Keno is one of the oldest known gambling games played in a casino. Believe it or not, keno was invented 3000 years ago in China.
It was the ruler known as Cheung Leung that invented the game during the Han Dynasty. During his time as ruler, his dynasty was becoming drawn out because of all the money needed for war. They wanted to exhort more money from the people but were unable to do so.
Since Cheung Leung was no longer able to tax out his people he though of an ingenious way to raise money. He invented a game that is very similar to the game of keno being played today. He created this game of chance in which people will wager their property.
The game of Keno Cheung Leung invented was based on the poem "The Thousand Character Classic". The poem was a way for Chinese people to learn to count up to a thousand without any repeating characters. The poem comprised of 250 phrases with 4 characters each. Only 120 characters were used out of the 250. The 120 characters were later on subdivided into 8 characters for each subdivision.
The prize of one subdivision that won would be ten taels (a Chinese form of currency). If their subdivision lost, three li of their property will be taken. The game is still being played in China but with a reduced number of characters. Instead of using 1000 characters the game played today uses only 80 characters.
The game eventually refinanced Cheung Leung`s dynasty. As the game became more popular it became known as "The Game of the White Pigeon". The name was derived from the dove that relayed the news of success or losses to mountainous regions of China. The game eventually became famous nationwide. It was also keno that funded part of the Great Wall of China.
Keno picked up it`s pace in the early 20th century. San Francisco became the home of people who were usually not welcomed in the mainland. Together with the Chinese immigrants that arrived was the game of keno. Keno became a success in the underground.
The Chinese immigrants later on saw that this game was also enjoyed by the Americans as the the Chinese characters were changed into numbers. Keno was later on seen as a form of lottery. That`s why when gambling was legalized keno wasn`t included.
