The essence of the game of keno is as simple as one could possibly wish. The player select anywhere from one to fifteen numbers on a piece of paper marked with the numbers 1 to 80. Late, the casino conducts a drawing n which it selects twenty different numbers form 1 to 80. If the player has succeeded in picking any of the choices among the numbers he marked on his ticket, he may win some money, depending on how many numbers he had marked all together and how many of those were drawn by the casino. Throughout the lounge, the player will find blank keno tickets and crayons for use in filling them out. The keno ticket consists of the numbers 1 to 80 printed in sequence eight rows of ten numbers each.

To play the game, the player marks off any numbers of his choice by drawing an X through each one. He may select anywhere from one to fifteen different numbers in this manner. Each number so marked is called a spot. The player then writes the number of spots he has played in the right margin of the ticket and notes the amount of money he wishes to wager in the box in the upper-right-hand corner of the ticket. Finally, he takes the ticket to one of the windows at the keno counter at the front of the lounge. There one of the keno writes will collect the ticket along with the wager. The bet can be in the form of either cash or casino chips, although payoffs are always made in cash. The writer will also issue the player a duplicate ticket on which he has marked with a brush and ink the same numbers the player selected on the original ticket. In casino parlance, the original ticket, which the casino retains, is called the inside ticket, while the duplicate, which the player retains, is called the outside ticket. The duplicate ticket given to the player acts as his receipt for the bet and also his record of what numbers he bet on.

The keno writer will stamp both the original ticket and the duplicate with the date, the number of that particular game - all keno games conducted throughout the day are sequentially numbered - and a serial number unique to that ticket. All tickets are sequentially numbered as they are accepted by the house, and the last number issued is recorded prior to each drawing. Within a few minutes of turning in one's ticket, the drawing for that game will begin. Twenty numbers ranging from 1 to 80 will be randomly selected. These twenty numbers determine whether the player is entitled to payoff and, if so, how much.