Keno Machine Strategy
x7x7x7
I have Played keno for years always thinking it was trully random and have enjoyed the game yes I've lost more than I won but never my mortgage payment lol so it was only for entertainment and I have enjoyed playing and ever so often hit a nice 7-spot or 8-spot or 8 of 9 etc for a nice payday but now after reading this this seems like it could make sense I hope its not true would take away alotta the fun of keno knowing its not trully random.... Does anyone work for a company like IGT or something and answer this with a def yes or no? Thanks
One of the most technical explanations of how a video keno game works was delivered to me from a reader who claims to have received the information from a former technician of a major slot manufacturer.
Now, I don’t endorse this explanation or suggest that it is a true reflection of how keno machines work. But I thought it might prove interesting, if not worthwhile, to our readers. Here is the explanation, in the reader’s own words:
These machines are designed and programmed to do one thing. Pay the house a certain pre-determined percentage of every dollar gambled, and I have been assured that if the machine has not registered enough intake of money to enable it to pay out a major jackpot, it will not hit no matter how many times or how often you re-set your numbers. These machines have a three phase program written into them.
Phase one … there isn’t enough money to pay a jackpot. This is when the machine will somehow manage to miss your numbers most of the time, hitting small pays just often enough to keep the 'it’s due' type of player feeding it.
Phase two is the real kicker. When the machine has enough money to pay out a jackpot without hurting the house 'hold' it actually switches over to a second program that is truly run via a random number generator. At this point the machine is actually running an honest RNG program, and your numbers may or may not hit depending on how lucky you are. This is when your true odds of hitting a jackpot based on the number of spots picked come into play. The more numbers picked, the longer the odds. (One note here: Almost all these machines except those connected to a progressive jackpot, pay the same maximum jackpot for an 8-, 9- or 10-spot. So why play a 10-spot when an 8-spot pays the same and your odds of hitting one are exponentially better?)
The third phase programmed into the game is the one you hope you’re lucky enough to have running when you put your money in and pick your numbers. Everyone from the Gaming Control Board to the manufacturer will deny this even under the pain of death, but just remember it is a computer and it can be programmed to do anything you want it to do. And it is the only way that a machine manufacturer can guarantee the house that they will make their percentage in profit. When these machines switch over to the third tier of the program, it reads that the machine is holding far in excess of what it is programmed to earn for the house, usually from 15 percent to 18 percent. It’s just way too close to the maximum 25 percent hold mandated by state gaming regulations. Now it doesn’t matter what numbers you pick, they are going to hit!
Interesting stuff, wouldn’t you say? Beyond that, I don’t have a clue whether this is an accurate explanation of a video keno program. And, of course, the game manufacturers aren’t talking.
One of the most technical explanations of how a video keno game works was delivered to me from a reader who claims to have received the information from a former technician of a major slot manufacturer.
Now, I don’t endorse this explanation or suggest that it is a true reflection of how keno machines work. But I thought it might prove interesting, if not worthwhile, to our readers. Here is the explanation, in the reader’s own words:
These machines are designed and programmed to do one thing. Pay the house a certain pre-determined percentage of every dollar gambled, and I have been assured that if the machine has not registered enough intake of money to enable it to pay out a major jackpot, it will not hit no matter how many times or how often you re-set your numbers. These machines have a three phase program written into them.
Phase one … there isn’t enough money to pay a jackpot. This is when the machine will somehow manage to miss your numbers most of the time, hitting small pays just often enough to keep the 'it’s due' type of player feeding it.
Phase two is the real kicker. When the machine has enough money to pay out a jackpot without hurting the house 'hold' it actually switches over to a second program that is truly run via a random number generator. At this point the machine is actually running an honest RNG program, and your numbers may or may not hit depending on how lucky you are. This is when your true odds of hitting a jackpot based on the number of spots picked come into play. The more numbers picked, the longer the odds. (One note here: Almost all these machines except those connected to a progressive jackpot, pay the same maximum jackpot for an 8-, 9- or 10-spot. So why play a 10-spot when an 8-spot pays the same and your odds of hitting one are exponentially better?)
