To Win Keno

Three players could cover 60 numbers for you. The only drawback is that you don’t get to combine the numbers from their tickets for maximum prizes.

Winning At Keno Machines

Conclusion

Because you’re betting on purely random events, keno bets are prop bets. It’s surely easier to guess who the next President of the United States once the field of candidates narrows. In lottery games, the field never narrows.

One reason why people play keno is they have more time to think about their betting strategies. Some keno players will never hit the roulette tables even though they get better odds there.

How To Win On Keno

If you’re curious about keno, it’s worth an experimental dip into the numbers, but you’ll have better odds and payouts betting on single numbers in roulette.