The "Player" hand and the"Banker" hand are drawn from 8 standard 52-card decks that have beenshuffled together and placed in the "Shoe." Cards one and three go tothe "Player" hand while cards two and four make up the"Banker" hand. Each hand starts with a minimum of two cards and cannever have more than three cards. Traditionally, one of the participants at thetable deals the cards. Dealing, however, is optional and a player may choose topass the cards along to another. The winning hand is the hand that adds up to orcomes closest to a total of 9 points. Participants win even money (i.e doublethere original bet) when the "Player" hand wins. Those who bet the"Bank" win even money, as well. However, there is a 5% commissioncharged on winning "Banker" bets. The "Bank" has a slightadvantage in the way that the cards are drawn, therefore, this commission ischarged. Players can also bet on a "Tie" game that generally pays out8:1.

After you have placed your ante you will be dealt 5 cards. The dealer will then receive four cards face down and one card face up. At this point, you may either bet if you think you can win or surrender if you feel that your hand is inadequate. If you bet, your bet will equal twice your ante. If you surrender, you will lose your ante to the dealer and the hand will end. The dealer will then reveal his cards, and one of two things will happen: he will either qualify, or he will fail to qualify. If the dealer does not have an Ace King combination or better in his hand, he will fail to qualify. (In other words, the dealer must have at least a pair if he does not have both an Ace and a King) If the dealer does not qualify, your will receive a 1 to 1 payoff on your ante and your bet will be returned to you. If the dealer does qualify, his hand will then be compared to yours. If the dealer's hand beats yours, you will lose your ante and your bet. If the dealer's hand and your hand are equal, no money will be exchanged. If your hand beats the dealer's hand, you will win even money (1 to 1) on your ante, plus a payoff on your bet based on the quality of your hand (see below) If the dealer and you both have the same hand (for example you have one pair and the dealer has one pair), then the winner is the one with the high ranking cards. If the dealer has one pair, for example jack, jack, ten, six and five and the player has one pair hand of jack, jack, ten, eight and four, then the player wins. Your original ante and bet in addition to any winnings will be displayed as separate piles of chips. The hand rankings in Caribbean poker are the standard poker rankings, listed from lowest to highest below:

According to scrolls dating back to Ancient China, Cheung Leung of the Han Dynasty created a game very similar to Keno around 200AD to fund the war that had been going on for several years. the funds for the war were getting low and the people of his city were beginning to refuse to contribute any more of their hard earned wages to it. He decided a game of chance would be the best avenue to creating revenue for his army.

You may have noticed that keno is a lot like a lotto game. That's because keno is a lotto. The name has been changed a few times in the game's 3000+ year history, mostly to circumvent the law or taxes or both. By all accounts, the Chinese invented the game to fund their army and The Great Wall.

They devised the game using the first 120 symbols of the well known poem, "The Thousand Character Classic", which had been used prior as a romantic numbering system, as no two characters were alike. The game became so successful that it was adopted throughout China, even being used to help fund the Great Wall of China. Keno started out using those 120 Chinese characters. Before the game left China, that number was reduced to 90. The game came to America with the wave of Chinese immigrants in the 19th century. These were mostly the Chinese railroad workers of folklore. About this time the game was reduced to 80 Chinese characters.

Although illegal, keno thrived among Chinese immigrants, especially around big cities like San Francisco. It became known as the Chinese lottery. English speaking Americans became interested in the game, but had difficulty differentiating the Chinese characters used in the game. Around the beginning of the 20th century, keno operators replaced the Chinese characters with Arabic numbers to entice more players.

Although Nevada legalized most forms of gambling in 1931, the legislature did not legalize lottery. The name of the game didn't evolve from "Chinese Lottery" until the early 20th century, when gambling was legalized in the state of Nevada. The legalization of gambling did not cover lotteries, so the name of the game was changed to "Horse Race Keno", playing on the idea that the numbers were horses and you wanted your horse to come in first. Shortly after, Nevada placed a tax on all Off Track betting, so to avoid the tax, the name was shortened to Keno, as it is known as today.

In 1963 the aggregate keno payout limit in Nevada was $25,000. In 1979 it was changed to $50,000. In 1989 the Nevada Gaming Commission eliminated the cap, and casinos are now free to set their aggregate limits as they wish.

The next time you're in your favorite keno lounge crumpling your loosing ticket, let your mind wonder back 3000 years to the Han Dynasty. You're not the first to be lured by this game, and you certainly will not be the last!

Splitting
When a player is dealt two cards with equal values, they have the option of "splitting" them into two separate hands. In order to "split", the initial bet has to be matched. Each hand is then played separately. If the player splits two Aces, only one more card is dealt to each hand. A hand can only be split once. Doubling Down
A player may double on their first two cards other than a Blackjack. When a player doubles, only one more card is dealt and the original bet has to be matched. Essentially, the player bets the hand can be won with one more card. You can also "double down" after "splitting" a pair. Insurance
When the dealer's up card is an ace, the player is offered "insurance". Taking insurance means the player makes a second bet (of half the original bet) that the dealer's face down card is a ten card. If this is the case, the player is paid 2 to 1 on the insurance bet and the initial bet loses as it is beaten by the dealer's Blackjack. If the dealer does not have a natural Blackjack, the insurance bet is lost and the hand is played out as normal. Even Money
If the player (you) has a Blackjack and the dealer's up card is an Ace, the player is offered 'even money'. Taking even money means the player will be paid 1 to 1 on the Blackjack and not 3 to 2 as normal. Taking even money means the player believes the dealer's face down card is a ten card. If the player chooses not to take even money and the dealer reveals a Blackjack, both hands tie. If no even money is taken and the dealer has no Blackjack, the player is paid at 3 to 2. *The Dealer has none of these options.