Ticket Costs and Payoffs

The progressive payoff usually starts with a 9 ticket rather than with any of the smaller ones. The more numbers a player selects, the more the casino advantage and the less likely that player is of winning. So the casino entices the player with the big jackpot, but he or she must purchase a larger ticket picking at least 9 numbers.

In the Horseshoe Club in downtown Las Vegas, you must purchase a $2 ticket with at least 9 numbers (you can choose more numbers) in order to be eligible for the progressive prize. Let's look at a typical rate card for the $1 game featuring the progressive prize, which in this instance can be as high as $200,000.

This is a dollar rate card, with no bet allowed below $1. If we examine this card closely, we see that at no time will a $1 ticket win us more than $40,000, and that is only when we select 14 or 15 numbers and hit them all, an extremely difficult task.

We'd be much better off playing the $2 tickets. If we bet as few as 8 numbers, we'd be eligible for the $50,000 payoff if we caught all 8 numbers. And believe me, it's much easier to catch 8 numbers than it is to catch 14 or 15.

But we shouldn't be satisfied with $50,000. In a game such as keno, with the odds stacked against us, we want to win as much as possible if lightning strikes and luck is shining all over us. We go for the progressive win.

Before we do that, we should check on the amount it shows. It should be ideally the maximum $200,000 or $250,000, depending on the casino we're playing at. If it's at $50,000, pass the game. After all, $250,000 is five times $50,000, and why not get that enhanced payoff rather than the smaller one, all for the same price?

We should therefore concentrate on the 9 ticket, our easiest entry into the big payoff, when played as a $2 ticket. To do this, we select 9 numbers in a straight ticket, and hope all 9 catch. If they do, we win the big pot! Simple as that.

the potential payouts

The progressive payoff

the progressive prize

The ticket costs