How to Play Lucky 8 Keno?
Keno has been prevalent in the casinos of Nevada since the 1930s but its history dates much older than that. The concept behind the game is not any ‘rocket science’ and has been replicated in lotteries, raffles, and other mutations. For that reason, the history of the game isn’t clear nor is the origin of the name ‘keno’. This game is surrounded by speculation, superstition, tradition, etc.
Having idea of the history helps you understand the strategy since you can get an in depth overview of what has worked in the past and what no longer works. Knowing the history of the game will allow you to put everything into context.
What is the Origin – Chinese, European or Latin?
One of the other interesting things about the history of keno is that the history of the name doesn’t appear to have much to do with the development of the game itself. The word ‘keno’ appears to be of Latin or European (most likely French) origins.
While the origin of the word ‘keno’ is credible it’s hard to figure out where the game and name became synonymous and/or how it made its way to North America.
This is very likely but the problem for our purposes is that it doesn’t really mesh with the history of the game itself. The game itself is very simple ideally which means that similar games could have developed independently and ‘unified’ at some point in history. It is the easiest and most viable explanation of how a game that originated in China ended up with a French derived name.
A Lottery by Any Other Name
The game we now know as ‘keno’ is thought to have originated in the form of a lottery earlier to extract more money for ‘government’ from an already overtaxed populace. In this case, the case goes back to a couple of hundred years B.C. to the Han Dynasty. Cheung Leung was the emperor of Han Dynasty and he implemented a tax in the form of lottery to get revenue from citizens.
For this, he introduced a lottery to raise the fund he needed. Promising the chance of a huge financial windfall for a minimal investment, the public bought in and provided the funds necessary to finish the war.
Game involves 120 characters
The game he invented is the source of modern-day keno though it involved 120 Chinese characters that players needed to match. The game was used in China throughout history, including as a means of underwriting the erection of the Great Wall of China. This game later referred to as the ‘Chinese Lottery’ though it’s doubtful that this is what the game was called at the time.
The ‘Chinese Lottery’ wasn’t legally regulated and licensed until the 18th century.
Features of Keno
Lucky 8 Keno is a new standard Keno game with a Lucky 8 multiplier number. The player can select between 2 to 10 numbers. The last drawn number (out of the 20 numbers) is always the Lucky 8 number. If the Lucky 8 number hits one of the players picked numbers that they picked, any wins will be paid times multiplied by 8.
You can pick 2 to 10 numbers from 80 possible numbers. 20 numbers are drawn regardless of how many numbers are picked. The paytable changes depending on how many numbers are picked.
Play Lucky 8 Keno
To play Lucky 8 Keno join any Canadian friendly online casino that houses this game. You can choose to play at PlayNow online casino.
- Open your account at the casino and make a deposit to play Keno.
- Go to games lobby and find Lucky 8 Keno
- Now select the amount that you would like to stake using the up and down buttons on the stake window in the console.
- Next, select the numbers that you want either directly on the game board or by using the Lucky Dip option.
- You can select anywhere from 2 to 10 different numbers per game round. When ready to play, click “Bet Now”.
- 20 numbers are randomly drawn.
- The more numbers drawn that match the numbers that you selected, the higher your win. All wins pay as a multiplier of the currently selected stake.
- The final number drawn on every game round is the Lucky 8 number and if this number matches a number that you have selected, then any win that you may have is multiplied by 8.
Following are the buttons you can find at the game screen
- Stake + : Increase Stake
- Stake – : Decrease Stake
- Lucky Dip : Generate a Lucky Dip selection of numbers
- Clear last : Clear the last number selected
- Lucky Dip- : Decrease the number of Lucky Dip selections to make
- Clear all : Clear all numbers currently selected
- Lucky Dip+ : Increase the number of Lucky Dip selections to make
- Speed toggle : Toggle play speed between slow/normal/fast
- Repeat Bet : Repeat selection of all numbers from previous game round
- Bet Now : Start a new game round at the current stake
- Previous Bets : Cycle through previously bet on selections of numbers using the up and down arrow buttons
The theoretical average return to player (RTP) is between 91.85% and 92.15% as per the numbers. This RTP represents the long-term payback of the game and an independent testing company do the calculation.
Now join the online casino to play this Keno game online as you know know How to play Lucky 8 Keno.