Skip to main content
Mathematics LibreTexts

Keno

  • Page ID
    218946
  • \( \newcommand{\vecs}[1]{\overset { \scriptstyle \rightharpoonup} {\mathbf{#1}} } \)

    \( \newcommand{\vecd}[1]{\overset{-\!-\!\rightharpoonup}{\vphantom{a}\smash {#1}}} \)

    \( \newcommand{\dsum}{\displaystyle\sum\limits} \)

    \( \newcommand{\dint}{\displaystyle\int\limits} \)

    \( \newcommand{\dlim}{\displaystyle\lim\limits} \)

    \( \newcommand{\id}{\mathrm{id}}\) \( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\)

    ( \newcommand{\kernel}{\mathrm{null}\,}\) \( \newcommand{\range}{\mathrm{range}\,}\)

    \( \newcommand{\RealPart}{\mathrm{Re}}\) \( \newcommand{\ImaginaryPart}{\mathrm{Im}}\)

    \( \newcommand{\Argument}{\mathrm{Arg}}\) \( \newcommand{\norm}[1]{\| #1 \|}\)

    \( \newcommand{\inner}[2]{\langle #1, #2 \rangle}\)

    \( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\)

    \( \newcommand{\id}{\mathrm{id}}\)

    \( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\)

    \( \newcommand{\kernel}{\mathrm{null}\,}\)

    \( \newcommand{\range}{\mathrm{range}\,}\)

    \( \newcommand{\RealPart}{\mathrm{Re}}\)

    \( \newcommand{\ImaginaryPart}{\mathrm{Im}}\)

    \( \newcommand{\Argument}{\mathrm{Arg}}\)

    \( \newcommand{\norm}[1]{\| #1 \|}\)

    \( \newcommand{\inner}[2]{\langle #1, #2 \rangle}\)

    \( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\) \( \newcommand{\AA}{\unicode[.8,0]{x212B}}\)

    \( \newcommand{\vectorA}[1]{\vec{#1}}      % arrow\)

    \( \newcommand{\vectorAt}[1]{\vec{\text{#1}}}      % arrow\)

    \( \newcommand{\vectorB}[1]{\overset { \scriptstyle \rightharpoonup} {\mathbf{#1}} } \)

    \( \newcommand{\vectorC}[1]{\textbf{#1}} \)

    \( \newcommand{\vectorD}[1]{\overrightarrow{#1}} \)

    \( \newcommand{\vectorDt}[1]{\overrightarrow{\text{#1}}} \)

    \( \newcommand{\vectE}[1]{\overset{-\!-\!\rightharpoonup}{\vphantom{a}\smash{\mathbf {#1}}}} \)

    \( \newcommand{\vecs}[1]{\overset { \scriptstyle \rightharpoonup} {\mathbf{#1}} } \)

    \(\newcommand{\longvect}{\overrightarrow}\)

    \( \newcommand{\vecd}[1]{\overset{-\!-\!\rightharpoonup}{\vphantom{a}\smash {#1}}} \)

    \(\newcommand{\avec}{\mathbf a}\) \(\newcommand{\bvec}{\mathbf b}\) \(\newcommand{\cvec}{\mathbf c}\) \(\newcommand{\dvec}{\mathbf d}\) \(\newcommand{\dtil}{\widetilde{\mathbf d}}\) \(\newcommand{\evec}{\mathbf e}\) \(\newcommand{\fvec}{\mathbf f}\) \(\newcommand{\nvec}{\mathbf n}\) \(\newcommand{\pvec}{\mathbf p}\) \(\newcommand{\qvec}{\mathbf q}\) \(\newcommand{\svec}{\mathbf s}\) \(\newcommand{\tvec}{\mathbf t}\) \(\newcommand{\uvec}{\mathbf u}\) \(\newcommand{\vvec}{\mathbf v}\) \(\newcommand{\wvec}{\mathbf w}\) \(\newcommand{\xvec}{\mathbf x}\) \(\newcommand{\yvec}{\mathbf y}\) \(\newcommand{\zvec}{\mathbf z}\) \(\newcommand{\rvec}{\mathbf r}\) \(\newcommand{\mvec}{\mathbf m}\) \(\newcommand{\zerovec}{\mathbf 0}\) \(\newcommand{\onevec}{\mathbf 1}\) \(\newcommand{\real}{\mathbb R}\) \(\newcommand{\twovec}[2]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\ctwovec}[2]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\threevec}[3]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\cthreevec}[3]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\fourvec}[4]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\cfourvec}[4]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\fivevec}[5]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \\ #5 \\ \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\cfivevec}[5]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \\ #5 \\ \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\mattwo}[4]{\left[\begin{array}{rr}#1 \amp #2 \\ #3 \amp #4 \\ \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\laspan}[1]{\text{Span}\{#1\}}\) \(\newcommand{\bcal}{\cal B}\) \(\newcommand{\ccal}{\cal C}\) \(\newcommand{\scal}{\cal S}\) \(\newcommand{\wcal}{\cal W}\) \(\newcommand{\ecal}{\cal E}\) \(\newcommand{\coords}[2]{\left\{#1\right\}_{#2}}\) \(\newcommand{\gray}[1]{\color{gray}{#1}}\) \(\newcommand{\lgray}[1]{\color{lightgray}{#1}}\) \(\newcommand{\rank}{\operatorname{rank}}\) \(\newcommand{\row}{\text{Row}}\) \(\newcommand{\col}{\text{Col}}\) \(\renewcommand{\row}{\text{Row}}\) \(\newcommand{\nul}{\text{Nul}}\) \(\newcommand{\var}{\text{Var}}\) \(\newcommand{\corr}{\text{corr}}\) \(\newcommand{\len}[1]{\left|#1\right|}\) \(\newcommand{\bbar}{\overline{\bvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\bhat}{\widehat{\bvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\bperp}{\bvec^\perp}\) \(\newcommand{\xhat}{\widehat{\xvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\vhat}{\widehat{\vvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\uhat}{\widehat{\uvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\what}{\widehat{\wvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\Sighat}{\widehat{\Sigma}}\) \(\newcommand{\lt}{<}\) \(\newcommand{\gt}{>}\) \(\newcommand{\amp}{&}\) \(\definecolor{fillinmathshade}{gray}{0.9}\)

