Keno is a very popular game among gamblers, and particularly for fans of bingo, number games, and lotteries. Without a doubt, there is an art to choosing numbers when it comes to lotteries. Many people have unique ways of finding those lucky digits as they tread the road to potential riches.
However, choosing the right numbers can be tricky. Critics argue that no amount of superstition, stargazing or strategy will help a player gain an advantage in a lottery. That’s because the odds are against you. This isn’t entirely true, however. The clever minded have even observed patterns in number games such as Keno over extended periods of time. By understanding the odds and potential patterns of Keno, by finding the potential order in chaos, players can gain an advantage when trying to know how to pick Keno winning numbers.
Playing Keno can be a lot of fun, a great source of entertainment and yes, even money! It’s a very simple casino game to learn how to play and offers enticing rewards and potentially life changing jackpots. Try keno online or at your local brick and mortar casino. Before you decide to play, we highly recommend that take a look at Planet 7 Casino’s tips for the most common Keno numbers. Here’s how to pick Keno winning numbers!
How to Play Keno
For starters, we should understand how the game works. In Keno, players must select ten numbers from 1-80 in order for a chance to match winning numbers and hit a jackpot. Pick numbers either manually (using a ball machine) or on a computer (with an internal random number generator or RNG). Keno is played in multiple rounds, and players can choose to participate once or any number of times.
Some Keno operators allow you to pick as many as 15 numbers from the total 80. Each number has an equal probability of hitting and will payout according to how much is wagered (that’s a lotto numbers if you catch our drift). Numbers selected on your ticket are called “spots”, and a total 20 winning numbers known as “catches” are drawn. If all of your spots match the catches, then guess what, you’ve hit a jackpot! Keno is fun and easy, and you can play it as follows:
- Choose the numbers you want to play per draw. That’s either 10 or 15 (depending on the operator). Then check the listed payouts and odds to help you determine how many numbers to pick, how many draws to participate in, and how much to wager.
- You can bet anywhere from $1, $2, $5 or $10 per draw (or round). The total cost of your ticket is determined by the number of consecutive draws, multiplied by the amount you choose to spend per draw.
- You can also add a bonus to your ticket to multiply your winnings by 1.5, 2, 5, 7, or 10 times. Keep in mind however, that when you add a bonus, the cost of your ticket doubles.
- Sit back and watch the draw to see if you’ve won!
Keno odds:
Although the probability of accurately picking 10 out of 10 spots is very low, or 1 in 8,911,711.18, it is statistically possible to accomplish. However, the probability of hitting all twenty numbers is nearly mathematically impossible. That’s because the odds are so astronomically high, approximately 1 in 3.5 quintillion (or 3,535,316,142,212,173,800.000). So as you can see, accurately predicting numbers becomes exponentially more difficult as the amount of numbers increases.
So why play Keno you might ask? Remarkably, with increased wagers and multipliers, you still have a good chance of winning big money. And that’s what keeps players coming back time and time again. Overall, the odds to accomplish a win of any amount in most versions of Keno is 1 in 19. So statistically, it is a better game to play than a mega-jackpot lottery, for instance.
The paytables vary for each casino. Depending on the casino you choose to visit, the house edge can vary greatly (from as low as 4% for accurately predicting the minimum amount of spots to over 35%). Similar to slots, the house edge for a standard game of Keno is 25%. Statistically, every number has the same probability of hitting, regardless of what form of Keno you play, 4-card, online keno casino games or other.
Classic Keno vs online Keno
The only major difference between classic Keno at a brick and mortar casino and playing online Keno for real money is the betting format. A $5 wager applies to your ticket as a whole for classic Keno, and depending on how many draws you want to play your bet amount will change accordingly. If you bet $10 for each round and choose 5 draws, then that’s a $50 bet total.
Keno online operates on both individual draws and predetermined buttons marked “play 5” or “play 10” for instance. Pushing them automatically ensures that you play 5 or 10 rounds respectively according to your wager amount.
Keno winning numbers
Special days
Without a doubt, some of the most popular numbers that people choose are their own birthdays, the birthdays of relatives and significant others, as well as anniversaries. It should come as no surprise that the significant events of our lives play an important role in our decision-making and might even bring us luck. People use the dates of birthdays, day, month or year, because they consider them inherently lucky. There is of course no evidence to back up this claim, but using a birthday or anniversary date has proved lucky for some. Just ask Atlanta resident Young So Lee, she won half of the second largest lottery jackpot in U.S. history by using her family’s birthday numbers.
Hot and cold numbers
For the math-minded, you might be pleasantly surprised to learn that anomalies occur in Keno over a long period. For instance, if you were to calculate the frequency of Keno numbers that appear over an extended period, you would find that some numbers might appear with more regularity than other numbers. These are known as “hot” and “cold” numbers, a factor that can influence how you pick numbers in future rounds.
For example, an independent study from Germany showed that the numbers 40, 37, 63, 21 and 35 occurred five times more frequently than the numbers 9 and 50 in the country’s largest Keno lottery, Keno von Lotto, over a 60-day period. The British National Lottery conducted a similar study. They discovered that the most frequently drawn number was 44 since its inception in 1994 (having been drawn 253 times in total). The other most common numbers were: 38 – 251 times, 40 – 249 times, 23 – 248 times, 39 – 246 times, 33 – 245 times, respectively.
