The History of Keno: From a Chinese Lottery to a Casino Staple

A game some legends say helped fund the Great Wall of China is now a fixture on casino floors worldwide.

The Legend of Baige Piao

Keno’s origins trace back roughly 2,000 years to ancient China, where a game called “Baige Piao” (white pigeon ticket) used a grid of Chinese characters, later replaced by numbers, for players to guess winning combinations. Popular legend holds that revenue from this game helped fund the construction and defense of the Great Wall of China, though historians treat this claim as folklore rather than verified fact.

Crossing the Pacific with Chinese Immigrants

The game arrived in the United States in the mid-19th century, brought over by Chinese immigrants working on railroad construction projects in the American West. It spread through Chinese communities in cities like San Francisco, often played informally in the back rooms of laundries and restaurants.

Renamed to Dodge Lottery Laws

When the game began appearing in Nevada casinos in the 1930s, it faced a legal obstacle: state law banned lotteries but not games classified as “table games.” To sidestep this restriction, operators renamed the game “Racehorse Keno,” replacing numbers with horse names to disguise its lottery-like structure, before eventually reverting to numbers once the legal distinction was clarified.

A Relaxed Alternative to Table Games

Unlike fast-paced games like blackjack or craps, keno developed a reputation as a slower, low-pressure activity, often played by casino guests relaxing at a restaurant or lounge while a “keno runner” collected tickets and delivered winnings between draws — a role that largely disappeared with the rise of electronic keno terminals in the late 20th century.

Keno in the Digital Age

Today, keno remains a popular fixture in both land-based and online casinos, prized for its simplicity and long odds on massive jackpots. Its journey from an ancient Chinese lottery to a modern digital casino game makes it one of the oldest continuously played gambling formats still found on casino floors today.