The third phase programmed into the game is the one you hope you’re lucky enough to have running when you put your money in and pick your numbers. Everyone from the Gaming Control Board to the manufacturer will deny this even under the pain of death, but just remember it is a computer and it can be programmed to do anything you want it to do. And it is the only way that a machine manufacturer can guarantee the house that they will make their percentage in profit. When these machines switch over to the third tier of the program, it reads that the machine is holding far in excess of what it is programmed to earn for the house, usually from 15 percent to 18 percent. It’s just way too close to the maximum 25 percent hold mandated by state gaming regulations. Now it doesn’t matter what numbers you pick, they are going to hit!
Interesting stuff, wouldn’t you say? Beyond that, I don’t have a clue whether this is an accurate explanation of a video keno program. And, of course, the game manufacturers aren’t talking.
7craps
e43138
- Let’s say it straight away, Keno is, like any lottery, basically a guessing game. Winning keno numbers are selected completely at random. So the bottom line is that no keno strategy is ever going to be really successful at predicting what will come out. Having said that, there are some things you can do to edge the odds in your favour.
- Feb 04, 2019 Best Keno Strategies: The Quick And Dirty Version. Here is the top keno strategy: Prefer to play games with fewer As explained above, classic keno is played with 80 numbers. However, at online variants, you can sometimes find 60 numbers or even less.
nyuhoosier
All in all, the best Keno strategy is simply the one that makes playing the game the most enjoyable for you, and to the extent that you are successful doing that, you will get the most out of your Keno play, which is exactly what you want. Keno Strategy and Odds. Of the many Keno tips and tricks you will want to learn, the first is to have a solid understanding of the basic game. The game involves 80 numbered balls that are pulled from a bubble once they are mixed up. One ball is selected at a time and the number called out or otherwise identified. Each player has a card with numbers on it.
This is the kind of tripe that surfaces a lot on this board -- conspiracy theories based on second- or third-hand information. It's in casinos' interest to offer fair games because the house edge -- particularly in KENO(!!) -- is already on their side. No need to risk everything by cheating. Plus, they're highly regulated, at least in Nevada.
People who lose again and again need to rationalize it with the conclusion that the game must be fixed. Notice that some guy heard this from some guy. Yeah, it's interesting, but show me the facts.
People who lose again and again need to rationalize it with the conclusion that the game must be fixed. Notice that some guy heard this from some guy. Yeah, it's interesting, but show me the facts.
Wizard
Administrator
Administrator
This is the kind of tripe that surfaces a lot on this board -- conspiracy theories based on second- or third-hand information. It's in casinos' interest to offer fair games because the house edge -- particularly in KENO(!!) -- is already on their side. No need to risk everything by cheating. Plus, they're highly regulated, at least in Nevada.
People who lose again and again need to rationalize it with the conclusion that the game must be fixed. Notice that some guy heard this from some guy. Yeah, it's interesting, but show me the facts.
Couldn't have said it better myself.
It's not whether you win or lose; it's whether or not you had a good bet.
7craps
Yeah, it's interesting, but show me the facts.
Book: License to Steal: Nevada's Gaming Control System in the Megaresort Age
An excellent and fun book to read.
preview google books HERE
Read page one and two in Chapter One for free. Pages 43 and 44 are good also.
There WAS cheating back then, and they had HE on slots back then,in the mid 80s and 90s, so then they must have cheated because they were greedy. Only reason I could figure.
But no one is greedy any more, from Wall Street to Casinos and Banks. Im sure they all learned their lessons and will be 100% honest til the end.
I say, if someone (a casino anywhere in the world)wants to cheat, they will, regardless of risk being caught. History has shown it HAS happened and I am sure it continues to happen.
winsome johnny (not Win some johnny)
JerryLogan
This is the kind of tripe that surfaces a lot on this board -- conspiracy theories based on second- or third-hand information. It's in casinos' interest to offer fair games because the house edge -- particularly in KENO(!!) -- is already on their side. No need to risk everything by cheating. Plus, they're highly regulated, at least in Nevada.
