Keno Tips & Cheats – Can You Actually Win?
11 minutes
Last Updated: December 3, 2022
Keno is a simple game that doesn’t require much skill or experience to play. It comes in many variations and offers you a chance to win massive amounts of money, provided you make the correct guesses when selecting your numbers.
So, as this sounds random and completely chance-based, are there any cheats or secret tips you can utilize to ensure you win more often?
There’s a lot of useless advice floating on the internet when it comes to keno, so we’ve decided to sum up the best keno tips and cheats that can make a tangible difference.
How to Play Keno – A Quick Guide
Before we get into the tips and tricks that can increase your winning chances, let’s go over the game’s basics. That way, you’ll have a complete understanding of how keno works and how best to implement the tips we’ll discuss later on.
Playing keno is super simple. Most keno games offer you the option of choosing from a pool of numbers going from 1 to 80.
You choose a certain number of picks and hope they come out on the next draw. This is the entire concept of the game.
Top 10 Keno Tips and Cheats
Whether you want to play keno online or in a land-based casino, the pointers we’ll go over apply to any gambling environment. With that in mind, here are the top ten keno tips you should always have in mind:
10. Always Do Your Research Before Playing
Two players playing keno in neighboring casinos might be playing for differing payouts without even knowing it. This difference can be even more pronounced online, as there are so many competing real money casinos.
With that in mind, the numbers and payouts we’ll share in the rest of the tips don’t necessarily mean that you’ll play for the same payouts.
This is why you should do some research on the specific keno game you want to play and only bet real money on it if it offers good payouts.
Don’t settle for unfavorable payouts, as you will only end up losing money over time. Even if you’re playing keno just for fun, there’s no reason to throw money away. A few minutes of research can make a difference.
9. Learn the Odds
Many keno players aren’t aware of how big of a role the odds can play, depending on how many selections they pick.
Choosing too many numbers can make your winning odds almost non-existent, but choosing too few numbers is equally detrimental. Here are the odds for each number of selections happening:
|
The Number of Correct Picks |
Odds |
|
0 |
1 in 843.380 |
|
1 |
1 in 86.446 |
|
2 |
1 in 20.115 |
|
3 |
1 in 8.009 |
|
4 |
1 in 4.877 |
|
5 |
1 in 4.287 |
|
6 |
1 in 5.258 |
|
7 |
1 in 8.826 |
|
8 |
1 in 20.055 |
|
9 |
1 in 61.420 |
|
10 |
1 in 253.801 |
In games that let you pick up to 20 selections, getting all 20 of your picks correct comes at odds of 1 in 3,535,316,142,212,173,800.000.
Considering this, it’s safe to say that chasing big wins in keno doesn’t pay off. Looking at the odds, you’re almost guaranteed to lose by doing so.
8. Know the Payouts
Besides knowing the odds of the game, it’s also important to familiarize yourself with the particular version’s payout table.
Most keno versions allow you to pick up to ten numbers, and you often need to get at least three numbers right to win something. As we mentioned in the previous tip, some keno versions even let you pick up to 20 numbers.
The more selections you get right, the higher your payout will be, often growing exponentially. Of course, we’ve just covered how minuscule your chances of getting all picks correct become if you pick more numbers.
This is perhaps the most complicated aspect of this otherwise very simple and straightforward game.
Additionally, increasing the total number of selections doesn’t necessarily mean you will win more if you get your numbers correct.
For example, if you pick five numbers and get four right, you will get a solid 5:1 payout. However, if you pick seven numbers and get four right, the payout decreases significantly and is only 1:1.
7. Don’t Pick Too Many Numbers
This tip directly ties into the previous two. When you know the odds and payouts of hitting a certain number of selections, you can make an educated choice of how many numbers you want to pick based on how risky you want to play.
A simple rule of thumb most keno players agree on is to pick between four and eight numbers for each keno bet.
Keeping your selections in this range promises a good payday while still having a realistic chance of getting all of your numbers right.
And, if you’re purely going for the best odds keno can offer, the optimal way to play is to choose between three and seven selections.
6. Don’t Focus on Getting an Edge Over the Casino
Keno is purely a luck-based game, meaning that there isn’t anything you can do to get an edge over the casino. The house edge will always exist, and there’s no way to cheat the casino out of its profits.
So, trying to use a particular strategy or system to get an edge can only backfire. Instead of doing so, just enjoy the game and focus on the other tips that can actually make some difference.
5. Certain Betting Strategies Can Help You
While there isn’t any gameplay strategy that can help you win more often, a proper betting strategy can be handy when playing keno.
This is because a betting strategy doesn’t focus on the game itself but on how you manage your money and how you place your bets.
Depending on the keno betting strategy you pick, you can focus on chasing big wins or reducing your losses as much as possible.
