A Keno card or ticket is a roughly square form containing the following areas you, the player, mark. (See The Rules and the Games for more particulars on your choices.)
Number of Spots/Ways Played: If you just want to play one simple game, you indicate in this box near the top of the ticket how many numbers you wish to select for the drawing on which you’ll place your bet; this is called a “Straight” ticket. Casinos never let you choose more than 20 numbers per game. You can, however, also create a “Way” ticket, in which you select up to as many different groups on one ticket as the casino allows, indicating each group by enclosing them within a curved line and indicating the number of ways in the box following a slash beside the number of spots being played. And you can also create a so-called “Combination” bet on the card by indicating more than one pairing of spots and ways; adding a “3/6” to the box, for example, means you are also betting on 3 different ways of hitting 6 numbers from the groups of numbers you’ve marked. (If this sounds at all complicated, take heart that an electronic online Keno card will prompt you until you get it right.)
Number of Games: Simply indicate how many consecutive drawings in which you’d like to play these numbers.
Price/Game: Indicate the total amount of money you want to wager per game.
Total Price: Indicate the total price of your ticket, multiplying “Number of Games” times “Price/Game.” (Note that many online Keno games will calculate this for you.)
The Numbers: The lower three-quarters of the Keno ticket form consists of 8 horizontal rows of 10 numbers each, 1 through 80, each enclosed in its own square. A gap between squares 1 through 40 and 41 through 80 delineates the Top and Bottom portions of the card, enabling you to play a so-called “Top” or “Bottom” game.
After you present your filled-out Keno ticket and money, either to a real-world casino’s Keno runner or to an online casino, you’ll receive a duplicate ticket confirming your bet and the serial number(s) of the game(s) to which it applies. Then, just watch the Keno board, posted prominently all over real-world casinos or on the casino website on your computer screen. Soon, the serial number of the first game on which you’ve bet will appear. In real-world casinos, numbered ping-pong balls are drawn to select the Keno numbers; a random-number generator does the job online. Check your ticket against the board to see if you’re a winner. (See Winning.)
