How to Play Online Keno: A Complete Guide

Keno is one of the simplest games of luck, now available at most top online casinos for Aussies. Because of its simple, lottery-style gameplay, it suits nearly everyone, including beginners.

If you’ve ever seen a lottery draw, you’re halfway to learning Keno’s rules: the game board has 80 numbers, and the online casino’s RNG (random number generator) draws 20 winning numbers each Keno round. You win based on how many winning numbers you picked before the draw. It’s as simple as that.

Let’s go over the basics everyone should know:

• The numbers you choose during one Keno round are called spots, and it’s up to you how many numbers you’ll play per round. The most common choice is 1-10 spots, even though some online Keno variants allow up to 20.
• Keno has flexible win rules, and that’s one of its main appeals. What I mean is, to win, you don’t have to guess all 20 drawn numbers. The paytable scales based on the number of spots you choose. For example, guessing 5/5 spots pays out significantly more than guessing 5/10.
• In some Keno variants, you’ll notice a multiplier value next to the list of 1-10 numbers. These link to your bet size: the more numbers you guess, the bigger the multiplier.
• Online Keno offers much faster gameplay than land-based Keno. At the pub or local casino, you’ll need to wait several minutes to view a shared draw, while online video Keno offers more options to speed up the process, including instant single draws or auto-play for a set number of consecutive rounds.
• Land-based Keno generally has a higher house edge than many online casino versions, but the exact difference depends on the game. For example, Tasmania’s land-based Keno has a required 75% RTP, equivalent to a 25% house edge. Some online Keno games offer RTPs above 95%, although others have lower returns.

Way before land-based casinos became common in Australia, people gathered in local pubs and community clubs to play games of chance. And Keno was no exception.

In New South Wales, Club Keno officially commenced in September 1991, starting as a game played on a simple pencil-marked sheet of paper, later becoming a statewide network of Keno players who practised at nearly every social gathering.

For decades, playing Keno meant choosing your lucky numbers, handing your paper to a terminal operator, and waiting for the numbers to be drawn on bulky overhead TVs. Its appeal was clear: a fun game with simple rules that accepts small bets but offers massive progressive jackpots if your ticket is the lucky one.

Sure, Keno is still popular across RSLs, community clubs, and TAB outlets, but many prefer its online variant. Upgraded gameplay, shorter draw times, a lower house edge than land-based Keno, and better payout rates on smaller bets make online Keno popular across casino sites.

Since Keno involves numbers and draws, players often group it with lottery, Bingo, or online pokies. It does share similarities with some other casino games, so the statement isn’t far-fetched, but key mechanics and payout systems still set Keno apart from the games I mentioned above.

• Keno vs. Traditional Lottery: Traditional lotteries operate on scheduled draws, which occur daily or several times a week, depending on the game. Online casino Keno offers instant rounds. Both lotteries and Keno allow players to choose their own numbers, but Keno lets you select a variable number of spots from a larger pool, with payouts based on how many of your selections match the draw.
• Keno vs. Bingo: In Bingo, you get a card with preselected numbers you cannot change, while Keno lets you pick your own numbers each round. Also, Bingo requires specific patterns or guessing a full card to win and beat other players, while Keno payouts depend only on how many drawn numbers you guessed and don’t depend on other players’ choices.
• Keno vs. Online Pokies: The difference is most striking here. Online pokies also offer fast gameplay, but the action happens on spinning reels and feature triggers, and the payout structures are completely different.

Playing Keno is simple, and I say this not just because I’ve become a veteran during my years of testing online casinos. It really is easy to learn, but a few moves can change the risk you take and the payout potential.

I’ll walk you through each step of playing Mascot Gaming’s Candy Keno variant, shown in the screenshots below.

To start playing, click the spots you want from the 80 numbers offered. You can pick anywhere from 1 to 10. As you select, the game’s dynamic paytable instantly updates to show your exact potential winnings.

Don’t go to extremes, meaning choosing only one spot or going with 10. Why? Picking 1 to 3 spots brings nearly insignificant multipliers, while picking 8 to 10 numbers and getting them right is extremely rare.

For reference, the odds of guessing 10 out of 10 are roughly 1 in 8.9 million. What you want to do is choose 4, 5, or 6 spots because you are looking at a good balance of multipliers. In Candy Keno, matching all four selected spots pays 72x, matching all five pays 355x, and matching all six pays 950x your original bet.

Next, adjust your bet amount using the plus and minus controls at the bottom of the screen. In this variant, Candy Keno, the minimum bet per spin is A$0.01, and the maximum is A$1.50.

How much you bet per spin really depends on your bankroll. Remember that Keno is a high-volatility, instant-win game, and large bets can quickly reduce your balance if it isn’t your lucky day.

As shown in the screenshot in the first step, I went with a A$1 bet per spin, which resulted in a 355x multiplier win if I got all five spots right, 25x for four, and 5x for 3.

