We are always trying to find new ways to hit the big one. There is no right way. If you buy more tickets it is easier to hit but the cost is more. Is there an easy answer? No, but we can reduce the odds.
I am a proponent of the 7-spot as usually the pay is much better than a 6 and in many places not that much less than an 8 in regards to hitting. To simplify, it is about five times as hard to hit a 7-spot as a 6, and harder to hit an 8-spot than a 7.
Thus try this: Buy a ticket grouped as 2-1-1-1-1-1-1. It gives you one 8, six 7’s, and 16 sixes. Best place to play it, at The D downtown using their Deano rate for the lowest house edge.
Using their 10-cent ways, you have a ticket that costs $2.30 a game. Play 10 games or more ($23) and you have 360 days to collect your winnings. Using a Deuce instead of all kings reduces the ticket cost sharply, but you might hit 1-1-1-1-1-1-1 and instead of having a solid 7 if you played all kings you would have only a 6.
How many ways playing all kings? Use the formula or Pascal’s triangle to figure it out. You would have 8 kings (Saul, David, Solomon, George, Henry VIII, Richard, Phillips, Ferdinand) and an 8, eight 7s and 28 sixes for a ticket cost of $3.70, a very, very powerful dime ticket.
If you hit six numbers you have a solid 6 and a plethora of smaller pays. Hit seven numbers you have a solid 7, seven solid 6’s and lots of smaller pays. Hit all 8 and you could buy the car they have parked in front of the casino for their giveway as you would have a solid 8, eight solid 7s, and 28 solid sixes, just $2,500 + 8($1,750) + 28 ($300) = $2,500 + $14,000 + $8,400 = $ 24,900.
Thus you can win big money at keno using way ticket strategies and, of course, getting lucky. Downtown Vegas has the best pays and is a good place to play.
The beauty of an all King ticket is you do not have to hit all of the numbers to win big. If you do, the win is huge. The beauty of Kings is also that you do not have to hit your numbers the “right way” as you have the same win with the same number of spots hit when you play kings, regardless of which numbers are hit.
If your ticket contains the numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 you win the same if you hit 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 or 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8. Thus the power of the King, regardless of his name!
Try it, you’ll like it. Keno Kings are fun, especially if they show up while playing!
Pesach Kremen is a former UNLV Masters Gaming student, has won and placed in multiple local keno tournaments, and has written several academic papers on keno. Email: [email protected]