Understanding Keno payoffs is really pretty easy. Don't expect any. All right, that's not fair. The truth is that many players insist on playing eight and ten-spot tickets, so their chance of hitting a winner are smaller than if they were to play a simple two or three-spot ticket.
Keno's been offered in Nevada casinos for about 75-years now and the casinos know they need to hold almost 30-percent of the total bets to make a profit and make it worthwhile to employ Keno runners and administrators. On the other hand, people play the lottery, and it only returns about 50-percent, so I'm not telling you to skip keno.
In fact, since many casinos still offer live Keno, when we go to eat, our family is likely to play a few Keno tickets. No, the Mapes (which closed 25 years ago) ticket does not represent the last time somebody I know won big at Keno. Lots of players hit good tickets, but not always at my table.
I like to play a three spot and my wife favors the four spot. Both of us expect what we get back - the occasional free play. When I hit two out of three on my ticket, I get back the $1 that I bet. That's cool, 'cause I either play it again if desert hasn't shown up, or I toke the Keno runner with it. Once in a while I hit a solid three spot when 1, 11 and 21 come up and then I can pay for the meal with the $42 payoff.
If I play three hundred three-spot tickets a year, the odds are I'll hit the solid three-spot four times, for $168, and hit "two out of three" 42 times for another $42. My return is $210 or 70 percent. That's pretty standard in live Keno and I can live with that. It's fun. That's $90 for a year's entertainment.
Different clubs have different odds, but regardless of how many spots you play on your ticket, the overall return for your games is going to be about the same, around 70 percent. If you play a three spot you'll hit it solid about 1.4 percent of the time or about four times in 300 games.
However, if you play an eight-spot, you will only hit it solid one time in about 230,000 games. That means if the gaming gods have their way, I'll be 766 years old before I hit it solid. My wife says it's not likely I'll live that long if I don't skip desert, so I'm doing the sensible thing. I'm sticking to the three-spots. Who say's I don't have a plan?
Comments
You did not give an explanation of the game. what is a “4 spot’. “? And any other spot. After reading this I know not to play but WHY not is a mystery.
Bill V.
NYC
Bill, you are right. I neglected to give a full explanation of the game of Keno. “How to play Keno” can be viewed by clicking on the first “Keno” notice in the article. The word is highlighted in blue.
In a nutshell, a player marks his or her own personal picks on a blank Keno ticket like the one pictured. You can choose as few as one number or choose many.
A “spot” is the number itself. My favorite numbers are 1, 11 and 21. If I mark just these three numbers, then I have chosen a 3-spot. If just one of my numbers hits, I get no return. If two numbers hit I get my wager back. If all three hit (a solid 3-spot) then I get $42 for a $1 bet.