Keno is a lottery-like or bingo-like
gambling game often played at modern casinos, and is also offered as a
game in some state lotteries. A traditional live casino keno game uses a
circular glass enclosure called a "bubble" containing 80 ping pong-like
balls which determine the ball draw result. Each ball is imprinted with a
number 1 through 80. During the ball draw, a blower pushes air into the
bubble and mixes the balls. A "caller" presses a lever opening a tube,
where the balls lift one at a time into a "V" shaped tube called the
"rabbit ears". The caller and a "verifier" record each of 20 balls
drawn, and the computerized keno system calculates all wagers based on
the numbers drawn.
Keno payouts are based on how many numbers the player chose and how
many numbers are "hit", multiplied by the proportion of the player's
original wager to the “base rate” of the pay table. Typically, the more
numbers a player chooses and the more numbers hit, the greater the
payout, although some pay tables pay for hitting a lesser number of
spots.
The probability of a player hitting all 20 numbers on a 20 spot ticket
is approximately 1 in 3.5 quintillion.If every person now alive played
one keno game every single second of their lives, there would be about
one solid 20 jackpot-winning ticket to date
The ball draw occurs at the "keno booth". The ball draw is typically
determined by one of four devices:
- Traditional “Rabbit Ear” blower
- "AKV": Automated blower in which the balls are encoded, read by a
computer, then sent to a computerized keno system for processing
- Random Number Generator: An electronic number selection device
approved by gaming authorities
- “Hand Cage”: A spinning metal ball cage which rolls the numbers into
a slot where they are validated by a person.
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