Where Did the Word "Keno" Come from?

Where did the word "keno" come from? Was it made up? Or is it derived from some foreign or ancient language?

Keno originated way back in the mists of history where fact and fantasy tend to blur, but here's how the generally accepted story goes.

The game is originally Chinese, although its name is French (we'll get to that part in a moment). The concept of what eventually became modern keno owes its origins to one Chéung Léung a couple of thousand years ago, early in the Han Dynasty. Finding himself hard up for cash after a prolonged period spent defending his besieged city from marauders, Chéung needed a means to provision his army. But he'd already taxed his people to the limit through the normal channels. So in order to raise the cash, he came up with the idea of a lottery, whereby his citizens were encouraged to risk their property for a chance of greater financial rewards via a game of chance. The idea proved so successful that it was later used to finance all kinds of projects, including the Great Wall of China, imperial palaces, and overseas exploration.

Instead of numbers, the original game employed characters from the "Thousand Character Classic," a famous poem that was used as an aid for teaching children and contained each different character only once. As the game spread far and wide, carrier pigeons were used to communicate the winning results to remote locations. Hence, it became known as the "Game of the White Dove."

Having become popular throughout China, the game then spread all over the world, mostly via Chinese migrants. In the 1800s, it finally made its way to the U.S., introduced by workers imported to help build the railroads, and at first was known simply as the "Chinese lottery." When numbers were substituted for the original Chinese characters, the popularity spread to the non-Chinese population, in particular the gambling halls of New Orleans.

That's where the French connection comes in, with the name "keno" evolving from the French "quine," meaning a group of five -- as in winning numbers.

When gambling was legalized in Nevada in 1931, the new law didn't apply to lotteries, which remained illegal. So the game's name was changed to "racehorse keno," a subterfuge by which the numbers that players bet on supposedly represented horses (individual rounds of keno are still sometimes colloquially referred to as "races.") When the government started taxing off-track betting, the name changed yet again, this time simply to keno.

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Kevin Lewis Apr-03-2023

The white pigeon game

I wrote keno in Reno back in the 80s, when we still working with ink and brushes. I found out a lot about the lore of the game and how popular it was in the 19th century mining camps. I read that it was called "the white pigeon game" and thought that it was an ironic comment by the (Chinese) keno operators on the suckers they were fleecing. Then I learned that they used carrier pigeons to send the results of the games far and wide.

The Westernization of the game included substituting the numbers 1-80 for Chinese characters, but that didn't happen for a while--not until the Virginia and Carson City saloons started adopting the game.

Then as now, if you play it, all you're going to win is pigeon poop.

[email protected] Apr-03-2023

Dying?

It does seem to be a dying game.  When I first started going to LAS, every casino had a Keno lounge, there was usually another game played in the restaurants, and sometimes even a third game with results on your room TV.  Now the lounges have all but disappeared, and the last time I visited I was surprised to see the game no longer offered in the coffee shop.

That said, the video "slot machine" version seems to be flourishing.  While not a great game, it does seem that something has been lost to no longer have the dedicated lounges and the ping-pong ball machines around anymore.

Jon Anderson Apr-03-2023

keno

to say nothing of the cutie-pie runners who would come around and keep you smiling whether you won or lost...yeah baby yeah !!

rokgpsman Apr-03-2023

Keno

Keno is an easy and slow paced game to play, doesn't require a large bet, so it lets your money last longer than slots. But it has the highest casino edge of any game and you'll never, ever win enough at it to make it worthwhile. Plus it's fairly unexciting. Not surprised it's going away since the majority of today's generation of casino visitors don't have the time or inclination to play it. Or maybe they are educated about keno and know about its long odds of winning. Either way, the keno floorspace is more valuable for other casino offerings.

Jeff Apr-03-2023

Keno paid for my meals

On my first trip to Vegas in the late 80s, it was keno that helped me realize what a strange if not ridiculous place the city was, but also one that allowed me as a cheapskate to enjoy a life I couldn't afford anywhere else. 

In the buffets on the Strip (mainly the Riv's), I noticed paper pads at the dining tables wedged between the salt and pepper shakers. I learned that they were keno forms. I'd never heard of keno. On the buffet walls, there were keno boards that lit up numbers that had been selected by ping pong balls at the keno lounges. And most weirdly, but entertainingly, "keno runners" would periodically walk through the buffet shoutiing, "Keno? Keno?" You were supposed to give them your filled-out keno tickets.

The casinos had figured out a way that gamblers could continue to gamble and lose their money even while having dinner, and gambling diners seemed to love the opportunity. I learned to love it too, when I realized that that was why my meals at buffets averaged $5

gaattc2001 Apr-03-2023

Back around the turn of the century...

I was living in Los Angeles and going up to Las Vegas one or two weekends per month. Fitzgerald's (now "The D") had a special Sunday night Blackjack promotion. Every time you got a blackjack with the ace of clubs (the magic Shamrock!) you got  free keno ticket for a future drawing--usually an hour or more in the future. Obviously it was a gimmick to get you to stay in the casino longer than you had originally prudently intended; but strangely, or perhaps not so strangely, it was very tempting. After all, how would you feel if you passed on a free keno ticket that later won thousands of dollars? I knew all about the odds, and would never have actually played regular keno; but even I was tempted.
The tradition developed that you would play as long as you could, until you absolutely had to leave to get back to LA and to work on time in the morning; and then on departure, you would give any outstanding tickets to your fellow Blackjack players. It built up a certain sense of camaraderie.

Hoppy Apr-03-2023

If I remember correctly.....

Dolphins were used to mark number choices at the Mirage

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