Keno Odds and Payouts
Keno’s odds and payouts vary from game to game. The number of balls drawn and how many numbers you pick drastically affect the outcome of a given round. On top of those variables, your chances of winning also depend on the game’s paytable and how many spots you need to hit to collect a prize.
This guide to keno odds and payouts gives a basic introduction to the game’s math. We discuss how players calculate Keno’s odds, provide charts with common paytables, and answer commonly asked questions. Studying these charts will give you a much better idea of the ideal number of spots to play, so you win more often.
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How to Calculate Odds In Keno
Most Keno games use 80 numbered balls to determine results, and every “spot” you choose on your card that gets matched is a “catch.” In a typical round, only 20 balls get drawn. Therefore, each spot has 1 in 4 odds, or a 25% chance, of showing up in a drawing.
The math of a Keno game starts getting complicated when you choose more than a single number. When you buy multiple spots, your odds of hitting a single one go up. Catching them all becomes increasingly difficult the more you choose since you still only have 20 numbers in the draw.
To truly calculate your expected return, you also need to factor in the payouts for all possible winning levels for the number of spots you want to choose. For example, you could get paid if you catch 3, 4, or 5 balls when you decide to play five numbers.
Which Keno Spot has the Best Odds?
No single number has better theoretical odds than any other number when playing keno. Online keno games use a random number generator (RNG) to determine results. The RNG assigns each number between 1 and 80 the same winning odds, then produces genuinely unexpected results. No keno spot, therefore, has better odds than other spots.
Keno Payouts
Keno payouts can be wildly different from one game to the next. In fact, paytables and required catches per spots chosen vary from state to state, casino to casino, and website to website. There’s even a good chance the pay structure will be different between two Keno games at the same online casino.
With that in mind, here are a couple of examples of Keno payout charts that are typical of what you’ll encounter.
Land-Based Ohio Keno Payouts
You can participate in drawings in many bars and restaurants in the United States. These are the Keno payouts in Ohio for a $1 wager.
| Spots | Catches | Payout |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | 2 to 1 |
| 2 | 2 | 11 to 1 |
| 3 | 2 | 2 to 1 |
| 3 | 3 | 27 to 1 |
| 4 | 2 | 1 to 1 |
| 4 | 3 | 5 to 1 |
| 4 | 4 | 72 to 1 |
| 5 | 3 | 2 to 1 |
| 5 | 4 | 18 to 1 |
| 5 | 5 | 410 to 1 |
| 6 | 3 | 1 to 1 |
| 6 | 4 | 7 to 1 |
| 6 | 5 | 57 to 1 |
| 6 | 6 | 1,100 to 1 |
| 7 | 3 | 1 to 1 |
| 7 | 4 | 5 to 1 |
| 7 | 5 | 11 to 1 |
| 7 | 6 | 100 to 1 |
| 7 | 7 | 2,000 to 1 |
| 8 | 4 | 2 to 1 |
| 8 | 5 | 15 to 1 |
| 8 | 6 | 50 to 1 |
| 8 | 7 | 300 to 1 |
| 8 | 8 | 10,000 to 1 |
| 9 | 4 | 2 to 1 |
| 9 | 5 | 5 to 1 |
| 9 | 6 | 20 to 1 |
| 9 | 7 | 100 to 1 |
| 9 | 8 | 2,000 to 1 |
| 9 | 9 | 25,000 to 1 |
| 10 | 0 | 5 to 1 |
| 10 | 5 | 2 to 1 |
| 10 | 6 | 10 to 1 |
| 10 | 7 | 50 to 1 |
| 10 | 8 | 500 to 1 |
| 10 | 9 | 5,000 to 1 |
| 10 | 10 | 100,000 to 1 |
Online Keno Payout Chart
What you win in an online game depends on how much you wager. Below are the payouts for Video Keno at BetUS online casino.
