LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Keno is coming to Kentucky, beginning Monday at 5 a.m. It should mean more money for the Kentucky Lottery Corporation and more money for the state, and be easy to play.
"When you go into a retailer it is going to look exactly like when you buy your Pick 3 or Pick 4 tickets," says lottery spokesman Chip Polston.
Keno is a lottery type game. Starting at one dollar, players will attempt to match the numbers randomly selected by the lottery. It is a game that will be played almost constantly.
"Every five minutes," says Polston, "we draw twenty numbers; what players try to do is to match anywhere from one to ten of those numbers, and they decide how many they want to try to match."
The cheapest prize you can win is $2. There is a one in four chance of doing that.
The highest payout: $100,000. Says Polston, "the odds of winning the top prize are one in about nine million, they are very, very long."
Four hundred retailers have signed up to offer Keno, some at places that have not sold lottery games before.
Congregating and watching a monitor are not a model that is conducive to a grocery store or convenience store," explains Polston, "but Keno is more likely to be found at a social setting, such as a restaurant, a bowling alley, or bar, or something along those lines, that is where it lends itself to where people are going to stay for awhile."
Robert Gauthier just opened a new Roosters Restaurant on Shelbyville Road near Middletown. He will offer Keno to customers. "It does help my bottom line and I believe it is another viewing option," says Gauthier.
He operates restaurants in Ohio, which already has Keno, and believes the game here will be good for his new restaurant. "We have 26 Roosters restaurants in Ohio and they all tried Keno and business picked up dramatically," he says.
Last year the Kentucky Lottery turned over to the state $223 million, money earmarked for college scholarships and tuition grants.
The lottery projects in five years because of Keno, it will be able to increase that amount by $20 million.
"I think the money is being well used right now," says Kentucky State Treasurer Todd Hollenbach IV, "but if it is going to be re-directed for any reason, I think it should go into pensions and my preference would be that it would go into the state teacher retirement system."
Hollenbach is also a member of the lottery board and is one of those who favored Keno as a way for the lottery to increase its revenue.
He believes Keno could help the state shore up some of its pension problems.
But it will be up to members of the Kentucky General Assembly to decide how any additional lottery money should be spent.
Middletown is too far.
I'd do Middlesboro though.
How about it, Skip?
Meet me in the middle.
That's great News WTG! Kentucky Lottery
KENO sucks. Unless you have a good system to hurt them, otherwise I think they "ONLY WANT TO HURT YOU"...
I hope folks play it just for fun and don't lose the light bill, water bill, rent, house payment, gas, groceries, medicine money.
I just read a little about Keno...it has no strategy..it is just luck and you.
Don't worry everybody, I'm working on a system for Keno.
Remember Alphabit Soup with all the little letters of the alphabet in it?
Well, I don't wanna give away my secret yet but it involves a new canned Chili I'm developing called KENO-BEANO that has little numbers floating around in it.
This is looking like a "can't miss" situation.
Keno - Beano, Heh,Heh,Heh, LMAO.
Should be a gas! Can't wait.
Keno is not for me. I hear it is as addictive as scratch off tickets. I don't even want to attempt it and get hooked by the beginners luck of a $20 win. NO.
They just want more money, KY stingy right now, they can have it!
I still don't get Keno :(
Keno is like The Annoying Devil. It can be a pain in the @zz.
Keno is like a Lotto 6/49 game but is drawn every 5 minutes (4 minutes in Massachusett.s) It is said to be very addictive.
pick 10 numbers 1-80 but some states have 1-70 that's it
you will either win or lose
We already have scratch-off and online game vending machines so if anyone is hooked that bad, we can't blame it all on Keno. I believe players are going to find Keno more expensive than most games because with only five minutes between drawings, players will play multiple draws.
I agree finding a playing strategy will be very difficult because of the combination of five minutes and the much lower payoffs than casinos pay. Even with the poor payoffs, some bets are better than others. The overall chances of winning something playing a 4-spot is 1 in 3.86 compared to a 5-spot that is 1 in 10.34. I was surprised by how many different locations were selling Keno. It's almost in every store that sells lottery tickets.
I hope you sell all the ones you can Ridgerunner. !!!!!!!!! Beaudad
Well, thank you, beaudad!
I'll put you down for a couple cases!
put a little pork in them Ridge............!!!!!!!! Pork & Beano's.........eat them while I play Kenos...!!!!!!! do you suggest crackers or bread with those??? Beaudad.......
Well, I recommend a French Baguette with Amish Butter but you can't get that here so we use cornbread slathered with bacon grease from the coffee can under the sink. Bon apetit!
It is quite interesting and exciting to play Keno too. However I am more into winning huge jackpot prize! I know it is hard to hit the jackpot in Powerball
but I will still try my luck.