Keno must be one of the most ancient gambling games in the world and has existed for over thousands of years.
According to most people a game very similar to Keno was invented in roughly 200 BC by Cheung Leung, the leader of the Han Dynasty. In this time Cheung's city was involved in a long, difficult war which lasted for several years. As a result, Cheung was starting to run out of supplies. Cheung then created a game that would make money for his army and to avoid the possibility of taxing his citizens further.
This game, which is a numbers game not unlike keno, was based on the poem of the day The Thousand Character Classic, which showed people how to count. Trust me; if they could learn how to play, you wont have any problem! The game became extremely popular and helped to save the city. Thereafter, the game was played throughout China and it was even used to help fund the building of the Great Wall!
After a couple of years Chinese immigrants made their way to the American West to help with the construction of the railroad they also brought Keno over with them to the USA, where it eventually was known as the Chinese Lottery. Keno cannot help you to finance a Great Wall these days, but you might be able to change your life if you win big!