Lucky numbers
Each culture in the world perceives certain objects and numbers to be lucky or unlucky. Depending on what region of the globe you are in you will notice that they are not all the same. Keno players will often avoid certain numbers and favor other numbers that they deem to be lucky. For instance, the number four is lucky in Germany thanks to the four-leaf clover. But in Japan and China it is very unlucky. Planet 7 Casino wants to look at the various lucky and unlucky numbers that Keno players pick as their Keno winning numbers around the world.
The number 7
The number 7 is very lucky in North America. This is largely due to due to its regular appearance in everyday life as well as historical references. There are 7 days in a week, 7 wonders of the world as well as the Biblical reference of God creating the earth in only 7 days, and the 7 virtues. Keno players frequently pick the number 7. It is also favored among world-class athletes, such as soccer legend David Beckham (it was his jersey number throughout his decorated career).
Contrarily, the number 7 is unlucky in China. That’s because it has the same pronunciation as the word Qi, which means cheating or lying. Some Chinese even consider the 7th calendar month of the year the “ghost month”, and legend has it that lost spirits wander the earth during this period.
The number 8
In Chinese and Japanese culture, the number 8 is very lucky. Its spelling and pronunciation resemble the words “prosper” and “wealth”. The number 8 is popular among “numberphiles” because of its cyclical and harmonious appearance. Turned sideways and the number transforms into the symbol for infinity or lemniscate; representing the harmonious flow of the infinite universe. The most famous example of reverence for the number 8 was during the opening ceremony for the Beijing Olympic Games, which began on August 8th, 2008 at just after 8:08 p.m. (or 8/8/08 – 8:08:08 p.m.). So, it should come as no surprise that Keno players in China will choose this number.
The number 3
Many countries, particularly Italy and Sweden, consider the number 3 to be lucky. This largely has to do with the significance of the Holy Trinity referenced in the Bible, as well as mathematical significance of the number. The number 3 is a prime number, and three sides form a pyramid. The number appears in many religious texts throughout the world. That’s because it represents a symbol perfection, power and hierarchy. It is also a very important number in Norse mythology, for instance, due to its relation with the number 9 (another very lucky number in Scandinavian culture). The idioms “all good things come in threes” or “third time’s a charm” crop up in Europe and English-speaking countries. Many players heavily favor it as a Keno winning number.
The number 13
Triskaidekaphobia is the fear of the number 13. Many countries in the West believe this number to be incredibly unlucky, and it is frequently avoided. This perhaps once again stems from the Bible and the allegory of the Last Supper. Judas, who would later betray Jesus, was the 13th person to sit at the table of the Last Supper. Some references claim that fear of the number 13 dates back even further to c. 1780 BCE. The famous Babylonian text, the Code of Hammurabi, is said to have contained a 13th law that was omitted. Whatever the origins may be, many countries avoid the number. For instance, most hotels worldwide will omit a 13th floor. In horse racing race horses are rarely given the number, and of course Friday the 13th is said to be the unluckiest day of the year.
Pattern play
Although Keno games will utilize RNG systems, many players find it useful to try particular patterns when selecting their spots by literally creating patterns on a Keno board or ticket. These include the following:
- Corners – focusing on numbers or groups of numbers for opposing corners of a Keno sheet
- Diamond patterns – creating large to small diamond patters across a Keno sheet and avoiding corners
- The bull’s eye – focusing solely on numbers at or close to the center of a Keno sheet
- Rows or columns – picking numbers that only appear in every other row or every other column
- Both rows and columns – picking numbers that appear in both rows and columns that overlap
- Pairs – Keno players will often select pairs and sequences of numbers due to a belief that all good things come in pairs.
Quick Pick
Sometimes, the best plan of action when choosing Keno winning numbers is to have no plan at all. If you are purchasing your ticket from a local clerk (or online), it might be a good idea to let the computer decide for you. Quick pick features allow players have a computer randomly choose ten numbers, reducing the potential difficulty for having to pick manually. There are also many random number sequence generators online that can be downloaded in order to help players save time by rapidly picking multiple numbers in succession. This saves players time, and allows them to utilize more than just a single Keno draw.
How to pick Keno numbers – review
- Birthdays and anniversaries – special days are generally the number one thing that players rely on when it comes picking numbers for Keno due to their significance in players’ lives
- Hot and cold numbers – Studying Keno draws over an extended period of time can reveal certain number combinations that appear with more regularity than others. And this can influence your decision making for future rounds
- Lucky numbers – Every culture perceives certain numbers as either lucky or unlucky, which is determined by the history and mythology pertinent to each country of origin
- Pattern Play – Many Keno players will choose numbers based on created patterns that “appear” visually on a Keno sheet. This in combination with utilizing hot and cold numbers can mean the difference between winning big and losing
- Quick pick feature – If players feel at a loss at how to go about choosing numbers, computers and computer software will eliminate the need for having to manually select numbers by doing so automatically
- Play Keno online – this is the best option for any serious Keno players, because they can utilize the aforementioned techniques and win big all from the comfort of their home or mobile device
Time to win some real money!
Planet 7 Casino is your one stop shop for all things casino related. Planet 7 offers instant real money or free play for avid and casual casino gamers alike. All you need to do is sign up for a free account at Planet 7 Online Casino, which only takes a few minutes. Be sure to make a real money deposit to utilize huge bonuses and promotions as well as free games. And now that you’ve learned the most common Keno winning numbers, all you need to do is access the specialty games area. There you can start playing real money Keno! Still looking for some inspiration in how to master the skill of playing online keno? Check out our Super Easy Beginners Guide to Keno. Get in the game, have fun and win big today!
