Let’s go over some king tickets as they are a very powerful way to play, easy to calculate the number of ways, and can give you incredible winnings if your numbers hit.
King tickets have one huge advantage – any and all hits are always the right way. Play an eight-spot grouped as 2-2-2-1-1 and play the eight and the two possible 7s. Assuming you hit 7 of the 8, you can either hit them the right way (2-2-2-1-0 or 2-2-2-0-1) or the wrong way (26 possible ways left) such as 2-1-2-1-1.
If you hit them the right way you get a solid 7. If you hit wrong you only get 6 out of 7. With kings being one numbered groups, all ways you hit are the right way. I was playing at the California with numbers 1, 6, 53, 54, 57, 59, 60, 80, and 1, 6, 53, 54, 57, 60, 80 came up. (No. 59, of course, came up the next game.)
I was playing the 8 for $1 and the 7s for 50 cents. With 8 kings you have an 8 and eight 7s. Thus I got paid $1,500 for the 7 out of 8, $8,000 for the solid 7, and $100 each for the remaining seven 6 out of 7s, giving me a total of $10,200.
Were 59 not to have been so cowardly the pay would have been $30,000 for the 8, and $8,000 for each of the eight 7s for a total of $94,000! That is why players are always wishing for one more number.
In this case I was at the Main Street Station buffet and when I returned to check the ticket, wow! Since I was playing in the tourney as well I had other tickets that also came in solid thus had a $16K win.
You can have the fun of playing kings at video keno as well just play 20-card keno. Choose 7 numbers out of 8 and use a different 7 out of the same 8 eight times until you have all possible ways of making a 7 out of 8. This way you can have king ticket fun for 9 cents a game playing pennies. Of course, the win will be much smaller due to the lower denomination.
Keno is so much fun when your numbers come up! You can play more ways but the ticket price will go up fast. In an 8 king ticket there is an 8, eight 7s, 28 sixes, 56 fives, 70 fours, 56 threes, 28 twos, and eight 1s,
It isn’t as hard to figure out as you may think. The number of 3s, for example, must equal the number of 5s, and if you play the 3s, five numbers remain. Likewise, if you play the 5s, three numbers remain. So how do you know there are, for example, 70 fours?
It is called a combination problem, often written as 8C4, which means you are choosing how many ways can you choose 4 numbers out of 8 without picking ALL identical numbers. Mathematically speaking the formula is 8!/(4!4!).
Not used to math? No problem. You can ask the keno writers how many 4s you can make out of an all king 8-spot ticket. They will put it in to the keno computer and give you the answer. Of course read a good keno book before you travel to the keno game and try out some video keno for free at videopoker.com without actually gambling. Then come to the casino as an informed player.
If you are new to keno please observe these courtesies:
• Have your tickets, money, player card or keno account number ready at the counter.
• Do not smoke in line or at the counter as a courtesy to other players and the keno staff.
• Do not spend extra minutes at the counter when others are in line.
• If you win be gracious.
• If you have a game net win of $1,500 or more, have your ID and social security card or proof of your SSN to speed up the paperwork. Don’t cash one ticket now and one later thinking you do not have to pay the tax this way. This is illegal. The camera observes everything.
• Keep good records of your wins and losses as even if a win does not approach the $1,500 paperwork threshold it is still taxable income and must be reported. If you itemize deductions you can deduct losses to the extent of your wins.
• Have a good time, enjoy yourself and try to play in the games where your numbers show up. Good luck!