History of the Game

The payoffs at that time were as follows:

Catch spots are those numbers selected at random by the operator of the game and matched on the player's ticket. Although the payoffs today would be much greater if a player caught nine or ten numbers or spots, the modern payoffs are surprisingly similar for the other numbers.

The game attracted other, non-Chinese gamblers, who were also anxious to invest a small sum of money to win a possible fortune.

In those days a dollar was a great deal of money, and to win several thousand dollars for a small investment was quite an attractive prospect to laborers and others in the lower economic brackets, the same group that still invests in state lotteries and other games of chance where a huge payoff is possible for a small investment.

The difficulties presented to non-Chinese in this game were enormous. Since the game was played with Chinese characters, there were few Americans who could figure out or differentiate between these Chinese characters, and many wouldn't know whether or not they had won, since it was a laborious process to examine each and every character called by the operators of the game.

Gradually, therefore, the game evolved from Chinese to Arabic numbers 1-80, and thereafter Americans flocked to the keno houses. The same eighty numbers are used today in Nevada casinos.

the oldest of gambling games

the player's ticket

the winning numbers

the Strip casinos