| Spots | Catches | Payout |
|---|---|---|
| 2 | 2 | 15 to 1 |
| 3 | 2 | 2 to 1 |
| 3 | 3 | 45 to 1 |
| 4 | 2 | 2 to 1 |
| 4 | 3 | 4 to 1 |
| 4 | 4 | 100 to 1 |
| 5 | 2 | 1 to 1 |
| 5 | 3 | 3 to 1 |
| 5 | 4 | 10 to 1 |
| 5 | 5 | 400 to 1 |
| 6 | 2 | 1 to 1 |
| 6 | 3 | 2 to 1 |
| 6 | 4 | 5 to 1 |
| 6 | 5 | 25 to 1 |
| 6 | 6 | 800 to 1 |
| 7 | 3 | 1 to 1 |
| 7 | 4 | 3 to 1 |
| 7 | 5 | 30 to 1 |
| 7 | 6 | 300 to 1 |
| 7 | 7 | 3,000 to 1 |
| 8 | 3 | 1 to 1 |
| 8 | 4 | 3 to 1 |
| 8 | 5 | 7 to 1 |
| 8 | 6 | 70 to 1 |
| 8 | 7 | 700 to 1 |
| 8 | 8 | 7,000 to 1 |
| 9 | 0 | 2 to 1 |
| 9 | 3 | 1 to 1 |
| 9 | 4 | 2 to 1 |
| 9 | 5 | 4 to 1 |
| 9 | 6 | 16 to 1 |
| 9 | 7 | 80 to 1 |
| 9 | 8 | 800 to 1 |
| 9 | 9 | 8,000 to 1 |
| 10 | 0 | 2 to 1 |
| 10 | 3 | 1 to 1 |
| 10 | 4 | 2 to 1 |
| 10 | 5 | 3 to 1 |
| 10 | 6 | 4 to 1 |
| 10 | 7 | 18 to 1 |
| 10 | 8 | 90 to 1 |
| 10 | 9 | 900 to 1 |
| 10 | 10 | 9,000 to 1 |
Vegas Keno Payout Chart
Vegas Keno payouts change depending on how many numbers you play. That means 15 payout schedules exist. We’ve included a payout calculator below to show how the prizes vary with the amount of spots (numbers) you choose when playing video keno.
The return-to-player is 94.45%, so the house edge is 5.55%. That is comparable to slot games and much better than most keno games.
| 1-Spot | 5-Spot | 10-Spot | 15-Spot | |
| 1 Hit | 3.6 x bet | 50% of Bet | None | None |
| 2 Hits | 1 x bet | 50% of Bet | None | |
| 3 Hits | 3 x bet | 1 x bet | 50% of Bet | |
| 4 Hits | 16 x bet | 2 x bet | 70% of Bet | |
| 5 Hits | 50 x bet | 3 x bet | 1.5 x bet | |
| 6 Hits | 5 x bet | 2 x bet | ||
| 7 Hits | 10 x bet | 4 x bet | ||
| 8 Hits | 20 x bet | 7 x bet | ||
| 9 Hits | 200 x bet | 25 x bet | ||
| 10 Hits | 1,600 x bet | 80 x bet | ||
| 11 Hits | 250 x bet | |||
| 12 Hits | 500 x bet | |||
| 13 Hits | 1,000 x bet | |||
| 14 Hits | 2,500 x bet | |||
| 15 Hits | 10,000 x bet |
Keno Odds Charts by Spot
Regardless of the varying payout structure per spot, the odds of catching a specific number of balls with a certain number of spots remain constant.
If you’re playing keno for real money, you’ll want to compare these Keno odds charts to the paytable of the game you’re playing to find the best chances of winning the largest prizes. The following tables show the odds of hitting any number of spots in an 80 ball Keno game with 20 draws.
