Cleopatra Keno’s beauty is more than just skin deep, as this variety of Keno, like all Keno game variations, offers a twist to it, and an interesting one at that. Should the final number drawn contributes to a win for you, you not only win 12 free games, but the payouts at these free games are doubled. There are two formats for playing keno: live and video. In live keno, the player uses a crayon and paper to indicate his picks. Every few minutes numbers will be a live draw from a hopper filled with numbered balls. In video keno, the player touches a screen, sometimes using a wand, to pick numbers and the machine does the draw randomly.

Introduction

Note: The page addresses the conventional keno game, known as Spot Keno, where the player picks 1 to 20 numbers from 1 to 80 and the game draws 20 balls. There are links to keno variants towards the bottom of the page.

Keno is a simple game of luck, much like most lottery games, where the player chooses numbers and hope as many as possible match those randomly drawn by a hopper or machine. The simple form with no multipliers or extra balls is called Spot Keno and is addressed on this page. See the Internal Links section below for many keno variants.

There are two formats for playing keno: live and video. In live keno, the player uses a crayon and paper to indicate his picks. Every few minutes numbers will be a live draw from a hopper filled with numbered balls. In video keno, the player touches a screen, sometimes using a wand, to pick numbers and the machine does the draw randomly.

Like most games of pure luck, the odds in keno are pretty poor. Keep reading to learn more about the rules and how much you can expect to lose on the game.

Rules

Following are the rules for basic keno:

1. The player makes a wager and indicates which numbers he wishes to pick. The picks are made on a slip of paper in live keno and by touching the screen in video keno. The range of numbers the player may pick from is 1 to 80.
2. The number of picks the player may make depends on the game itself. Usually the range is 2 to 10 or 1 to 15.
3. The game will randomly choose 20 out of 80 balls.
4. If the game chooses a number the player chose that is known as a 'catch.' The player is paid according to the number of balls he catchs.

Examples

Following are some common video keno pay tables found mostly on Game Maker machines. The bottom row shows the expected return.

Pay Table 1

Catch	Pick 2	Pick 3	Pick 4	Pick 5	Pick 6	Pick 7	Pick 8	Pick 9	Pick 10
0	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1
1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
2	5	2	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
3	11	5	3	2	1	1	0	0
4	40	10	5	2	2	1	0
5	400	49	22	10	5	5
6	1,000	275	40	40	25
7	2,500	500	400	120
8	5,000	1,000	500
9	5,000	2,000
10	10,000
Return	86.08%	84.66%	85.97%	85.79%	84.96%	85.33%	84.57%	84.25%	86.43%

Pay Table 2

Catch	Pick 2	Pick 3	Pick 4	Pick 5	Pick 6	Pick 7	Pick 8	Pick 9	Pick 10
0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
2	14	2	2	0	0	0	0	0	0
3	40	3	2	2	1	0	0	0
4	100	14	4	2	1	1	0
5	800	92	15	12	3	3
6	1500	348	112	47	28
7	7760	1500	352	140
8	8000	4700	1000
9	9000	4800
10	10000
Return	84.18%	83.25%	86.14%	85.31%	85.21%	85.31%	84.17%	84.87%	86.72%
Hit frequency	6.01%	15.26%	25.89%	9.67%	16.16%	23.66%	10.23%	15.31%	6.47%

Pay Table 3

Catch	Pick 1	Pick 2	Pick 3	Pick 4	Pick 5	Pick 6	Pick 7	Pick 8	Pick 9	Pick 10
0	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
1	3	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
2	15	2	2	-	-	-	-	-	-
3	43	5	3	3	1	-	-	-
4	77	12	4	2	2	1	-
5	750	55	21	12	6	5
6	1,600	335	98	40	21
7	7,000	1,450	300	142
8	10,000	4,700	1,000
9	9,000	4,000
10	10,000
Return	75.00%	90.19%	87.41%	87.74%	88.06%	88.02%	87.68%	89.07%	87.57%	88.80%

Pay Table 4

Catch	Pick 2	Pick 3	Pick 4	Pick 5	Pick 6	Pick 7	Pick 8	Pick 9	Pick 10
0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
2	14	2	2	0	0	0	0	0	0
3	45	5	3	3	1	-	0	0
4	85	11	4	2	2	1	0
5	804	68	20	12	6	5
6	1,500	390	98	44	23
7	7,000	1,550	300	132
8	10,000	4,700	1,000
9	10,000	4,500
10	10,000
Return	84.18%	90.19%	90.19%	90.33%	90.76%	90.85%	90.67%	89.93%	89.79%

