Keno, a variation of Lotto and the forerunner of Bingo, was a popular banking game in saloons and gambling dens from the early 1850's. Keno was a game fancied by the Ladies once they were allowed into the gambling parlors.

The center of any Keno game was the beautiful wooden " Hopper", known as the " Goose". From the Goose the wooden or ivory balls would be mixed and released. Each player had a ticket with three rows of 5 numbers. When a player covered all 5 numbers in a particular row he won all the money in the pot minus the dealers take.

The word "Keno" has French or Latin roots (Fr. quine five winning numbers, L. quini five each), but by all accounts the game originated in China over 2000 years ago. Legend has it that the invention of the game saved an ancient city in time of war, and its widespread popularity helped raise funds to build the Great Wall. According to one source, results of Keno games in great cities were sent to outlying villages and hamlets by carrier pigeon. Eventually, Chinese immigrants introduced Keno to the West when they sailed across the Pacific to help build the American trans-continental railroad in the 19th century.

Like all games in the Old West this game could be and was rigged. Many dealers were not satisfied with their "rake" so schemes were devised to insure the entire "pot" was retained. The easiest method to insure a dealer got all he
felt he was entitled to was to employ a partner who purchased a ticket destined to win. The dealer would simply "holdout" the necessary balls to fill his partners line of five numbers. Preformed properly, this gaff would be used successfully night after night.

Not much has changed over the years. Keno of today is played much like Keno back in-the-day. The biggest change has been the amount of numbers used in the game. In the beginning as few as 70 numbers were utilized. With the passage of time that number has increased to 80, 90 and currently in Vegas the number is 120. The game was not designed for you to win. Come to think of it, there never was a game of chance designed that favored the player.