Online Keno

Online Keno is one of the easiest games to understand for gamblers who have never stepped into a casino before. If you’re ever played the lottery, you know exactly how the game works: you pick a few numbers, and hope that your numbers match those drawn by the casino. If they do, you can win a huge jackpot (or more likely, a smaller prize).

In live casinos, keno has had a reputation for offering poor odds to the player, though those odds are still usually much better than those offered by state and national lotteries. Online casinos offer even better odds, however, making it a reasonable choice for players who don’t want to learn the complex strategies required to play table games effectively.

Best Casino for Online Keno

Our pick for the best casinos for online keno are faetured in the table above. We ensure that safety is priority when it comes to reviewing casinos and are happy to recommend the casinos above.

Online Keno Rules

The object of online keno is to correctly guess which numbers will be picked at random from a selection ranging from 1 to 80. The player typically has the opportunity to pick between 1 and 15 numbers, with the goal being to pick as many as possible out of the 20 numbers which will be drawn.

In live keno, draws usually happen every few minutes. Online keno is different; you can have a new draw anytime you want. You can simply pick your numbers (or have them chosen at random for you), and then tell the game to start.

The number of spots you’ll need to match – and their associated payouts – will vary depending on the number of spots you’ve chosen to play.

First, if you pick just one number, of course, you’ll need to have that number picked in order to win anything. If your number is picked, the payout is 3.80 units. It’s very important to note that keno odds are expressed as for one instead of as to one; in other words, you are assumed to have paid a unit to play, and that unit is included in your payout. If you’re used to the more traditional to one odds, you can simply subtract 1.00 from the odds to get the equivalent – which in this case, would be 2.8-1.

Picking more numbers gives you the opportunity to win larger payouts, but also increases the number of matches you’ll need in order to win. If you pick five numbers, the payouts are as follows:

Keno 5 Number Payout Chart

• 2 Matches: 1.50
• 3 Matches: 4.00
• 4 Matches: 14.00
• 5 Matches: 80.00

Finally, the real jackpots occur when you pick a large number of spots. In these cases, you’ll also usually be given a small prize for picking zero numbers correctly as well! If you pick the maximum of 15 spots, here are the payouts you can expect to receive for winning:

Keno 15 Number Payout Chart

• 0 Matches: 5.00
• 4 Matches: 1.00
• 5 Matches: 1.50
• 6 Matches: 2.00
• 7 Matches: 4.00
• 8 Matches: 8.00
• 9 Matches: 25.00
• 10 Matches: 50.00
• 11 Matches: 500.00
• 12 Matches: 1,500.00
• 13 Matches: 3,000.00
• 14 Matches: 4,000.00
• 15 Matches: 5,000.00

Online Keno for Real Money

Many people know that keno is not a smart play in live casinos. In fact, it usually has the largest house edge of any game a brick and mortar casino offers! However, online casinos generally offer much better real money keno games. While a live keno game might have a return for the player of between 70-80%, and video keno in those same casinos might top out at around 90%, many online keno games rise well above 90% paybacks, often offering odds similar to many table games.

That said, not every online keno game is so generous; some offer odds that are more like those found in live casinos. It’s important to do your research before playing to make sure that you get the best payouts possible while playing online keno.

Online Keno Strategy

There’s not much strategy to talk about in online keno. Sure, some people will tell you to figure out which numbers are hot and cold, or have some other system for combining numbers, but you can safely ignore all of that. Each draw of the numbers is completely random and independent, meaning that what you see in one draw has absolutely no effect on the next one.

The closest thing to strategy in keno is playing the number of spots that gives the house the lowest advantage possible. This number will vary by casino, since almost every casino has their own unique payout structure for keno.

Online Keno Odds

Earlier, we mentioned some of the payouts for online keno. Because the payouts vary so much depending on the number of spots you play, the player’s expected return also varies greatly. The odds are also very different at each casino, and sometimes even at different keno games in the same casino! Here are the expected player returns, depending on the number of spots played:

Keno Player Returns Odds Chart

• 1 Spot: 95.0%
• 2 Spots: 96.2%
• 3 Spots: 94.3%
• 4 Spots: 95.5%
• 5 Spots: 96.2%
• 6 Spots: 95.1%
• 7 Spots: 94.8%
• 8 Spots: 95.1%
• 9 Spots: 95.2%
• 10 Spots: 94.8%
• 11 Spots: 95.4%
• 12 Spots: 94.5%
• 13 Spots: 94.9%
• 14 Spots: 95.1%
• 15 Spots: 95.2%

Looking at the figures, the best odds can be found by playing either two or five spots. However, the return is very similar no matter how many spots you play (many casinos have larger spreads), meaning that if you’re looking to get lucky and hit a jackpot, you won’t be giving up much by playing 15 spots either.

Speaking of those jackpot payouts, they might be even less likely than you think. The odds of matching all 15 spots (assuming the casino picks a full 20 numbers) is an astronomical 428 billion to 1! If you’re playing at a casino that gives you the chance to choose 20 spots, hitting all 20 is even more daunting – the odds are approximately 1 in 3.5 quintillion!