Pay Table 5

Catch	Pick 1	Pick 2	Pick 3	Pick 4	Pick 5	Pick 6	Pick 7	Pick 8	Pick 9	Pick 10
0	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
1	3	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
2	15	2	2	-	-	-	-	-	-
3	46	5	3	3	1	-	-	-
4	91	12	4	2	2	1	-
5	810	70	21	12	6	5
6	1,600	400	98	44	24
7	7,000	1,652	335	142
8	10,000	4,700	1,000
9	10,000	4,500
10	10,000
Return	75.00%	90.19%	91.58%	92.03%	91.93%	92.67%	92.44%	92.31%	92.00%	92.55%

Pay Table 6

Catch	Pick 2	Pick 3	Pick 4	Pick 5	Pick 6	Pick 7	Pick 8	Pick 9	Pick 10
0	0	0	0	1	1	1	1	1	1
1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
2	15	3	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
3	37	12	3	1	1	-	0	0
4	64	28	14	4	1	1	1
5	170	62	33	30	8	2
6	300	175	70	65	36
7	325	250	178	115
8	350	325	225
9	375	300
10	400
Return	90.19%	92.96%	92.77%	92.72%	92.66%	92.64%	92.62%	92.66%	92.69%

Pay Table 7

Catch	Pick 1	Pick 2	Pick 3	Pick 4	Pick 5	Pick 6	Pick 7	Pick 8	Pick 9	Pick 10
0	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
1	3	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
2	15	2	2	-	-	-	-	-	-
3	48	5	3	3	1	-	-	-
4	100	13	4	2	2	1	-
5	838	75	22	13	6	5
6	1,660	422	100	44	24
7	7,000	1,670	362	146
8	10,000	4,700	1,000
9	10,000	4,500
10	10,000
Return	75.00%	90.19%	94.35%	94.78%	94.95%	94.99%	94.92%	94.90%	93.60%	93.20%

The following Pay Table 8 I saw on a 25¢ Aristocrat video poker game at Binion's Las Vegas on October 13, 2019.

Pay Table 8

Catch	Pick 2	Pick 3	Pick 4	Pick 5	Pick 6	Pick 7	Pick 8	Pick 9	Pick 10
0	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
1	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
2	15	2	2	-	-	-	-	-	-
3	45	5	3	3	1	-	-	-
4	85	11	4	2	2	1	-
5	804	68	20	12	6	5
6	1,500	390	98	44	23
7	7,000	1,550	300	135
8	10,000	4,800	1,000
9	10,000	4,500
10	10,000
Return	90.19%	90.19%	90.19%	90.33%	90.76%	90.85%	90.67%	90.26%	90.28%

Surveys

In 2001 I did a survey of every live keno casino game in Las Vegas. The returns ranged from 65% to 80%. In other words, the house edge was 20% to 35%, making live keno among the worst bets you can make in Las Vegas.

In 2012 I did a similar survey of live keno in Laughlin, which showed a range of return of 50% to 74%.

In 2008 I did a survey of video keno in San Diego. The returns ranged from 84% to 95%.

In 2017 I redid my Las Vegas video keno survey, which can be found at Wizard of Vegas.

Advice

If you must play keno, the only skill is choosing where to play to play and then how many numbers to choose. It makes no difference which numbers you choose. Contrary to popular myth, legitimate keno games, like those in Las Vegas, are fair and every ball has a 1 in 80 chance of being drawn each game. To determine the odds of any keno game you can use my keno calculator. Just put in the pay table and you will see how much you can expect to get back every bet.

However, I tend to think anybody who would take the trouble to analyze the game is probably not playing it in the first place. The odds in video keno are about as bad as slot machines. If you want to lose a lot less money gambling I would highly recommend converting to video poker. For live keno players, I would suggest converting to bingo.

Practice Game

Get your keno fix right here on my practice game.

Calculators

We have calculators to determine the payback for any pay table for the following keno games:

• Keno.
• Power Keno/Super Keno.
• Cleopatra Keno.
• Caveman Keno.
• Caveman Keno Plus.
• Triple Power Keno.
• Extra Draw.

