What is your best keno strategy

[busdrivertrwy]

Playing at casinos in Ohio I find 7 spot "L" patterns win quite often.

[dedngon1]

I hit random numbers and play them. I don't switch them. I've done quite well with my weird method except in Vegas. I haven't found a method that works there at all

[Lemme58]

I play 7 numbers in the top row. I have hit 7 out of 7 a great deal of times.

[applepear86]

I like 5 spot keno. It's one of the best games in the casino, and I will explain why.

In Jacks or better VP, one of the only "real" jackpots on it is the royal flush. On a 9/6 paytable, you have a 1 in 40,000 chance of hitting a royal using basic strategy. Given the house edge in that game is about 0.46%, your 1,000 dollar royal flush will at quarter play will cost you around 1,220 dollars, given that on average you will have to cycle through 40,000 hands before you hit it. On a 10% house advantage 5 spot game, it's about the same cost to hit their 810 credit payout, you will spend about 960 dollars to get it on the $1 level based on the fact you have a 1 in 1600 chance of winning. $5 per draw 5 spot keno will give you the same exposure to $4,000 as $5 per hand 25 hand VP gives you to a $4,000 royal flush. I love video poker, but when the VP snobs diss keno, a lot of times they don't fully know what they're talking about

[onemoretry]

....but when the VP snobs diss keno, a lot of times they don't fully know what they're talking about

In your own words, the 5 spot game you're referring to has a 10% casino advantage. Perhaps it makes me a VP snob, but I just can't follow the reasoning that suggests playing that game is better than playing one with a casino advantage of less than 1%.

[dinghy]

I just can't follow the reasoning that suggests playing that game is better than playing one with a casino advantage of less than 1%.

If you play 40,000 rounds of vp, you'll lose $220.

If you play 1600 rounds of keno, you'll only lose $150.

Therefore keno is better.

[applepear86]

Of course time on device is much longer with Jacks or Better, and I play a lot of it for that reason. It also is interesting to play like a table game varying the bet when the cards are hot or cold

However, 5 spot keno, you only have to cycle through 1600 spins on average to get the 800x payout. On Jacks or Better, it's 40,000 for the royal. The financial result for achieving the jackpot on a 9/6 jacks or better is almost the exact same as a good 5 spot keno game. There's no other real jackpots on JOB unless you hit a 4 of a kind or a straight flush when you're hail marying a few hundred bucks in a 25 dollar a hand machine.

And actually, if you play 9/5 JOB, the cost of the royal goes up to $2,000 for a $1,000 royal on a quarter game. 8/5, you're looking at 3,000 dollars for a 1,000 royal approximately.

A game that's 99.5% is useless for long term play if you are pushing moving money back and forth and getting nickel and dimed with that 0.5% for tens of thousands of bets, and the jackpot is once in a blue moon. What makes keno superior to many other games is it has pure exposure to the top jackpots. Why play some of the awful VP paytables they have today when you can play 5 spot or even 7 spot? Keno is too often dismissed as a game all the grandmas play for a nickel per draw after they strike out, when actually it can be a very nice main game. Some of my biggest wins have come from keno. And the beauty of keno, you don't have to play the cards perfectly like on VP, all the numbers are equal on keno.

So in summary, while I love VP, the VP snobs have no place dissing keno when they can't demonstrate how it's better. It's better for time on device, but financially, many keno payouts are the same or better than VP.

[applepear86]

....but when the VP snobs diss keno, a lot of times they don't fully know what they're talking about

In your own words, the 5 spot game you're referring to has a 10% casino advantage. Perhaps it makes me a VP snob, but I just can't follow the reasoning that suggests playing that game is better than playing one with a casino advantage of less than 1%.

It's the same financially. Or better since many people play awfuly on their VP strategy, while on Keno all the numbers are equal and EV is the same. Time on device isn't important to me, I don't have to sit there for 4 to 8 hours like many others like to do. If I want to spend more time in the casino, I do switch to VP.

[applepear86]

I just can't follow the reasoning that suggests playing that game is better than playing one with a casino advantage of less than 1%.

If you play 40,000 rounds of vp, you'll lose $220.

If you play 1600 rounds of keno, you'll only lose $150.

Therefore keno is better.

Yes, financially it is, if you count getting the jackpot as the result. Or even better when you consider how dismal video poker paytables are nowadays, and how in keno you can't make mistakes in basic strategy as all the numbers are equal.

[dinghy]

Why play some of the awful VP paytables they have today when you can play 5 spot or even 7 spot?

I agree VP can be very bad for a non-thinking player. Paytable may only be 95 or 96%, then subtract 2 or 3% for strategy errors. And slot club benefits are typically worse for VP.

But casinos in general are bad for a non-thinking player. Keno paytables may be 90% or less, and slot clubs often require some attention and effort to maximize benefits.

If I were to play keno, I think I would minimally require a 95% paytable. Usually I believe this would be 3/13/838 for the 5 spot, or 1/2/22/422/7000 for the 7 spot. I would keep in mind that keno can generally be played for a 1-coin bet without EV penalty. This allows flexibility to increase denomination in search of the best odds.

In addition, I would require substantial slot club value. Clubs are often binary, rewarding reels and VP at different rates. As a keno player, I want to be lumped in with the reels. For some promos such as multiplier days, club rewards can total far above 1% not including soft-comp food or hotel benefits.

Ultimately I want my EV + slot club to exceed 100%. Keno doesn't get me there.