People who lose again and again need to rationalize it with the conclusion that the game must be fixed. Notice that some guy heard this from some guy. Yeah, it's interesting, but show me the facts.
That's just it. Who's going to show anyone any facts about what's done with video gaming machines? We're in a recession right now and anything's possible if it weren't already. All we have to go by are Gaming Regs, and who's to say if they're complete or if they have multiple interpretations available.
People will lie, companies will cheat, governments will mislead; happens all the time. I believe machine fairness is an individual perception, bounded by hope that everything's on the up & up.
mkl654321
At least one player who is known, and almost certainly, dozens who are not, have managed to exploit the non-randomness of video keno machines to win large sums. The key is that there is no such thing as a true random number generator, without going into the technical details.As to whether the machines can be set to 'cheat'--well, we all know this is trivial to do. It is also completely undetectable. Even if the Gaming Control Board were to descend on a casino, guns drawn, and spirit away all the video keno machines with the purpose of carrying them back to their underground lair and making them confess--well, the act of powering the machines down would destroy any loaded program (in software, not in firmware). And I doubt very much whether any clueless third party could ever decode the program anyway.
So the question is, they can cheat--but would they? Well, first, you have to define 'cheat'. The casinos have already decided, AND THE COURTS AGREE WITH THEM, that fiddling with the outcome of a 'random' slot machine event is NOT cheating. If a reel slot was going to display (blank) 7 7, the program will rearrange the outcome to 7 7 (blank), making the customer's heart skip a beat, rather than the anticlimactic initial blank.
So as long as the eventual preset payback is realized, both practice and law (I'm talking Nevada law here, which is more like 1920's Chicago or 1990's Russia law) say that the casino can rearrange those payouts any way they want. Do keno machines cluster results in the way you mention? We'll never know--but the casinos have shown no compunction against mucking with supposedly randomly generated results. The silver lining is that if they ARE doing that, it doesn't actually change your overall chances one way or the other--it just increases your variance (which can actually be a Godsend on a -EV game, as you might hit something big and be able to get away from the damned machine before it crushes you).
The fact that a believer is happier than a skeptic is no more to the point than the fact that a drunken man is happier than a sober one. The happiness of credulity is a cheap and dangerous quality.---George Bernard Shaw
Wizard
Administrator
Administrator
...the casinos have shown no compunction against mucking with supposedly randomly generated results.
I stand by what I have said many times, that video poker and video keno in Nevada is fair, as if real cards/balls were used. If anyone can provide me evidence that such is not that case, I'll be happy to investigate, and use my bully pulpit to shame any game maker that is not offering an honest and fair game, as well as making a formal complaint to Gaming.
It's not whether you win or lose; it's whether or not you had a good bet.
scotty81
Keno Machine Strategies
I have to agree with the Wizard. Having worked in the Legal industry for almost 30 years, I can tell you that without question that if this sort of systematic cheating was being perpetrated on the general public by IGT and the casinos that you would see a class action suit filed so fast it would make your brain hurt.The financial incentives to expose/litigate this sort of cheating far outweigh any advantage either IGT or the casinos would gain from it.
That's not to say that there have not been instances in past where shoddy RNGs and clever programmers have found ways to beat the system. But, these were isolated cases, and I believe it is not systemically integrated into the machines.
Prediction is very difficult, especially about the future. - Niels Bohr
DorothyGale
People who have no clue how the industry works and have no idea about the levels of oversight and testing protocols are quick to create fantasies to explain their losses. No amount of explanation from experts is going to do; they are just going to believe those who tell them what they want to believe.If it sounds just like religious quackery, it is.
How To Win Video Keno
I believed the 'Wizard' was a wizard until I pulled back the curtain. Now I know he passes every statistical test for fairness created by man.Keno Machine Strategies
--Dorothy'Who would have thought a good little girl like you could destroy my beautiful wickedness!'