1 Spot Game
| Catches | Odds |
|---|---|
| 0 | 1 in 3.33 |
| 1 | 1 in 4 |
2 Spot Game
| Catches | Odds |
|---|---|
| 0 | 1 in 1.78 |
| 1 | 1 in 2.63 |
| 2 | 1 in 16.63 |
3 Spot Game
| Catches | Odds |
|---|---|
| 0 | 1 in 2.40 |
| 1 | 1 in 2.32 |
| 2 | 1 in 7.20 |
| 3 | 1 in 72.07 |
4 Spot Game
| Catches | Odds |
|---|---|
| 0 | 1 in 3.24 |
| 1 | 1 in 2.31 |
| 2 | 1 in 4.70 |
| 3 | 1 in 23.12 |
| 4 | 1 in 326.43 |
5 Spot Game
| Catches | Odds |
|---|---|
| 0 | 1 in 4.40 |
| 1 | 1 in 2.46 |
| 2 | 1 in 3.70 |
| 3 | 1 in 11.91 |
| 4 | 1 in 82.70 |
| 5 | 1 in 1,550.57 |
6 Spot Game
| Catches | Odds |
|---|---|
| 0 | 1 in 6 |
| 1 | 1 in 2.75 |
| 2 | 1 in 3.24 |
| 3 | 1 in 7.70 |
| 4 | 1 in 35.04 |
| 5 | 1 in 323.03 |
| 6 | 1 in 7,752.84 |
7 Spot Game
| Catches | Odds |
|---|---|
| 0 | 1 in 8.22 |
| 1 | 1 in 3.17 |
| 2 | 1 in 3.06 |
| 3 | 1 in 5.71 |
| 4 | 1 in 19.16 |
| 5 | 1 in 115.76 |
| 6 | 1 in 71,365.98 |
| 7 | 1 in 40,979 |
8 Spot Game
| Catches | Odds |
|---|---|
| 0 | 1 in 11.33 |
| 1 | 1 in 3.75 |
| 2 | 1 in 3.05 |
| 3 | 1 in 4.65 |
| 4 | 1 in 12.27 |
| 5 | 1 in 54.64 |
| 6 | 1 in 422.53 |
| 7 | 1 in 6,232.27 |
| 8 | 1 in 230,114.60 |
9 Spot Game
| Catches | Odds |
|---|---|
| 0 | 1 in 15.67 |
| 1 | 1 in 4.53 |
| 2 | 1 in 3.16 |
| 3 | 1 in 4.06 |
| 4 | 1 in 8.76 |
| 5 | 1 in 30.67 |
| 6 | 1 in 174.84 |
| 7 | 1 in 1,690.11 |
| 8 | 1 in 30,681.95 |
| 9 | 1 in 1,380,687.65 |
10 Spot Game
| Catches | Odds |
|---|---|
| 0 | 1 in 21.84 |
| 1 | 1 in 5.57 |
| 2 | 1 in 3.39 |
| 3 | 1 in 3.74 |
| 4 | 1 in 6.79 |
| 5 | 1 in 19.44 |
| 6 | 1 in 87.11 |
| 7 | 1 in 620.68 |
| 8 | 1 in 7,384.47 |
| 9 | 1 in 163,381.37 |
| 10 | 1 in 8,911,711.18 |
11 Spot Game
| Catches | Odds |
|---|---|
| 0 | 1 in 30.57 |
| 1 | 1 in 6.95 |
| 2 | 1 in 3.73 |
| 3 | 1 in 3.59 |
| 4 | 1 in 5.60 |
| 5 | 1 in 13.50 |
| 6 | 1 in 49.49 |
| 7 | 1 in 277.18 |
| 8 | 1 in 2,430.62 |
| 9 | 1 in 35,244.05 |
| 10 | 1 in 945,181.49 |
| 11 | 1 in 62,381,978.23 |
12 Spot Game
| Catches | Odds |
|---|---|
| 0 | 1 in 43.05 |
| 1 | 1 in 8.79 |
| 2 | 1 in 4.21 |
| 3 | 1 in 3.57 |
| 4 | 1 in 4.86 |
| 5 | 1 in 10.06 |
| 6 | 1 in 31.05 |
| 7 | 1 in 142.30 |
| 8 | 1 in 980.78 |
| 9 | 1 in 10,482.07 |
| 10 | 1 in 184,230.29 |
| 11 | 1 in 5,978,272.91 |
| 12 | 1 in 478,261,833.14 |
13 Spot Game
| Catches | Odds |
|---|---|
| 0 | 1 in 60.99 |
| 1 | 1 in 11.26 |
| 2 | 1 in 4.84 |
| 3 | 1 in 3.67 |
| 4 | 1 in 4.40 |
| 5 | 1 in 7.94 |
| 6 | 1 in 21.05 |
| 7 | 1 in 81.20 |
| 8 | 1 in 458.05 |
| 9 | 1 in 3,847.67 |
| 10 | 1 in 49,844.80 |
| 11 | 1 in 1,060,032.75 |
| 12 | 1 in 41,694,621.35 |
| 13 | 1 in 4,065,225,581.67 |
14 Spot Game
| Catches | Odds |
|---|---|
| 0 | 1 in 86.95 |
| 1 | 1 in 14.59 |
| 2 | 1 in 5.67 |
| 3 | 1 in 3.86 |
| 4 | 1 in 4.13 |
| 5 | 1 in 6.58 |
| 6 | 1 in 15.21 |
| 7 | 1 in 50.37 |
| 8 | 1 in 239.14 |
| 9 | 1 in 1,644.09 |
| 10 | 1 in 16,739.86 |
| 11 | 1 in 262,397.27 |
| 12 | 1 in 6,764,018.47 |
| 13 | 1 in 324,250,135.68 |
| 14 | 1 in 38,910,016,281.65 |
15 Spot Game
| Catches | Odds |
|---|---|
| 0 | 1 in 124.75 |
| 1 | 1 in 19.13 |
| 2 | 1 in 6.76 |
| 3 | 1 in 4.16 |
| 4 | 1 in 4.00 |
| 5 | 1 in 5.68 |
| 6 | 1 in 11.58 |
| 7 | 1 in 33.46 |
| 8 | 1 in 136.40 |
| 9 | 1 in 789.16 |
