Keno, Bingo and Scratch Cards: Lottery-Style Casino Games

Keno, bingo and instant-win cards sit between a casino and a lottery. They are simple, quick and often badly priced - but they have a rhythm that a lot of players find relaxing.

Keno in sixty seconds

In keno you choose between one and twenty numbers from a grid of eighty, then twenty numbers are drawn at random. You are paid according to how many of your picks were drawn and how many numbers you selected in the first place.

The house edge in keno is high – commonly 25% to 35% – because the payouts for mid-range hits are modest relative to the true probability. Selecting a small set of numbers and hitting them all pays spectacularly, but the chance of it happening is correspondingly tiny.

Bingo and its variants

Bingo players mark numbers on a card as they are called and race to complete a line or a pattern. In the 75-ball US format, a completed horizontal, vertical or diagonal line typically wins; in 90-ball UK bingo there are usually three prizes: one line, two lines, then a full house.

Eighty-ball variants add bingo patterns and jackpots. Online bingo is usually played against a shared pot, so the payout depends on how many other cards are in play – which is why fewer participants often means a larger prize per win.

Scratch cards and instant games

Scratch cards reveal a result the moment you buy them. The outcome is predetermined, held in a certified random seed, and the animations you watch are a reveal rather than a draw.

Their appeal is immediacy: one decision, one outcome, a few seconds. Their price is a house edge that typically sits between 10% and 30%, far higher than a slot machine. Buy them for the sensation, not the arithmetic.

Frequently asked questions