Scouting Guide

When you're in the casino it would take a long time to put in every pay table through my many calculators above to determine the best game to play. That is why I created two printer-friendly guides you can print out and take with you:

• My Keno Scouting Guide is a short reference to the best available game for any pay table for all the most popular forms of keno. Each game has a table showing the possible pick-10 pay tables available and the best number of picks for that game and its return. See the last page of the guide for a full explanation how to use it.
• My Full Pay Table Report is a longer guide showing every known pay table for all the major keno games and their associated return. For those who want to know the return for any number of picks, not just the best number (which the Keno Scouting Guide provides).

Which Keno Game Has The Best Odds

For a printer-friendly document showing keno pay tables and returns for several major keno games please see my Keno Scouting Guide (PDF). Perfect for printing and taking to the casino to find the best game and pay table available.

Popular Keno Variants

• Caveman Keno.
• Triple Trouble Keno.
• Power Keno.
• Super Keno.
• Extra Draw Keno (three extra balls).
• Ultimate X Keno.
• Book of Keno.
• Alien Attack Keno.
• Wolf Run Keno.

Internal Links

• Las Vegas Hilton keno games.
• Atlantic City Tropicana keno.
• Jumbo Keno Progressive/Mega 10 — Progressive keno games found at Station Casinos of Las Vegas.
• Progressive keno games at the Boyd and Station casinos.
• Nevada numbers — a progressive lottery game.
• High/Low/Middle Keno — keno game seen at the Lisboa in Macau.
• Extra Draw Keno (two extra balls).
• Jumbo Keno Progressive — kenogame at the Station Casinos.
• Laughlin keno survey.
• Keno sums — Math behind the sum of all 20 balls drawn

Keno games by U1 Gaming

Following are keno games by U1 Gaming.

External Links

• German translation of this keno page.

Written by:Michael Shackleford

Table Of Contents

• This is the most complete collection of Keno tips on the web
• It's a perfect article to know how to get the best odds to win at Keno machines
• It covers also topics like 'the best Keno numbers' and the 'top bonuses you can use to play Keno online'

Keno is probably the most underrated casino game out there because it is too controlled by luck.

While this is somehow true (it's a gambling game), there are some tips that can help you figure out optimal play. Especially if you play the game correctly and apply some smarts to the way you manage your money.

The Best Keno Games Online!

Use these Keno strategy tips to play the top Keno games online. Sign up for free to access all games.

Play Now

This isn't an article that promises you'll win at Keno every time you play.

Whether you win at Keno or not is a matter of luck, like it happens with all gambling games.

If you are looking for misleading content on ways to win at Keno, I am sure you can find plenty of Keno strategies that are created to make you lose every time.

You can't really beat the house edge at any casino game, and playing not realising this is a big mistake.

Nevertheless, I prepared a few tips for you that actually work to increase your chances to win at Keno.

It's not a betting system with a funny name. Neither it is a strategy cheatsheet to win every single bet. Also, these are not the kind of tips that would get you kicked out of a casino in Las Vegas.

These are the Keno strategy tips that were proven to work by many players worldwide. And there's no harm in trying them yourself, especially since you start by playing Keno for free online here.

1. Choose Casinos (and Games) With Better Payouts

This may seem obvious to you but you'd be surprised for how many players it's not.

Even when you have your favorite online casino to play slot machines or other casino games, it may not be the perfect fit to play Keno there.

You need to check how many variants of Keno they have and what are the payouts for guessing the right numbers.

In most online casinos you can either choose up to 10, 15, or 20 numbers to bet on and 20 numbers out of 80 are drawn.

The best payouts online usually look like this.

How many numbers chosen	How many of them get drawn & Payout
One	One 1 to 1
Two	One 1 to 1, two 9 to 1
Three	One 1 to 1, two 2 to 1, three 16 to 1
Four	One 0.5 to 1, two 2 to 1, three 6 to 1, four 12 to 1
Five	One 0.5 to 1, two 1 to 1, three 3 to 1, four 15 to 1, five 50 to 1
Six	One 0.5 to 1, two 1 to 1, three 2 to 1, four 3 to 1, five 30 to 1, six 75 to 1
Seven	One 0.5 to 1, two 0.5 to 1, three 1 to 1, four 6 to 1, five 12 to 1, six 36 to 1, seven 100 to 1
Eight	One 0.5 to 1, two 0.5 to 1, three 1 to 1, four 3 to 1, five 6 to 1, six 19 to 1, seven 90 to 1, eight 720 to 1
Nine	One 0.5 to 1, two 0.5 to 1, three 1 to 1, four 2 to 1, five 4 to 1, six 8 to 1, seven 20 to 1, eight 80 to 1, nine 1200 to 1
Ten	One 0, two 0.5 to 1, three 1 to 1, four 2 to 1, five 3 to 1, six 5 to 1, seven 10 to 1, eight 30 to 1, nine 600 to 1, ten 1800 to 1

This progression can follow further if you can choose more than ten numbers. For example, if you can choose 15, for guessing all of the right you'd be paid out 10000 to 1.

