Most casinos have a minimum bet of either seventy cents, one dollar or
more.
They will also allow bets at two or three other fixed increments. This
is
indicated by the chart above, which allows wagers at one dollar, one
dollar
and forty cents, five dollars, and ten dollars. For the specific sums
allowed as wagers in a particular casino, you must consult its keno
brochure.
Although there is a maximum bet allowed on a single straight ticket,
this
does not function as a limit in the same manner as the table maximum at
other games. A player who wanted to circumvent the limit could simply
fill
out several identical tickets and take each one to a different keno
writer,
betting the limit on each one. For that reason, the casino employs a
different kind of maximum limit at keno. On each keno ticket, you will
find
a small-print statement to the effect that the house pays "$50,000
limit to
aggregate players each game." What this grammatical monstrosity is
supposed
to mean is that the casino is not about to pay out more than $50,000 in
winnings on anyone keno game, no matter what happens. If the total
amount
won on the game exceeds this sum, the house will prorate the $50,000
among
all the big winners. For example, if two players were to win the
$50,000
prize, they would each receive half of it - $25,000. If one player were
to
qualify for the $50,000 prize and two players were to qualify for
$25,000
payoffs, the big winner would receive $25,000 while the two lesser
winners
would receive $12,500 each. In this way, the house protects itself from
a
catastrophic loss on any one game just as it does at the table games -
by
imposing maximum limits on individual bets.
However, the house very seldom has to invoke the aggregate limit rule.
In
most games, the total amount paid out comes nowhere near the $50,000
limit.
On those occasions when the aggregate limit does have to be applied, it
affects only the large payoffs; the small payoffs are always paid in
full.
Some smaller casinos have a $25,000 limit, while a few large ones have
$100,000 limits. In each case, the betting limits are adjusted
accordingly.
However, $50,000 is the norm found in most casinos.
Many keno players have favorite number or combinations that they pick
every
time they play the game. If you are one of those people, there is no
need to
fill out a new ticket each time. After the first time you play the
tickets,
if you wish to bet the same combination again, simply take your
duplicate
ticket and turn it in to the keno writer with a new wager. He will
accept
this replay ticket as an original ticket for the next game and will
issue
you a new duplicate, on which he will mark the same numbers but which
he
will stamp with the number of the next game.
You can repeat this
process as
often as you wish. It is simply a labor - saving device for the player.
In
fact, every time a player comes to the window to collect a payoff,
after
receiving his winnings he will be asked by the writer if he wishes to
play
the ticket again. Even when a player wins, the casino does whatever
little
it can to get some of the money back.
