Keno is distinguished from other types of gambling games as all of the action takes place in its own lounge, in a “fictional” way. Originally, Keno was based on make-believe horse races that were created by Nevada casino owners in order to get around a law that said that Keno was illegal, as lotteries were illegal in the United States until the 1960s.

Like bingo, playing keno required its own room and seating. It also requires its own way of generating random numbers and a way of broadcasting these results to a large number of people.

Entering the Keno Lounge

When you enter a live casino and go into a keno lounge the first thing you will find is lots of seats or couches. Often the area is separated by a glass partition from the other areas of the casino. In some casinos there is a plastic bowl that drops marked numbered boards into a hopper and in others there are merely computerized random number generators.

In a live casino games there is usually a big board with digital numbers that light up or a video screen that displays the winning numbers after they are dropped from a drum into a hopper. Some casinos have a number of video screens as opposed to one board that broadcast the results of each fictional keno “race” after each draw.

Most casinos also have video monitors that display the results of winning races throughout the entire establishment. This way a person playing online poker, blackjack or Texas Hold ‘Em at another table can also place keno bets.

To facilitate the play of individuals who would like to multi-task when they gamble, most casinos employ individuals called keno runners who deliver your marked tickets to the customer service desk (nicknamed the keno writer’s cage) in the keno lounge. They then return to you with your computerized ticket and will ask if you want to play again. Play poker.

These keno runners, which are like gambling waiters, are also available to sell you ticket slips and take your tickets for you right inside the keno lounge as well. This lessens the long line-ups at the keno counter and helps the casino run more keno games an hour.

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