Online Keno Strategies and Tips

Hitting it big on a small wager is why a lot of us play real money casino games. The thrill and exhilaration of turning pocket change into a mountain of cash is a feeling that is difficult to beat.

Keno is a casino game where a little pocket change, luck, and an effective strategy can go a long way into making you a winner. This casino game can be found at land-based and online casinos in many different forms.

The most popular keno variations are daily keno draws, online scratch offs, live keno and video keno machines. Regardless of which keno variation you choose, we’re here to help you put together the best keno strategy in order to increase your chances of winning.

Although our keno strategy guide focuses on playing online keno, there are many aspects that you can apply to in-person keno games as well.

Playing The Appropriate Denomination For Your Bankroll Is Key

Keno is one of the most volatile games that you can play in the casino. What this means is that you can go through long stretches of losing keno cards. Conversely, there will be times when you are hot as a skillet and feel invincible.

Another scenario is that you can go several minutes without winning anything meaningful. Then, at the drop of a hat, you can’t lose and the credits keep ringing up in your account.

That is what we call volatility in keno. The only way to counter volatility is to maintain strict bankroll management for your keno strategy.

Otherwise, unless you are very lucky, keno is not going to be a fun game to play. How do we go about setting a bankroll for keno? The most important step is to ensure that you are playing with money you can afford to lose.

After depositing money that supports your play level, it is important to choose a keno denomination that supports your bankroll. Most reputable online casinos offer everything from a penny to $10, along with high-stakes keno games.

There has to be a fine balance between your bankroll and the stakes you are playing. Put differently, if you have $20 to play keno, then consider playing lower-denomination games.

What about $2,000 for a session of keno? Then you can afford to wager more than a dollar and play multiple cards at once.

We suggest looking around for online casinos that offer multiple-denomination keno games. Picking the right stakes will set your keno strategy in the right direction before making one bet.

Play Online Video Keno Instead of Live Keno

Live keno has some of the worst odds in the casino. The house edge can favor the casino as much as 40%. On average, the house edge for live keno is roughly 30%.

With this in mind, live keno is one of the worst bets in the casino. It can be a fun time to play the old-school method with an attendant pulling ping-pong balls out of the drum.

If you are going to play live keno, just understand that you can find better odds on the video keno variant. Video keno, which you can play at your own pace on a machine, carries roughly the same odds as slot machines.

The odds can vary greatly between video keno machines. Many video keno machines can be found with a house edge of less than 5%. Finding real money slots with a house edge of less than 5% can be difficult, so these are great odds for keno.

That being said, there are some keno machines with a house edge nearing live keno territory. This brings us to the next point of our winning keno strategy.

Do Not Focus on Winning 15/15 or More Spots

80-number keno games with a maximum of 10 spots, or numbers, are traditionally the most common games. However, there are cards with huge prizes for 15/15 or more spots. The 20-spot games are also available online.

For a successful $10 15-spot wager on Keno Draw at Bovada, the player would win a million bucks. Even a $5 win would result in a nice profit of $500,000.

Many keno players will see these payouts and make this their ultimate goal. When you look at the odds of winning, this keno strategy is setting yourself up for failure.

From our estimation, by using a keno probability calculation, the odds of hitting 15/15 spots are a staggering 428 billion to 1¹.

No, not 428 million. We are talking about odds in the billions. If you think that this is wild, consider the 1 in 3.5 quintillion odds of winning a 20-spot keno card. So, you’re telling me there’s a chance?

Certainly, there is a chance, even for a 20-spot card with odds in the quintillions. Rather than focusing on winning cards with close-to-impossible odds, play fewer spots and give yourself a chance.

Keep your aspirations to 10 spots or fewer. Your odds are at least somewhat reasonable. Hitting 10/10 spots is much better than winning the Powerball jackpot. With just over 1 in 292 million odds, keno has Powerball beaten soundly².

