Keno online is a number game where you pick numbers on a grid and see how many of them appear in the draw. The rules are short: choose a few numbers, confirm your stake, and a random number generator draws 20 numbers from 1 to 80. This guide covers the rules, how paytables work, hit probabilities and how online keno games differ from one another.
Our catalogue has 35 keno games, and their return to player ranges from 87.27% to 99.6%. Knowing what the figures mean helps you choose a game. No way of picking numbers changes the house edge, but you can read a game properly: the stake, the number of picks and the paytable decide how much variance you will see.
The keno board holds the numbers 1 to 80. On each round the player picks a set number of spots, most often between 1 and 10. The game then draws 20 of the 80 numbers. The payout depends on how many of your picks are among the drawn numbers. More hits mean a bigger win.
The draw is made without replacement, so the same number cannot appear twice in one round. Every number has the same 25 percent chance of being drawn (20 out of 80), and earlier rounds have no effect on the next one. A round always follows the same steps:
Each keno game has its own paytable, usually shown next to the grid. It lists the multiplier for each number of hits, depending on how many numbers you picked. The multiplier is applied to your stake. If you pick six numbers, a small multiplier may be paid for three hits. If you pick ten, small hit counts may pay nothing at all, and the top multiplier is reserved for a near-complete set of hits.
Paytables differ from game to game, so the same selection can behave differently in different games.
The number of spots changes the character of the game. The expected number of hits is always the number of spots divided by four: six spots give 1.5 hits per round on average, ten spots give 2.5.
This is the same effect slots call volatility. In keno it is controlled mostly by the number of spots and by the paytable.
Keno odds come from combinatorics and are the same in every game with 80 numbers and 20 draws. The chance that all of your picked numbers hit looks like this:
These figures show why the top multiplier is high: the more numbers you pick, the rarer a full hit becomes.
Online keno works differently from a scheduled drawing. A random number generator (RNG) draws the numbers the moment you start a round, so there is no shared draw time. You play at your own pace, and every round is independent: the previous result tells you nothing about the next.
Because the draw is instant, a round lasts only seconds. Many games also offer autoplay, which repeats the same picks for a chosen number of rounds. Each autoplay round is still its own random draw.
Return to player (RTP) shows what share of stakes is returned to players over the long run. In our catalogue the RTP of keno games ranges from 87.27% to 99.6%, with an average of 95.21%. Each game's figure is on its own page.
For example, Sweet Keno is listed at 98%, Book of Keno at 97.01% and the Spribe Keno at 97%. Age of the Gods: Keno sits at 96.1% and Amaterasu Keno at 95.7%. Lower in the catalogue are Super Keno at 92.9% and Banana Keno at 92.38%. The gap between 98 and 92 percent means a house edge of 2 versus 8 percent, four times as large. See the guide on what RTP is for more.
RTP is a long-term average over millions of rounds. In one session the result can differ widely in either direction.
Besides the plain version, the catalogue has themed keno games and variants with extra features. Sweet Keno is rated low-medium volatility and Book of Keno low. Keno Rush and Dragon Power Keno are medium volatility, while Keno Goal and the other Caleta Gaming keno games are marked very high. The Spribe Keno is high volatility, and its page has the details.
Some games, such as Keno Bonus Number from TaDa Gaming, add a bonus number or a special feature to the draw. These change the paytable, so read the game's own rules.
Claims about keno number systems, such as hot and cold numbers or patterns on the grid, come up often. With an RNG draw they do not hold: each number is equally likely on every round, and past draws do not influence the next.
No strategy or number combination removes the house edge. What you control is which game you play, how many numbers you pick and how much you stake. For more on casino games, see the casino games guide.
Keno is a simple game with clear maths behind it. Once you know how the number of spots, the paytable and the RTP shape the variance, you can choose a game on purpose.
You pick numbers from 1 to 80, usually between 1 and 10, and the game draws 20 numbers. The win is paid by the game's paytable according to how many of your numbers are among the drawn ones.
In online keno a random number generator draws the numbers as soon as you start a round, with no shared draw time. Every round is independent and the previous result has no effect on the next.
It depends on the variance you want. Few numbers give frequent hits but small top multipliers. Ten numbers allow large multipliers, but hits are rarer. The house edge stays the same either way.
In our catalogue keno RTP ranges from 87.27% to 99.6%, with an average of 95.21%. The exact figure is on each game's page and worth checking before you play.
No. The draw is random, so hot and cold numbers or patterns are an illusion. No strategy removes the house edge. You can only choose the game, the number of picks and the stake size.
The odds fall quickly as you add numbers: about 1 in 17 with two, about 1 in 1,551 with five and about 1 in 8,912,000 with ten.
Yes. Besides the plain game there are themed keno games and variants with bonus numbers or other features. They change the paytable, so read each game's rules.