Although I seldom win anything, I do enjoy playing video keno. Is there any advice you could give me to improve my chances of winning? Kaye S.

The reason you seldom win anything, Kaye, is because keno is a negative-expectation game that has a higher casino edge than most games the casino has to offer. On the plus side, with video keno, the medium house advantage compared to that in a live keno game is much lower. For a live keno game it’s 28%, whereas with video keno it is 7.5%.

Why lower you ask? Video keno simply has better paytables, but that doesn’t necessarily mean video keno is a better entertainment deal for the evening. At $1 a ticket, the most you could lose on a live game over an hour is about $15, that being the average number of games called per hour. A typical video keno player can burn through $15 worth of quarters in mere minutes.

Which leads me to my first bit of advice. Only bet what you can afford to lose. And just as important, the slower you play, the less hard-earned money you’ll put through the shredder.

Also, Kaye, hunt for the highest-paying paytables. Scrutinize each paytable to find which one gives you the lowest house edge. Oh yeah, and don’t forget to use your slot club card to offset the losses you can, no, will, experience on such a negative-expectation game.

As for strategy, sorry, Kaye, but like the emperor’s new clothes, there isn’t any. The numbers are chosen at random and each draw is independent, so playing providential numbers you think are lucky, or numbers you feel are "due," just doesn’t work. (A friend of a friend uses the numbers out of Fortune cookies, but he borrows bus fare to go home.)

Why lower you ask? Video keno simply has better paytables, but that doesn’t necessarily mean video keno is a better entertainment deal for the evening. At $1 a ticket, the most you could lose on a live game over an hour is about $15, that being the average number of games called per hour. A typical video keno player can burn through $15 worth of quarters in mere minutes.

Which leads me to my first bit of advice. Only bet what you can afford to lose. And just as important, the slower you play, the less hard-earned money you’ll put through the shredder.

Also, Kaye, hunt for the highest-paying paytables. Scrutinize each paytable to find which one gives you the lowest house edge. Oh yeah, and don’t forget to use your slot club card to offset the losses you can, no, will, experience on such a negative-expectation game.

As for strategy, sorry, Kaye, but like the emperor’s new clothes, there isn’t any. The numbers are chosen at random and each draw is independent, so playing providential numbers you think are lucky, or numbers you feel are "due," just doesn’t work. (A friend of a friend uses the numbers out of Fortune cookies, but he borrows bus fare to go home.)