If you have ever played keno you would have noticed that not much
differentiates this game from a standard lottery. However, there is a lot more
to the game and its history that warrants a much deeper understanding.
The origins of the game date back to around 200 years before the New Age when
Cheung Leung of the Han Dynasty introduced a type of state lottery as a way to
kerb unrest in the region. After decades of war, the masses were fed up with
high taxes in order to fund the operations and the Han Dynasty feared an
uprising. The lottery not only gave the peasants something to take their minds
off their dire positions but also gave the state a way of pulling in far more
income. Remnants of this state lottery remain today in the Great Wall of China -
funded by the peasants' "generosity" and the ruler's ingenuity.
The game itself consisted of 1000 Chinese characters and white pigeons were
used to carry the winning number sequences to outlying villages and towns. The
game became so popular at one stage that farmers would down their tools for days
and stare at the sky in wait of these white pigeons.
Ironically, this game remained dormant within the borders of China for almost
2,000 years until trade between the USA and China started in the 1800s. This is
quite surprising, as millions of Chinese citizens were hooked on this game and
it did not even spread to the neighbouring countries.
Nobody is completely sure how the game came to the USA, but historians agree
to a point that migrant workers and crewmen on the trading ships taught some of
the locals how to play. Due to the fact that any form of gambling was banned in
the USA at the time, the game grew in popularity among the risk-takers and some
of the more unsavoury characters. This was the outlet that the game of keno
needed.
In 1931, gambling was legalized in Nevada. Millions of people flocked to the
city to finally have a chance to gamble - however, keno was not one of these
games as lotteries were not considered legal at the time and keno was known as
"Chinese Lottery". Due to the fact that horseracing was legal at the time, the
casino operators took this very popular game and introduced a horseracing theme.
Even though the game has nothing to do with races, a game of keno is still
referred to as a race.
As more and more people from around the world visited Las Vegas, the game of
keno started to spread. Today, you will find keno in thousands of land based
casinos around the world.
The biggest surge in popularity came with the growth of online casinos. Keno
has now been made accessible to millions of online gamblers who would have
ordinarily never given keno a second look in a land based casino.
