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Keno History
Keno dates back over 3000 years to the time of the Han dynasty when it was devised by their leader, Cheung Leung as a way of raising money for the army. Now, in the 21st century, you can still play Keno for real money in a land-based casino or an online casino.
The Early Days
The army of the Han dynasty was at war and the villagers were fed up with paying for the war from their taxes and not having anything to put on their tables. Cheung Leung had been taxing all of his villagers for more money to cover all of the army expenses. Rather than adding more taxation, he devised a way of getting money from his villagers and giving them the chance to win back some of their money.
The original Keno board was made up of 120 Chinese characters which were taken from a famous poem of that time, "The Thousand Character Rhyme". This was a popular poem that taught children how to read and write. Each character had a rhyme associated with it which made it more interesting for the children to learn. The game of Keno was originally played on an elaborately decorated board and each number that was chosen was painted over with a black mark. These chosen numbers became known as "Keno Spots" as they still are today.
Keno was played from village to village and in those days there were no phones or computers to relay the results, this was done by carrier pigeon. As a result Keno was given the nickname of "white pigeon game" because the pigeons carried the results of the game across the country.
Across the Ocean
Keno remained in China for many years and was thought to have been the main fund raiser of the Great Wall of China and other large projects. With the advent of the 19th Century many Chinese came to America looking for work. They brought with them the game of Keno which became a very popular game played by the railroad workers at the end of a workday. It was still played with the original Chinese characters but the number of characters had been reduced to 80 and the number of spots to pick increased to 20. As the fellow American workers became interested in the game, it was changed from Chinese characters to Roman numerals so that all players could understand.
Even when gambling was banned in America and Europe, Keno continued to be played as it was considered a lottery game. When in 1931 lottery was banned in the US, the casino and gaming houses found a way around that also, by renaming Keno as Horse Race Keno. This implied that each number was a horse and therefore, the players were just eager to see the outcome of their horse.
For a game that is over 3000 years old, Keno has stood the test of time. It is very similar today to the game that was played back in the Han dynasty. It is a game that is easy to play and understand and has the potential of paying large sums of money. As technology has improved so have the different ways that Keno can be played, whether at a land based casino using a digital ticket or online casinos or from your mobile phone or when traveling on an airplane. Real money Keno still has a long way to go, if its history is anything to go by!
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