Keno is a type of lottery game that is incredibly popular in modern casinos. In addition to this, some lotteries also offer it as an option. Numbers are drawn out arbitrarily, much like in bingo games or lotteries, by using either a ball machine in land-based settings or a Random Number Generator in online variants.
Keno and roulette share a common but useless strategy. Players can cover every number in the game with a handful of bets. The problem with “sure win” betting is that you’re guaranteed to lose more than you’ll win. Wagering systems push the line as far as possible, seeking the most wins with the fewest losses.
In both roulette and keno, players must wait for a random event to learn if their wagers pay off. In roulette, it depends on where the ball lands. In keno, it depends on which numbers are drawn. And yet, the lowest house edge in roulette is so much better than the lowest house edge in keno.
If a keno player wishes upon a star tonight, that wish will surely be to find a more perfect bet. While there is no perfect bet, you can always hope for a better one. Learn how to make the best betting spreads in keno below.
This is where betting spreads come into play. Players use spreads in craps, keno, and roulette. The John Wayne system is a well-known roulette betting spread. Spreads cover as many potential outcomes as possible.
For example, roulette’s even money outside bets cover black, red, even, odd, 1-18, or 19-36. That is almost half the wheel, but not quite. The green numbers create the house’s statistical advantage in roulette. The more green numbers there are on the wheel, the better the house edge.
Most versions of keno games allow players to pick up to 10 numbers. The max is 15 in some recent games, and 20 in one variation I’ve seen before. Because there are 80 numbers in the pick range, players only have a 1 in 4 chance of picking any individual number in the 20 that are drawn for the game.
Although you can bet on a single number (a “1-spot” or “Pick 1” game), no keno variation pays 4 to 1 on a Pick 1 game. That’s why keno players prefer higher pick games in the middle range, especially Pick 4, Pick 5, and Pick 6. The odds are better on these games than in the higher pick games. And the payouts are better than in the lower pick games.
Catching the drawn numbers is the real trick. There is only one strategy that guarantees you’ll catch every drawn number. You must play (80 divided by max picks) games at a time, picking a unique set of numbers in each game. This is a “full spread bet” in keno.
Assuming a player plays eight 10-spot games at the same time, they can cover all 80 numbers. And this strategy loses money on it most of the time. It doesn’t matter how the numbers are chosen. Each drawing is unique and can result in any kind of combination.
Patterns do occur in keno’s drawings. The reason why betting on patterns doesn’t always work is that the patterns don’t repeat themselves consistently. If you’re only hoping to catch a few numbers on a Pick 5 or Pick 6 game, you can bet a few different spreads concurrently. While the spreads guarantee nothing, they anticipate possible future patterns in the draws.
I can’t cover every spread I have read about, but most of them divide the card into four quadrants. To keep the following illustrative examples easy to understand, I will use simple quadrants.
Players don’t need to use alternate patterns for each quadrant, but they can. The most basic spread is to play four games, betting on the first quadrant in game 1, the second quadrant in game 2, the third quadrant in game 3, and the fourth quadrant in game 4. In most variations of keno, you can pick up to 10 numbers per game.
Pick 5 games have the best hit frequency. If you pick five numbers in each quadrant, you can space them out or line them up contiguously. Since most drawings don’t pull consecutive numbers, there isn’t much point in picking consecutive numbers.
In this pattern, “even spacing” refers to how the numbers are spread throughout the quadrant. In the quadrant system, playing four Pick 5 games could be played as follows.
To do a full spread bet, play 16 concurrent games, shifting the numbers right. At the minimum, you’ll wager $16. It’s a cheap bet that could potentially pay back hundreds of dollars.
Instead of spreading the picks throughout the quadrant, choose a starting number and place the next number two positions to the right (or left). A four-game card might look like this.
This pattern assumes a drawing is more likely to pick numbers close together. Every possible pattern occurs eventually. A simple variation on the pattern is to shift the numbers by four positions instead of two.
This pattern is arranged just like the Alternative Even Numbers pattern, but the spacing between picks is three or five instead of two or four.
When using quadrants, players can pick five numbers by choosing the “corner” numbers and the “center” number in each quadrant. This assumes the numbers are arranged (figuratively or literally) in four rows of five consecutive numbers.
Example: 1, 5, 8,16, 20
Because there are only four rows, this doesn’t create a perfect star. However, a Pick 6 game can add a number at the 13 position. Add 20 to each number to shift them “right” for the next quadrant.
A quintant is a fifth part of an evenly divided circle. “Quintant” is to “quadrant” what “fifth” is to “fourth.” I don’t know anyone who has used a quintant-based system, but the same logic applies for the quadrant-based systems.
A quintant in keno consists of 16 numbers instead of the 20 numbers of the quadrant. The quintant-based system is better suited for Pick 4 patterns.
Instead of dividing the card into quadrants or quintants, players have the option of using the entire number line (1 to 80) to arrange their picks. This works better with Pick 10 games, but it’s also what players do for standard lottery games.
Divides 80 by the number of picks and rounds up or down to the nearest prime number. To play a Pick 5 game, divide 80 by 5 to get 16, then round up to 17. Choose any number for the first pick then shift left or right, wrapping around the line if necessary.
An example of a Pick 5 game using 17 as the spacer looks like this: 37, 54, 71, 8, 25. Repeat the process, changing the originating number for each game on the card.
spacing pattern alternates the interval between a relatively small even number (4 or 6) and a relatively small odd number (5 or 7).
An example of a Pick 5 game using the even-odd pattern looks like this: 23, 29, 36, 42, 49.
Many players simply choose a pattern based on the “hot” or “cold” numbers. If the game machine or service tracks these numbers, they are easy to find. All the games I’ve seen track five “hot” or “cold” numbers.
A “hot” number was drawn in a recent game. A “cold” number was not drawn in a recent game. These tend to be the numbers drawn most often or least often across a predetermined series of games.
There is no magic formula for winning. You can buy the full range of 80 numbers, but there are many ways to do that. It’s better to choose a simple pattern and spread your numbers as randomly as possible. You only need to catch three numbers in a Pick 4, Pick 5, or Pick 6 game. You’ll at least double your money if not better if one of your games pays off.
Pick 5 games pay better for four numbers than Pick 4 games pay for three, and Pick 6 games pay better for five numbers than Pick 5 pays for four. No matter what your game, simpler strategies are less expensive and probably pay better than the more complicated ones.