Keno History: Ancient China to the present

The game of Keno is similar to Bingo in appearance, it comes from entirely different origins. The game of Bingo originated from France and Italy in the 1500s, the history of Keno dates back to China’s Han Dynasty. The games popularity arose out of the ruler Cheung Leungs’ necessity to finance a war at the time. Military finances were running low and the citizens were not accepting of funding the war further. A mathematical game that had recently been invented named "The White Pigeon Game" was introduced. It was nick named "The White Pigeon Game" do to the fact that the results were transferred to each city via Pigeions.

Keno tickets started out using 120 characters. Players made 10 selections, which were marked using an ink brush, which lead to today's term, "Keno Spots." The game was said to be so popular that its funds were also used to build the Great Wall of China.

The Chinese version of the game was introduced to the West by Chinese immigrants who migrated to North America to find work building the American trans-continental railroad in the 19th century. At this time the game in America was called the "Chinese lottery". The game proved to be quite popular and was called "horse race keno" making it appear as if the numbers referred to horses. This was a means of getting around the strict gambling laws of the time.

The Chinese symbols were eventually replaced with numbers and, more to the player's benefit, the 120 characters reduced to only eighty. This version of Keno if the one seen today.

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