| 10 | 1 in 6,576.37 |
| 11 | 1 in 81,020.91 |
| 12 | 1 in 1,539,397.31 |
| 13 | 1 in 48,362,732.10 |
| 14 | 1 in 2,853,401,193.99 |
| 15 | 1 in 428,010,179,098.40 |
Payouts in Keno Can Be Enormous
Keno doesn’t use fancy graphics or complicated controls to draw you in. It’s one of the casino games with the biggest possible payouts. The prospect of wagering only a dollar to win $100,000 is what keeps players coming back with their lucky keno numbers.
Despite the challenging probabilities of catching a jackpot number of spots, many lottery-style games have gained popularity over the years. That comes with the benefit of convenience and accessibility. Today, you can play Keno in sports bars around the country and even for real money at online casinos.
FAQ About Keno’s Odds and Payouts
These are some of the most common questions we get about Keno odds and payouts of the game.
What are the Odds of Winning Keno?
That depends on the number of spots you buy, the number of balls in the game, and the paytable of the game you play. The odds of having 15 catches are astronomical, but catching at least a single ball is almost inevitable in some cases. That’s why you can get a payout for hitting zero of your numbers sometimes.
What is the best bet in Keno?
The best bet in a Keno game is where you have favorable odds for the highest payout. As a general rule, it’s a good idea to buy 4 to 8 spots, because it’s a good range of numbers with substantial possible prizes. If you get lucky, even the mid-range payouts give you a nice return.
What numbers hit the most in Keno?
There is some speculation that the most common numbers drawn in Keno games around the world are 1, 4, 23, 34, and 72. Statistics and probability suggest that statement is a total myth. In any given keno drawings, all 80 numbers have equal odds of hitting.
What are the Keno payouts?
Keno’s payouts change depending on where you play. Many games follow a structure similar to Ohio or the online Keno games paytable. In any case, you should be able to see the available winnings before you pick your numbers and place your bets.
What are the best keno odds?
The odds of certain numbers coming up in a keno ticket or online board are all the same, and the odds of winning, particularly the large jackpots, are astronomically high. These odds are so high that even if it’s only a dollar a try, you could play your entire life and never hit a big payout. This is starting to approach the chances of winning the Powerball lottery. Most keno players won’t consider the odds and purely play the game for a bit of fun in the hope of getting lucky and having a win.
What are the odds of getting 15 hits in Vegas Keno?
The odds of hitting 15 balls when you pick 15 spots are about 1 in 42 billion. Players shouldn’t expect to collect 15 hits. Shoot for the smaller cash prizes and consider an enormous payout a bonus.
What keno game has the best paytable?
Usually, video keno and online keno offer better payouts than land-based keno. Some of the games that offer a great house edge for players, in the long run, are Vegas Jackpot Keno at DuckyLuck with an RTP (return to player) from 95.84% – 96.54%, depending on player choice.
