Keno is a simple lottery-style game and it has come a long way since its humble creation in China. Today it is considered as one of the most popular alternatives for online players looking to convert a small bet into a big payday. Authentic stories are always intriguing, whether they are about novels or casino games. However, Keno has a more fascinating origin story than most, as it dates back to the Han Dynasty. It is said that this game originally consisted of 120 Chinese characters that were part of an ancient poem.

History of Keno

Unlike most casino games which origins can be traced back to European roots, Keno is the only casino game having Asian roots. Keno is one of the oldest gambling game and its root goes back to three thousand years ago, when Cheung Leung introduced the game Keno as a lottery in order to bring much-needed funds to finish the Han Dynasty war.

Impact of the Game

Years later, according to historical evidence, the game become so popular in Ancient China, that once again it had major role to raise funds so as to build the Great Wall of China, and later on it reached other parts of the world.

Reaching New Continents

Chinese Immigrants introduced Keno to the West when they sailed across the Pacific in order to help construct the American transcontinental railroad in the 19th Century. The game was considered as illegal at that period of time but it remained popular and was known as “The Chinese Lottery”.

A Casino Game is born

The legitimacy and popularity of Keno grew further after the Chinese characters were replaced with numbers. The name of the game was changed to Horse Race Keno so that it can be classified as a casino game and not as a lottery, as in the early 20th century, lotteries was not legal in America.

Off To the Races and Long Odds

While playing modern day Keno, players can select up to 20 numbers, however getting all 20 numbers is quite an impossible feat. The odds for getting such a result are far more than any other casino games odds, and this feat is not known to have been accomplished by any player in history.

The incredibly fun game of Keno has since become a popular casino game around the world and also at Spin and Win Casino!