Not bad, right?

These are the optimal payouts when playing Keno online. Don't go for anything offering less.

As a rule, online casinos have better payouts than brick-and-mortar ones. Thus, it's always better to play online.

The best payouts I've seen are available at Quickfire (Microgaming) Keno platforms. One I really like is a simple classic platform to play called Monkey Keno.

If you play Monkey Keno, the numbers are not drawn but thrown to the board by a monkey. And they come in the form of coconuts.

The return to player ratio of Monkey Keno is 94.9 percent, and the game features the following special features:

• you can choose games randomly instead of selecting individual numbers
• you can choose to autoplay the game
• it shows hot and cold maps (the numbers which were drawn most and least in the game)

Best Odds Playing Keno

2. Play For Free to Get a Hold of The Game

Keno is not a complicated game. Thus, many Keno players dive right into real money play. And they lose, a lot.

No matter what casino game it is, always play it for free first to get a hold of the game.

There may be some major differences in payouts or minor differences in the game platforms. Casinos may be lagging a lot and thus restarting the game before it's finished.

While it makes little difference when playing for free, it may cost you lots of bets when playing for real money.

And even if you learn the best tips on how to improve your chances to win at Keno and you're 100 percent sure of your skills, still practise for free first. You never know what can happen.

But it's always better if something wrong happens and you don't lose your cash in the process.

3. Select Between Four and Eight Numbers

When you have an option to choose up to 15 or 20 numbers with the same wager, the logical question is how many numbers is the right number?

Many Keno beginners believe the more, the better. It makes sense, considering the more you choose, the better chances of getting more of them correct you have.

But keep in mind that the payouts change depending on how many numbers you choose in total.

If you guess five out of five chosen, your payout may be of 50 to 1. That's really sweet. But if you guess five out of 10 chosen, that reduces to 3 to 1.

So, what's the optimal number?

Think about it. When you choose less than four, any chance of winning is extremely low. There are 80 numbers in the Keno machine (or RNG), after all.

Then again, if you choose more than eight, you will always need to hit at least four or more numbers to get any extra money above what you've already spent for the wager.

And that's not that easy either.

Though, if there is a progressive jackpot attached to the game, it may be worth to choose more numbers. If you can afford that, of course.

4. Choose Consecutive Numbers or The Cold Ones

The next tip related to numbers is which numbers to choose when betting. A common advice is to choose the consecutive numbers.

When it comes to playing video Keno, the numbers are drawn by a random number generator, thus the outcomes are random. But many Keno players researched the outcomes and believe playing consecutive numbers can help you.

Same goes for the cold numbers - the numbers that haven't been drawn the longest period of time.

Does it work betting like that? No.

Sometimes it does. Sometimes it doesn't. It's 100% down to chance. If you don't have a different betting strategy, you may as well try it.

If you play for free, you have nothing to lose. And maybe you'll discover what Keno numbers are most worthy of betting on.

When it comes to betting on cold numbers, or the opposite, choose a platform that shows what were the most and least drawn numbers in the game.

One of such platforms is Monkey Keno.

5. Play at a Reliable Casino

If you want to know how to get full chances to win at Keno game, many of your choices need to be related to a specific game platform and casino. Since we talked about the payouts and platforms already, it's time to cover the casinos.

The casino needs to be trust-worthy. Even if you discovered a brilliant Keno strategy, it's pointless if all your money will go to the illegal casino and you'll never see your winnings.

My advice?

Not only it has both of the Keno platforms mentioned (the classic game of Keno and Monkey Keno, of course), but there are also great Keno variants you can try for free and for real money.

Yes - you can play all of these games FREE. No registration or deposit necessary.

And once you're ready to play for real money, check out this surprise bonus!

So - you only have one decision to make:

What Keno game will you play first?

The promotion presented on this page was available at the time of writing. With some Casino promotions changing on daily basis, we suggest you to check on the site if it still available. Also, please do not forget to read the terms and conditions in full before you accept a bonus.