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Keno is a popular gambling game in the United States. Its
history can be traced to a Chinese game called "The Game of the White Dove
(白鴿票)" invented during the Han Dynasty (187 BC). The name "keno" descends from a
form of Bingo or Lotto popular in the USA in the 19th century. There are many
references to "Keno" played in a bingo like format in the eastern states prior
to the influx of Chinese during the gold rush. The name appears to have been
transferred to the similar format Chinese lottery in the late 1800s. |
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The following account of the history of the game is an excerpt
from Stewart Culin's paper published in 1891. [1]
This game is an old establishment, and was first introduced by Chéung léung of
the great Han Dynasty. When the city was hard pressed, and provisions were
beginning to fail, they (the besieged) were anxious to increase the
contributions, and to exhort the people to subscribe more for the army, but were
unable to do so. Hence they established a game of chance (to guess characters),
by which they hoped to tempt the people to hazard their property. In order to
fix a method of losing or gaining at hazard, they chose 120 characters for the
whole game and eight characters for one subdivision. If the people lost one
(whole) subdivision they lost three lí of property; if they gained one division
they were rewarded with ten taels. These regulations being once established, who
would not sacrifice a little in order to gain much? The two games in the morning
and evening were attended by men and women who tried their luck by guessing.
They had only opened the game for about ten days, when they had accumulated more
than 1000 pieces of silver; and after a few more decades their wealth was
boundless. The money thus gained was considered a contribution to the army for
the reduction of the empire….
At present the people practice the game as a profession. They borrow the
characters from the Thousand Character Classic, of which eighty are chosen and
arranged after a new plan, ten characters forming one division, which the people
are permitted to purchase for more or less (for whatever they please.)
Three cash gaining ten taels makes the people covet the game without loathing.
When they guess five characters they gain five lí; when six characters they gain
five candareens; when seven characters they gain five mace; when eight
characters they gain two taels and five mace; when nine characters they gain
five taels; when ten characters they gain ten taels.
When this game was first established, the houses were often at a great distance,
and communication being difficult and the people anxious soon to know the result
respecting their gaining or losing, they employed letter doves to carry the news
to the parties, whence the present designation: 'The Game of the White Dove.'
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Keno, in its modern form, is like a lottery or bingo in that it
is a numbers game. Unlike bingo, the keno player picks the numbers for his or
her ticket(s). Keno cards have 80 numbers; the keno player can pick as many (or
as few) numbers as desired. This is done by circling or otherwise marking them
with a pencil. Once the player has picked their numbers, they must bring their
card back to the clerk at the keno booth. The clerk will then issue a receipt
after recording the player's numbers.
After picking numbers and recording them at the keno booth, the player will then
watch either a "big board" in which winning keno numbers will light up or on a
video monitor showing the selected numbers. As the winning numbers light up, the
player usually marks them on his or her card with a bright-colored marker. The
amount of numbers the player originally picked that match winning numbers of a
particular drawing will determine if any money is won and, if so, how much. The
winning ticket needs to be taken to the keno booth immediately if it is an
individual game ticket, as drawings usually take place every five minutes. If
the player tries to redeem a winning ticket when the next drawing starts, it is
void and no money is paid out.
To avoid having a void ticket, a keno player can purchase a "multi-race" ticket
with the same picked numbers on anywhere from 2 to 20 tickets. When the maximum
number of games (matching the number of tickets) is finished, the player can
then redeem any winnings and avoid the peril of a void ticket. Another option is
the "stray and play" ticket, which is usually a number of games greater than 30.
Unlike standard keno tickets, the "stray and play" doesn't have to be redeemed
immediately and is often good for up to a year after purchase.
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