As per normal poker rules - playing and betting proceeds in a clockwise direction.

All Players must first ante before they receive their initial cards, except the $0.50/$1 game which has no ante.

There are four betting rounds in a complete game of Five-Card Stud, not including the ante.

On the first round of betting, the Player with the lowest value door card "brings-in" and starts the betting - equal to at least half the minimum bet for the game. In proceeding rounds, the Player with the highest hand initiates the betting. If hands tie, the Player to the left of the dealer acts first.

Betting increments in the game determine the bets. In a game of $2 and $4 betting increments, the first two rounds of betting and raising are set at the lower level of $2, the other three rounds of betting and raising are set at the higher level of $4.

The maximum allowable number of bets per Player during any betting round is four. This includes a (1) bet, (2) raise, (3) re-raise, and (4) cap. The term cap is used to describe the 3rd raise in a round since betting is then capped and can't be raised further. Once capped, Players will have only the option of calling or folding.

In betting rounds where Players have folded, the first active Player left of the Disc/Dealer is first to act.

So now that you have set your session start amount and you have decided on a betting system, you are ready to start thinking about setting goals and the action you will take when you reach those goals. Determine Your First Goal
Deciding on what your first goal should be for a session is a little like deciding how much you will bet on each spin. The higher your goal is, the higher your risk is, primarily because the higher a goal is the longer it may take to achieve. And once again, the longer you are exposed to the game, the more likely it is that the house will get your money. Therefore, if you have a $100 session start amount and your bet start amount is $5 then setting a goal to double your money is not practical. A goal of 10-30% is achievable, however. Don't worry if this doesn't sound like a lot, we are not done yet. Determine Your First Goal Action
Next you need to decide what you will do when you reach your goal. There are two basic choices. The first is the simplest. You take your money and leave the table! This is the least risky thing to do and will ensure you keep everything you won. Now some of you are probably saying, stop after winning only $30? You must be kidding. Let's go back to our investment analogy. A broker tells you he has a great deal. He only needs your investment for half and hour or so and you will gain 30%. Will you take that or will you tell him your not interested unless you will gain 50-100%. I think you will most likely take the thirty. The second choice you have after reaching a goal is to pocket some of the money and continue to play. After all, if you feel you are on a winning streak, you don't want to stop. By pocketing, we mean take the money out of play for the session. Set it aside and don't touch it again. On your first goal, you should always pocket at least the entire start amount. This protects your initial investment and allows you to use it again at another session. You should also pocket some portion of your winnings as well. Recurring Goals
If you decide you want to continue to play, there are three more decisions you will need to make:

• What will your next goal be
  
• How much will you pocket when you reach the goal
• How will you adjust your betting system

• Set new goals by a fixed amount
  When you reach a goal, add a fixed amount to the total bank amount to set the new goal. For instance, you could set a new goal that is $20 greater every time you reach a goal.
  
• Set new goals by an increasing amount
  When you reach a goal, add an increasingly larger amount. So, on a first goal, you might add $20. When that goal is reached you might add $40 and then $60 and so on.

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!