With that in mind, the three main types of betting strategies are flat systems, positive progression systems, and negative progression systems.
4. Explore Different Variations
Keno encompasses an entire niche of luck-based games, enabling you to explore different variations. This is something you should undoubtedly take advantage of as it will help you find the most enjoyable variation that suits you best.
From progressive to power keno, mini keno, and many more, the options are impressive.
At the same time, you shouldn’t fall for novelty keno games that rely on gimmicks. Novelty keno variations often provide additional entertainment value by adding features like bonus rounds, better graphics, and more.
But, what most keno players don’t realize is that these gimmicky games come with significantly lower payouts, meaning that it’s best to avoid them altogether.
If you’re playing just for fun, more power to you, just be aware that you’re most likely not getting the best odds.
3. Have a Bankroll and Set Limits
This is a two-in-one tip that is arguably one of the most important ones from a purely financial perspective.
Before you even start playing keno, you should set a bankroll, limiting yourself in terms of how much money you want to risk per session, week, month, or any other time frame you want to track.
The main reason for setting a bankroll is to track how much you’re winning or losing. When it comes to the latter, especially, having a bankroll will protect you from accidentally spending more than you can afford to lose.
Once you have a bankroll, you can set win/loss limits, after which you’ll stop your session.
2. Play Keno For Free First
Keno is far from being a complicated gambling game, and it won’t take you much time to master it. However, its simplicity is often a double-edged sword that ends up costing players money.
Many keno beginners jump right into betting real money once they feel they have learned all there is to know.
This is not the way to go about it. Instead, make sure to remember all of the keno tips and cheats and then play keno for free online first. After you get a solid amount of practice, move to real-money keno games.
1. Try to Play Slower
Keno is a very fast-paced gambling game and is particularly fast when you play it online rather than in a land-based casino. Because of this, you potentially stand to quickly rack up wins but also risk losing a lot of money in a short time span.
So, just like with most luck-based casino games, you should take your time when playing keno. The slower you play each game, the more time you will be able to spend gambling. This is especially useful if you don’t have a large keno bankroll.
Keno Myths That Don’t Help You Win
With so many different tips we’ve covered above, you’re fully equipped with the knowledge to play keno and maximize your winnings over time.
That said, apart from sharing these keno tips and cheats you should try out, we also want to highlight some false theories you shouldn’t let guide your experience.
By this, we primarily mean focusing on myths and superstitions that are often perpetuated among gamblers. So, here are a handful of keno myths you shouldn’t fall for:
A Keno Strategy Can Ensure Profits
This is perhaps the most dangerous myth keno players can believe in. There’s a worrying number of “gambling experts” that might want to sell you on a course or strategy system that will guarantee profits when playing keno.
While this might be tempting to fall for, you should always keep in mind that keno is a game of chance.
Much like bingo or any other similar casino game, there’s no such thing as a strategy, as there aren’t any decisions that you can make to influence the outcome of a draw.
Trying to find a pattern in a game that focuses on randomly drawing out numbers is a pointless task. It only takes away from your overall gambling experience without providing any advantages.
Focusing on Specific Numbers Is the Best Way to Play
Like the previous myth, this one isn’t based on any real-world data that could back up the superstition.
Too often, keno players focus on the hot/cold number theory, thinking that pursuing numbers that are often drawn or those that rarely come up produces better results than just picking numbers randomly.
Additionally, many keno players stick with the same numbers, believing that these numbers must eventually produce a win.
While this is true from a statistical perspective, you’d have to play millions of games for it to even have a chance of working.
The reasons why these number-oriented myths don’t work are the same ones that debunk the previous myth. Keno is a game of pure chance, and each round is entirely independent of the previous one.
So, while picking specific or perceivably lucky numbers might seem like it could work, the reality is that it doesn’t have any influence on the outcome.
Keno Is a Casino Game That’s Best to Avoid
One prevailing opinion in the gambling community is that keno offers abysmal house edge percentages and simply isn’t worth playing from a financial perspective.
The reason why this belief is so common among casino-goers is that there actually is some truth in it.
More specifically, keno does tend to have a very high edge. Many keno games can have a house edge of 20%, sometimes even up to 40%. Needless to say, you should avoid playing such a game, as you’re just losing too much money over time.
However, you can find keno variations, especially online, where the house edge is in the single digits.
Some keno versions have a house edge of only a few percentages. So, while this myth is easy to fall for, doing some research will help you find more favorable keno variants.
Best Keno Tips and Cheats – Key Takeaways
A simple casino game like keno is best enjoyed when you play it without overthinking. In this regard, the tips we’ve shared with you will help make you a better keno player without taking away from the fun and excitement this game can bring.
Hopefully, with all of these keno tips and cheats, you will be able to find the best odds in keno and increase your winnings in the long run. Even though keno is a game dominated by chance and randomness, it is possible to win from time to time.
