Keno: The Origin and History of the Game
The history of the game of keno is a bit cloudy. Some would say that the game started in China in the Han dynasty at around 200 B.C. when a local ruler, Cheung Leung, devised a game that would double as a fundraiser to raise money for his city's war efforts. His city was in the middle of a war with outsiders and the ruler needed money to fund his army. Unfortunately, raising taxes was not possible due to massive resistance from the disillusioned and tired population.
His game gained instant popularity with the masses and soon became a contributor to the success of his army against their enemies. The earnings from the game also contributed greatly to the building of the greatest Chinese monument, the Great Wall of China.The game required the players to guess Chinese characters taken out of the popular Chinese poem called the "Thousand Character Classic."
This poem was originally taught to children to help them learn numbers.It was also known as the Game of the White Pigeon since doves were often used to announce winning numbers all throughout the countryside.
The game used 120 characters from the poem, and each subdivision was composed of 8 characters. Keno became a huge draw since the game allowed them to bet little with the prospect of earning much more than they put down.
The game is believed to have come to America brought from China by Chinese railroad workers who were in the States as part of the crew that was building the trans-pacific railroad system. It was still a popular game among Chinese immigrant, and it often referred to as the "Chinese Lottery' in San Francisco's Chinese community. The original Chinese characters were replaced by numbers to make the game understandable to American players, and people have been playing the game ever since.
Keno became so popular that the state of Nevada decided to ban the game. To get around this, operators decided to rename the game 'Horse race keno', although this had nothing to do with horse racing. The horses were actually the numbers and the players betted on their 'horses' to come in. When the state decided to put taxes on the game effectively legalizing the game, they changed the game back to keno, and its been called that ever since.
Keno is a game with a long and rich history, a history worth learning if you are an aspiring keno player.