Keno Strategy, Tips, & Probabilities
Like Bingo and Lotto, Keno is a game of luck and chance. There aren’t a lot of skills and strategies that people can use to improve their odds of winning at Keno. This is because the numbers that the computer chooses for Keno are selected by a Random Number Generator (RNG). And, since the RNG operates independently for each Keno round, it doesn’t work to use information from previous Keno games to plan for future games. There is no Keno strategy that will help a player improve his odds from game to game similar to how card counting can help a Blackjack player improve his odds from hand to hand.
But, there are a few things that players can do to make the game more enjoyable—and which some people do claim to help increase their winnings. While these aren’t guaranteed to help, they certainly can’t hurt.
Play Keno at casinos that offer the best payouts.
Keno generally offers the lowest payouts of any game at the casino. But, payouts are really rather large considering that players don’t have to put much money into the games. Check to see what, exactly, the payouts are before playing Keno at any particular casino or online website. Online Keno websites should have a payout schedule published or listed somewhere on their website.
Play the right quantity of numbers on your Keno card.
This matters more than some people think it does. Most Keno games allow players to select between 1 and 15 numbers on a card. It is generally recommended that players opt for choosing between 4 and 8 numbers. This is for two reasons. First of all, this amount of numbers removes the extreme of too few numbers being chosen. If only a few numbers are chosen, yes, a player may match every number with the computer; however, the payout may be so minimal as to discourage the player from continuing to play. The second reason is pretty much the opposite—it removes the extreme of too many numbers being chosen. Choosing many numbers means that, yes, some numbers will likely be matched with the computer; however, unless all or nearly all of the numbers are matched (which is highly unlikely), the payout is, again, very minimal.
So, selecting between 4 and 8 numbers any time you play Keno is optimal.
Probabilities of attaining selected Keno numbers
| Matches | |||||||||||||||||
| 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11-15 | ||||||
| Spots/ Picks |
|||||||||||||||||
| 1 | 75.0 | 25.0 | |||||||||||||||
| 2 | 56.0 | 38.0 | 6.0 | ||||||||||||||
| 3 | 41.6 | 43.1 | 13.9 | 1.4 | |||||||||||||
| 4 | 30.8 | 43.3 | 21.3 | 4.3 | 0.3 | ||||||||||||
| 5 | 22.7 | 40.6 | 27.0 | 8.4 | 1.2 | 0.1 | |||||||||||
| 6 | 16.7 | 36.3 | 30.8 | 13.0 | 2.9 | 0.3 | <0.1 | ||||||||||
| 7 | 12.1 | 31.5 | 32.7 | 17.5 | 5.2 | 0.9 | 0.1 | 0.1 | |||||||||
| 8 | 8.8 | 26.6 | 32.8 | 21.5 | 8.2 | 1.8 | 0.2 | <0.1 | 0.1 | ||||||||
| 9 | 6.4 | 22.1 | 31.6 | 24.6 | 11.4 | 3.3 | 0.6 | <0.1 | 0.1 | 0.1 | |||||||
| 10 | 4.6 | 18.0 | 29.5 | 26.7 | 14.7 | 5.1 | 1.1 | 0.2 | <0.1 | 0.1 | 0.1 | ||||||
| 11 | 3.3 | 14.4 | 26.8 | 27.8 | 17.8 | 7.4 | 2.0 | 0.4 | <0.1 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.1 | |||||
| 12 | 2.3 | 11.4 | 23.8 | 28.0 | 20.6 | 9.9 | 3.2 | 0.7 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.1 | |||||
| 13 | 1.6 | 8.9 | 20.7 | 27.3 | 22.7 | 12.6 | 4.8 | 1.2 | 0.2 | <0.1 | 0.1 | 0.1 | |||||
| 14 | 1.1 | 6.8 | 17.6 | 25.9 | 24.2 | 15.2 | 6.6 | 2.0 | 0.4 | <0.1 | 0.1 | 0.1 | |||||
| 15 | 1.1 | 6.8 | 17.6 | 25.9 | 24.2 | 15.2 | 6.6 | 2.0 | 0.4 | <0.1 | 0.1 | 0.1 | |||||
Choose the correct numbers.
Due to the RNG, each game of Keno stands alone and is not influenced or affected by previous game results. However, many people do believe that following one of these two strategies can help because they follow the laws of probabilities:
• Playing unseen numbers: Some players believe that this is the best strategy, thinking that if certain numbers have not been seen at all yet over the course of quite a lot of Keno games, then these numbers are definitely due to come up soon. These players choose numbers that the computer has not selected—or, possibly, numbers that other players have not chosen.
• Playing already chosen numbers: Players who like this strategy believe in the idea of trends and patterns in Keno. They watch the numbers that are coming up and then select numbers that have come up frequently, thinking that these are the winning streak numbers.
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