Glossary of Keno Terms

Call The announcement made by a Keno caller in a casino of the numbers drawn in a Keno race.

Caller The casino employee who announces the result of the Keno draw.

Catch To catch a number means that you have matched one of the numbers you have marked on your Keno card with one of the numbers drawn.

Combination bet A combination bet allows you to make various Keno bets on the same ticket. You can make several straight bets, for example, or you can choose to make both straight bets and way bets.

Draw The winning numbers in a game of Keno. Traditionally the draw involves balls being drawn out of a machine, as in lottery games. However, many Keno draws are now made by computer.

House edge The house edge (also known as the casino advantage) is the profit that a casino builds in to each game. It is expressed as the difference between the true odds and the odds that the casino pays out. Keno has one of the highest house edges in casinos – usually between 25% and 30% depending on the casino.

Keno card The ticket on which you mark your choice of numbers, the type of bet you are making and the amount of your stake in a live Keno game. The Keno card is given to the Keno writer or a Keno runner and a receipt is issued confirming your bet.

Keno lounge The main room in the casino where you can play Keno. The Keno board and Keno writer can be found here.

Keno race A single game of Keno.

Keno runner A casino employee who collects bets from Keno players throughout the casino.

Keno writer The Keno writer is a casino employee who takes bets, produces receipts for the bets and pays out any winnings to the Keno players.

King A single number that the Keno player has circled on the Keno card in order to prioritise it when making a King bet.

King bet A type of Keno bet, which is similar to a way bet, but you choose to prioritise one or more single numbers as “Kings” by circling them.

Race See Keno race.

Runner See Keno runner.

Spot The amount of different numbers you have chosen to bet on in a Straight Keno game. For example, if you want to bet on six numbers your bet is referred to as a six spot.

Straight Keno This is the most basic game of Keno in which players bet on a selection of individual numbers.

Way Bet A type of bet in which the Keno player bets on more than one group of numbers on the same Keno card.

Video Keno An electronic version of Keno available in some casinos on special Video Keno machines.