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Keno Appendix 14 - Laughlin Keno Survey

Introduction

Live keno is hard to find in Vegas these days but it is available at most casinos in Laughlin. In January, 2012, I picked up a keno brochure in every casino in Laughlin that I found offering the game. When I got home, I calculated the return of the basic $1 pick-10 game at each casino. First, I present the pay tables for the pick 10.

 

Laughlin $1 Pick-10 Pay TablesExpand

Catch Combinations Probability Aquarius Avi Colorado Belle Golden Nugget Harrah's Riverside
0 75,394,027,566 0.04579070 0 0 0 0 0 0
1 295,662,853,200 0.17957138 0 0 0 0 0 0
2 486,137,960,550 0.29525678 0 0 0 0 0 0
3 440,275,888,800 0.26740237 0 0 0 0 0 0
4 242,559,401,700 0.14731890 0 0.5 1 0 0 0
5 84,675,282,048 0.05142769 2 2 1 1 2 1
6 18,900,732,600 0.01147939 20 20 20 20 10 20
7 2,652,734,400 0.00161114 132 120 100 160 80 150
8 222,966,900 0.00013542 1000 800 800 1000 900 1000
9 10,077,600 0.00000612 4000 3800 3500 5000 5000 4000
10 184,756 0.00000011 25000 50000 25000 50000 50000 50000

 

The next table shows the contribution to the return for each possible win.

 

Laughlin $1 Pick-10 Returns

Catch Aquarius Avi Colorado Belle Golden Nugget Harrah's Riverside
0 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000
1 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000
2 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000
3 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000
4 0.000000 0.073659 0.147319 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000
5 0.102855 0.102855 0.051428 0.051428 0.102855 0.051428
6 0.229588 0.229588 0.229588 0.229588 0.114794 0.229588
7 0.212671 0.193337 0.161114 0.257783 0.128891 0.241671
8 0.135419 0.108335 0.108335 0.135419 0.121877 0.135419
9 0.024483 0.023258 0.021422 0.030603 0.030603 0.024483
10 0.002805 0.005611 0.002805 0.005611 0.005611 0.005611
Total 0.707821 0.736644 0.722012 0.710432 0.504632 0.688200

 

The following table summarizes the pick 10 returns in Laughlin, ranked from highest to lowest. You can see they all are in the range of 69% to 74%, with the glaring exception of Harrah's at 50%!

 

Laughlin Pick-10 Summary

Rank Casino Return
1 Avi 73.66%
2 Colorado Belle 72.20%
3 Golden Nugget 71.04%
4 Aquarius 70.78%
5 Riverside 68.82%
6 Harrah's 50.46%

 

I wondered if the extremely low return for the Harrah's pick-10 was an aberration. So I ran the numbers for picking 1 to 15. What I found was that the return for picking anything except 10 was about 70%, which is in line with the other Laughlin casinos. I then compared it to the keno returns at Harrah's Las Vegas, which I document in my review of that casino. They also showed returns about 70%, including for the pick 10. So, I tend to think the pick 10 pay table at Harrah's Laughlin was a mistake.

 

Harrah's Laughlin & Vegas Summary

Pick Laughlin Las Vegas
1 75.00%  
2 72.15% 72.15%
3 73.54% 72.15%
4 72.53% 71.00%
5 70.06% 68.45%
6 70.99% 68.75%
7 68.86% 67.49%
8 70.34% 68.85%
9 69.86% 67.91%
10 50.46% 67.62%
11 66.06% 67.35%
12 67.81% 68.67%
13 67.26% 68.30%
14 78.40% 67.08%
15 69.99% 68.19%

 

Written by: Michael Shackleford