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Heading to the pub specifically for a game of keno is something many Australians enjoy doing. But if you want to save your coin for the game rather than accidentally buying one too many schooners, try hosting a keno home game with a bunch of friends one night, instead of playing poker or Balderdash.
Round up the troops, grab some beers and snacks of course, and either host games online, or set some up yourself. If you don’t want to put in much work to set up an entire game, we suggest playing online as a group, which can be quite rewarding. Ask everyone to put in some cash so you can play together.
Best online Keno websites
Playing Online Keno With Your Friends
Filling out the keno form at the pub with your friends can be fun, but playing from home in a group is just as exciting. Every keno game has a different pay structure with some offering more than others. Due to online casinos having lower running costs than land based casinos, games have better pay rates.
If you want to play with real money online, we have compiled our three highly recommended online casinos which have keno games with the best payables.
Royal Vegas Casino Keno: With a house edge of six percent, the Royal Vegas Casino keno game is powered by Microgaming; trusted software recognised around the world. The site itself has been given the eCOGRA Seal of Approval for fairness, security and safety standards. Make your home keno game a regular occurrence and you can earn club loyalty points, redeemable for cash.
G’day Casino Keno: Try out the Aussie-themed G’day online casino, powered by White Hat Gaming. The online casino has an array of different innovative keno games including; Instant Keno Classic, Krazy Keno, Klub Keno and Traditional Keno. G’day has a range of different payment options, all of which are safe and secure for Australians.
Guts Casino Keno: This online casino is good if you want to check out a range of keno games powered by multiple software developers including; Net Entertainment, Microgaming, BetSoft Gaming and OMI Gaming. Guts Casino has a progressive jackpot keno game called Bonus Keno – hit than and you’ll be keno host of the year.
All games can be played within practice mode for free if you want to learn the ropes before diving in for real money, especially if some of your friends are keno newbies.
Get The Edge For Your Friends
Finding the best keno pay scales subsequently means you get the best house edge. One of the more generous keno pay scales we found online was at G’day Casino – pick up to 10 spots, with the payout for five to 10 catches holding strong returns (pays 5:1 for five hits and 10,000:1 for 10 hits – 20 numbers are randomly drawn). In this game, the house edge works out to be a six per cent house edge, which is quite good for keno, as many land-based keno games hold house edges of anywhere between 20 and 35 per cent.
As mentioned above, Microgaming’s Royal Vegas keno title also holds a house edge around six per cent. The less numbers you select, the higher the payout will be when you hit those numbers, however it is much harder to hit fewer numbers selected than choosing 15 or even 20 out of 80 numbers, so be sure to share this with your guests before you get stuck into a fun night of home keno.
Live Dealer Keno – Play at Home
Step into the realm of a land-based casino in your living room and impress your friends with live online keno. Set up an online account at G’day Casino and watch via live video streaming, a live dealer hand-draw keno balls, while you and your friends experience the contemporary gameplay benefits of digital gambling.
Instead of random number generators used to produce results, live dealer games are drawn by real people using a mechanical barrel and numbered balls. Enjoy the delivery of a high definition video feed, which is beamed in real time right to your desktop computer or smart TV to create an amazing casino atmosphere. You won’t be able to practice play this version as these games are only available in real money mode, but you can watch them once you’ve created an account, and bet when you are ready to bet. New games run every five minutes or so, and there are some added betting options we can utilise.
The best live dealer keno gaming is powered by Ezugi at G’day – it owns a great betting layout, consistent HD video feed, and professional dealers whom are always available. The setup is similar to the traditional game, with 80 balls in the barrel and 20 numbers called each round. We can pick up to a max of eight spots per round instead of 10 or the traditional 15. Betting limits are increased though, with a maximum of $50, which is much more than random number generated keno games allow. When you select eight spots, the pay scale is as follows:
Four hits – 4 for 1
Five hits – 15 for 1
Six hits – 50 for 1
Seven hits – 200 for 1
Eight hits – 1500 for 1
Create Your Own Homemade Keno Games
While it will take more of your time, it’s not too difficult to create your very own homegrown game, either. While you might not be able to use genuine keno balls, you can create numbered cards which are placed face down and chosen at random by one individual. Play individually and decide on how many numbers you each want to pick – for this example let’s agree on 10. Draw up 5 x 2 keno cards and get each player to punch in their chosen numbers.
For home games, you can adjust the total amount of numbers to a smaller range (1-50, for example). Get everyone to chip in an agreed upon amount prior to commencing, and also are on how many rounds will be played. Get each player to check of their matching spots each round and count how many catches they acquire at the end of all rounds. The player with the most wins the prize pool. Enjoy.