Picking up on the nuances of standard keno rules takes about three seconds. This uncomplicated game still offers a million miles of fun, so those three seconds are really worth your time.

Keno Rules (Lottery)

What is called standard Keno for casinos these days is the variation sometimes referred to as 'race horse' or Nevada keno. Many ways to play keno were designed over the years. Overall they can be divided into six basic categories:

This is the basic ticket, and the most common. You mark your numbers and wait for the draw.

First, 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 428,010,179,098 to 1 (about 428 BILLION to 1).

The second and 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.

Notice: 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. How to Play Split Tickets

A split ticket is 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 its own unique numbers, and can not share numbers with any other group.

Split ticket has no advantage: it simply allows you to play two or more games on the same piece of paper.

The disadvantage of split ticket is that you can not use the same number more than once.

Because Way tickets can be complicated there are only two reasons to play a way ticket:

The payouts on way tickets are the same as playing the same games in multiple tickets. If you find way tickets confusing and you are not interested in fractional rates - there is no reason to tackle way 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.

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.

Casinos sometimes promote their keno games by offering special tickets. A special ticket must be played in a certain predetermined 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.

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