Many modern Keno variants offer optional bet add-ons that change gameplay. Since my example is Candy Keno, you’ll see these on the left side as ‘extra balls’ and the ‘win to get’ gamble feature. For example, the extra ball feature lets you buy extra ball draws at the end of the round if you’re close to a big payout.

But don’t rush into these add-ons. It’s tempting to buy an extra ball, but the cost is tied to the wager, so you should check the price of each extra ball and whether the potential payout justifies it.

Once you’ve chosen your spots, press the Play button, which may also be called Bet or something similar, depending on the variant, but you get the gist.

This instantly triggers the draw, and the game drops 20 numbers onto the grid, automatically highlighting any matches in your selected spots. Finally, the game calculates your win, and it credits any funds to your balance immediately. That’s how a round ends. To play more, just repeat the process with the same or different spots, totally up to you.

My round above ended without a payout, as I had to guess at least 3 spots to win 5x my bet.

Unlike the complex payout structures of table games like baccarat, blackjack, or even craps, Keno keeps it simple and easy to understand: you select your spots and place your bet.

Most online Keno variants come with an RTP (Return to Player) between 92% and 95%, which translates to a house edge of roughly 5% to 8%. Theoretically, this means that for every A$100 bet, the game returns A$92 to A$95 in payouts. But this isn’t about individual bets, it’s about millions of draws over time. Simply put, it doesn’t mean you’ll win that much every single time.

Moreover, payout potential depends directly on your bet size and how many matches you make. This makes the Keno paytable dynamic, something I’ve talked about before. Also, most online Keno variants allow bets from A$0.10 to A$100 per round.

For example, in Spribe’s Keno, which uses a 36-number board with 10 numbers drawn, selecting 10 spots gives the following payouts:

• 3 matches: 1x your bet
• 4 matches: 1.5x your bet
• 8 matches: 40x your bet
• 9 matches: 75x your bet
• 10 matches: 100x your bet

With Keno available at many local venues across Australia, most players are familiar with the classic 80-ball Keno version. However, online casinos have introduced a few variants that differ in board size, drawing speed, or the features and add-ons you can choose from.

This is the standard version of the game, like the Candy Keno I played above or Classic Keno by Pragmatic Play. The board has 80 balls, and each round, the game draws 20 numbers. Players can choose up to 10 numbers, or let the game pick them out for you. Classic Keno usually includes an autoplay option or lets you set how many rounds you want to play.

This Keno version has a smaller board, usually 36 or 40 numbers. For example, Keno by Spribe uses a 36-number board and draws only 10 balls per round.

Because fewer balls are drawn, this version usually offers faster gameplay: rounds finish faster, and you need to select spots more often. Also, keep in mind that jackpot multipliers are smaller compared to 80-ball Keno variants.

I combined these two Keno variants because they both use a standard 80-numbered board with 20 balls drawn, and both offer a high multiplier feature tied to two specific balls.

In Super Keno, if the first ball that the game draws matches any of your spots, your total payout for the whole round is multiplied by 4x. In Power Keno, the rule is the same, but it applies to the final, 20th ball drawn in the game.

In this Keno variant, instead of playing a single ticket at a time, you can buy and play up to 20 tickets at once using the same drawn numbers.

Of course, the number of tickets you can play at once depends on the specific game. This type of play increases your total bet per round, but it also gives you more chances to win on a single draw.

Keno isn’t rocket science, so it’s easy to learn how to mark your board and where to click to start. Below, I’ll share tips to help you keep your bankroll steady longer and improve your chances of winning.

• Stick to 4 to 6 spots at a time. I know the multiplier you see when picking 8 to 10 spots is tempting, but the odds of matching 8+ out of 20 drawn numbers are quite low. So, selecting 1 to 3 spots won’t boost that multiplier or cover your losses from previous rounds, which is why sticking to 4 to 6 spots is the optimisation you need for realistic odds.
• Switch to online keno. It’s hard to break a habit, but land-based Keno has a significantly higher house edge than online Keno variants. Choose safe online casinos and stick to Keno games with an RTP above 90%, most of which already offer that.
• Don’t use add-ons and extras too much. Extra balls and other similar features are designed to look like perfect recovery options when you are close to a good payout. But they come with a cost, quite literally. The price of extra balls depends on your potential payout and can be high, so it’s often better to stick to the base game and rely on the standard RTP.
• Check paytables before playing. Keno variants can tweak the paytable slightly, but it can make a difference. So, before placing real money bets, check whether the dynamic payout system aligns with your expectations.
• New spots don’t mean better chances of winning. Whether you stick with your selected spots for several rounds or switch each time won’t affect your chances of winning. That’s a common gambler’s fallacy, and in the end, it’s totally up to you how frequently you change the spots.