You are looking at a 1 in roughly 8.9 million chance of hitting 10/10 spots in keno. The odds drop considerably the lower you move down in spots. For 9/9 spots, players are battling odds of 1 in approximately just over 3.8 million.

The sweet spot in our winning keno strategy is 6 to 8 spots. Let’s examine the odds of winning from these three spots:

6/6 Spots – 1 in 7,753
7/7 Spots – 1 in 40,980
8/8 Spots – 1 in 230,115

Mix it up occasionally and go for the big 10-spot jackpot. However, 6-8 spots does afford you a decent enough chance for a big payoff. The odds are much better and the prizes for winning are still generous.

Read The Keno Pay Tables and Evaluate the RTP at Online Casinos

If you are familiar with line shopping and understanding value in sports betting, then reading keno pay tables should be an easy assignment. It only takes a few seconds to examine how much the payouts are for the various spots in the game on video keno.

For instance, one keno game might pay 20,000 credits, while another casino offers 10,000 credits for the same bet. Fortunately, online casinos make it easy for keno players to find pay tables.

Simply read the various payouts for each hit, and then compare it to other keno games before playing. Additionally, the Return To Player percentage (RTP) is important information for keno players to know.

There will be some online casinos that do not display this information. You might have to ask customer support for the RTP on a particular game. Others have it displayed in the game information section or in the settings.

At DuckyLuck, the RTP is listed under the paytable. The closer to 100%, the better the odds are for the player. You should be aiming to play keno games with an RTP of 95% or more.

Currently, one of the best online keno games you can play is at DuckyLuck. With an RTP of 96.54% on their traditional video keno machine, the house edge is less than 4%. These are the types of keno games to put on your must-play list.

Play Games That Offer Prizes For Winning Fewer Spots

This is another aspect of keno that can differ widely between online casinos, and from game to game. It also ties into the RTP and your chances of winning at keno.

Check out the paytable before playing and investigate if there are payouts for the smaller spots. An example of a bad keno game is a 15-spot keno game that only pays for 6-7 spots.

However, there are keno games that still offer a small prize for hitting 4 or fewer numbers. DuckyLuck’s video keno machine has prizes for 3-15 spots. Even if only three of your numbers are drawn, you will win something.

The same can be said for keno cards where you are playing fewer spots. If you select nine or fewer spots on DuckyLuck keno, just one correct number will return credits to your account.

The small wins add up over time. They may not seem like much at the time. But, throughout thousands of plays, these small wins will help keep you in the game much longer.

Playing these keno games is well worth your time if you want to reduce volatility and your odds of winning in the long term. Any keno strategy should include an approach that values longevity.

Play Your Lucky Numbers

There is no secret to picking the right numbers in keno. The spots are randomly selected by a Random Number Generator (RNG). No one, not even the casino, can predict which numbers will come up in keno.

We advise having some fun while picking your numbers. Why should you play lucky numbers in keno? Because if your numbers hit, and you didn’t play them, you are going to be kicking yourself for a long time.

The lucky number keno strategy does not guarantee a win. Again, numbers are selected randomly by the computer. However, you don’t want to be that person who loses when your lucky numbers are finally drawn.

Where To Play The Best Online Keno?

As you have come to discover, playing the right keno games is imperative to employ the best keno strategy possible. In other words, picking the right online casino to play keno at is an important part of the plan.

The house edge for keno games can be wildly different based on the rules. As mentioned above, we believe that DuckyLuck is online casino of choice when it comes to keno. There are two video keno machines at DuckyLuck, and both include attractive RTP percentages.

DuckyLuck has Vegas Jackpot Keno and a traditional Keno machine. The Vegas Jackpot game comes with an RTP of just over 95%. The traditional game is your best bet with an RTP of 96.54%.

The DuckyLuck online casino offers one of the most competitive deposit bonuses. You can get started playing keno with a 500% welcome bonus of up to $2,500. Included in the promotion is a bonus of 150 free slot machine spins.

With the best keno and casino promotions online, DuckyLucky is the premier online casino for playing keno.