    Keno

    Keno Buddies Game Screen Shot

    Keno is a game where the player marks several numbers from the numbers 1 through 80.  Then the house randomly selects 20 numbers.  If many of the player's numbers are selected, then the player wins money.  The more selected the more money.  The game we will be talking about costs $2 to play.  Below is a list of the payoff for each winning bet (Courtesy of Horizon Casino of Lake Tahoe).

    Play 1 Spot

    Catch 1  =  $6

     

    Play 2 Spots

    Catch 2  =  $24

     

    Play 3 Spots

    Catch 3  =  $84
    Catch 2  =  $2

     

    Play 4 Spots

    Catch 4  =  $240
    Catch 3  =  $6
    Catch 2  =  $2

     

    Play 5 Spots

    Catch 5  =  $1500
    Catch 4  =  $22
    Catch 3  =  $2

    Play 6 Spots

    Catch 6  =  $3000
    Catch 5  =  $200
    Catch 4  =  $6
    Catch 3  =  $2

    Play 7 Spots

    Catch 7  =  $20500
    Catch 6  =  $750
    Catch 5  =  $32
    Catch 4  =  $2

    Play 8 Spots

    Catch 8  =  $50000
    Catch 7  =  $3100
    Catch 6  =  $210
    Catch 5  =  $12

    Play 9 Spots

    Catch 9  =  $50000
    Catch 8  =  $12500
    Catch 7  =  $900
    Catch 6  =  $50
    Catch 5  =  $4

    Play 10 Spots

    Catch 10  =  $50000
    Catch 9    =  $17500
    Catch 8    =  $2200
    Catch 7    =  $320
    Catch 6    =  $32
    Catch 5    =  $2

    Play 11 Spots

    Catch 11  =  $50000
    Catch 10  =  $50000
    Catch 9    =  $9000
    Catch 8    =  $1000
    Catch 7    =  $120
    Catch 6    =  $12
     

    Play 12 Spots

    Catch 12  =  $50000
    Catch 11  =  $50000
    Catch 10  =  $16000
    Catch 9    =  $2500
    Catch 8    =  $420
    Catch 7    =  $44
    Catch 6    =  $10

    We will focus on finding the probabilities for the Play 8 spots.  The rest are calculated in a similar manner.  First let us look at the probability of catching 5.  We can think of the eighty numbers as being divided into 20 good ones and 60 bad ones.  If we caught 5 out of 8 then five of the good ones are selected and 3 of the bad ones are selected.  There are

            C(20,5) = 15504

    ways of selecting 5 good ones and

            C(60,3)  =  34220

    ways of selecting the bad ones.  Hence the total number of ways of catching 5 is

            C(20,5) x C(60,3)  =  (15504)(34220)  =  530546880

    The total number of ways of selecting 8 numbers is

            C(80,8)  =  28987537150

    We get the probability by dividing

                                        C(20,5) x C(60,3)
              P(Catch 5)  =                                     =   0.0183  
                                                 C(80,8)

    We can compute the probabilities of catching 6, 7, and 8 in a similar way:

                                        C(20,6) x C(60,2)
              P(Catch 6)  =                                     =   0.00237  
                                                 C(80,8)

                                        C(20,7) x C(60,1)
              P(Catch 7)  =                                     =   0.000160  
                                                 C(80,8)

                                        C(20,8) x C(60,0)
              P(Catch 8)  =                                     =   0.00000435
                                                 C(80,8)

    We can find the probability of losing the $2 by subtracting from 1:

            P(Lose)  =  1 - 0.0183 - 0.00237 - 0.000160 - 0.00000435  =  0.979

    We can now write the probability distribution table:

    Winnings 10 208 3098 49998 -2
    Probability 0.0183 0.00237 0.000160 0.00000435 0.979


    The expected value is given by

            EV  =  (10)(0.0183) + (208)(0.00237) + (3098)(0.00016)
                        + (49998)(0.00000435) + (-2)(0.979)

            =  -0.79

    We see that if you play many times, you will lose an average of 79 cents per game.

     

    I will leave it as an exercise to figure out the rest of the expected values.

    Always decide how much you are willing to spend before you begin.  Never go beyond this number.  If you find yourself pulling out more cash to get back what you lost, then you have a gambling problem and should call the National Council on Problem Gambling at 1-800-522-4700.

     

    Back to the Gambling and Math Page

     

    Keno is shared under a not declared license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by LibreTexts.

    • Was this article helpful?