Casino Keno Strategy
Introduction
This page refers to the form of Extra Draw keno where the player gets two extra balls for the price of his original wager. The more common form of this game grants the players three extra balls. It should be emphasized that this page addresses the lesser-known version of two extra balls. I found such a game at the Holland Casino in Amsterdam and somebody asked about the game, at an unspecified location, in my forum at Wizard of Vegas in 2010.
In the version addressed on this page, Extra Draw Keno plays like conventional keno, except after the ball draw the player may purchase two more balls for the price of his original wager. The option is not offered if it is an extremely poor bet. The player wins according to the final ball draw, whether he chose the extra balls or not.
Following are two pay tables that I know of. Let me explain some of the rows in the tables. Examples are based on pay table 1.
Keno games are usually found at the Arcade games section at online casinos. When you load the game, a blank ticket will be displayed. Keeping in mind your winning Keno strategy, select the desired numbers. Once you are done, wait for the Random Number Generator to determine the winning numbers.
- Beginner's Strategy for Playing Keno Online. It doesn’t matter if you play live or at casinos online, keno players should assume they will never hit 20 out of 20 spots. If you play in the US, UK, or anywhere else, you won’t find a bigger long shot. The odds are an astounding 1 in 3.5 quintillion. Hitting 15 spots might not be impossible but it's still highly improbable with odds of 1 in 41.75 million.
- Interested in playing Online Keno? Don't know where to start? Have a read through CasinoTop10's Keno Strategy tips in order to improve your chances to win.
- Return: This is the ratio of the amount the player can expect to get back to his original wager. For example, the 97.21% for the pick-6 means that for every initial bet the player makes, he can expect to get back 97.21% of it by the end of the game. Another way to look at it is if he played 100 initial wagers at $1 each, then he could expected to lose 100 × (1 - 0.9721) = $2.79.
- Strategy: This shows with how many catches after the initial draw the player should pay for the extra two balls. For example, for the pick-6 it shows '345.' This means that after catching 3, 4, or 5 balls it is a good value to buy the extra balls. For any other number of hits, don't.
- Avg. bet: This shows the average bet per game, including the bet for the extra balls. For example, for the pick-6, the average bet is 1.161453. This means that the player will buy the extra ball 16.1453% of the time, for an average final bet per game of 1 + 0.161453 = 1.161453.
- E of R: This stands for Element of Risk. This is the ratio of the return to the average bet. In other words, the ratio of money returned to the player to all money bet, including on the extra balls. This, I feel, is a better measurement for the value of the game than the return.
The following Pay Table 1 I saw at the Holland Casino in Amsterdam on July 19, 2017.
Extra Draw Keno — Pay Table 1Expand
| Catch | Pick 2 | Pick 3 | Pick 4 | Pick 5 | Pick 6 | Pick 7 | Pick 8 | Pick 9 | Pick 10 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 2 | 15 | 2 | 1 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - |
| 3 | 45 | 9 | 3 | 2 | 2 | - | - | - | |
| 4 | 80 | 20 | 12 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 2 | ||
| 5 | 150 | 60 | 18 | 14 | 10 | 6 | |||
| 6 | 500 | 75 | 50 | 25 | 15 | ||||
| 7 | 1,000 | 200 | 50 | 30 | |||||
| 8 | 2,000 | 500 | 100 | ||||||
| 9 | 5,000 | 1,000 | |||||||
| 10 | 10,000 | ||||||||
| Return | 90.19% | 96.20% | 90.60% | 91.77% | 97.21% | 91.56% | 93.07% | 95.48% | 90.80% |
| Strategy | 2 | 3 | 34 | 345 | 456 | 4567 | 45678 | 56789 | |
| Avg bet | 1.000000 | 1.138754 | 1.043248 | 1.096027 | 1.161453 | 1.061562 | 1.102333 | 1.153050 | 1.064660 |
| E of R | 90.19% | 96.67% | 90.99% | 92.49% | 97.60% | 92.05% | 93.72% | 96.08% | 91.36% |
The following Pay Table 2 was mentioned in my Wizard of Vegas forum. The location was not specified.
Usa Keno Casinos Online
Extra Draw Keno — Pay Table 2Expand
| Catch | Pick 3 | Pick 4 | Pick 5 | Pick 6 | Pick 7 | Pick 8 | Pick 9 | Pick 10 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 2 | 4 | 2 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - |
| 3 | 26 | 8 | 4 | 3 | 1 | - | - | - |
| 4 | 45 | 18 | 14 | 10 | 6 | 5 | 3 | |
| 5 | 110 | 33 | 20 | 18 | 7 | 5 | ||
| 6 | 125 | 46 | 32 | 15 | 13 | |||
| 7 | 200 | 64 | 22 | 20 | ||||
| 8 | 800 | 300 | 50 | |||||
| 9 | 1,000 | 500 | ||||||
| 10 | 2,000 | |||||||
| Return | 91.58% | 91.92% | 91.98% | 93.72% | 95.52% | 98.00% | 92.23% | 91.63% |
| Strategy | 3 | 4 | 345 | 3456 | 34567 | 5678 | 56789 | |
| Avg bet | 1.000000 | 1.043248 | 1.012092 | 1.161453 | 1.236555 | 1.317120 | 1.038945 | 1.064660 |
| E of R | 91.58% | 92.25% | 92.08% | 94.59% | 96.38% | 98.48% | 92.52% | 92.13% |
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.
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Play NowThis 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)
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.
How To Win At Keno Every Time
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
Casino Keno Online
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?