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Gaming Guru
What is keno tracking?27 June 2009
Dear Robert, Keno tracking is keeping track of the numbers drawn in order to use that information to choose what numbers to play. You might be looking for a bias in the selection mechanism that causes some numbers to be drawn more often than other numbers. On the other hand, you might be looking for numbers that haven't been drawn as frequently as probability predicts, so you might want to play them under the theory that they are due and thus more likely to be drawn than other numbers. I worked in New York City many years ago. The New York lottery had a keno game and I thought I would write a program to keep track of the numbers drawn to see if any numbers were drawn more frequently than others. I never finished the program. Good thing. I know now the measures the New York lottery takes to ensure that each drawing is fair and unbiased and that every number is equally likely to be drawn. Some casinos have strange (perhaps even paranoid) ideas about what personal items should be banned from tables and machines. I've always played with a small blackjack strategy card on the table when I've played blackjack. And many times I've had a small notebook or clipboard with me when I've played slot machines. My experience has been that the longer gaming has been available in a jurisdiction, the more relaxed the management is. I've never had a problem in Las Vegas or Atlantic City because the guards and the management know that there's nothing I can do to affect the results on a machine by keeping track of the results. On the contrary, they think I have a system and casinos love systems players because they'll blindly follow their system despite all evidence that the system doesn't work. In San Diego, when I was researching the different machines available in the Native American casinos there for an article I wrote in the late 1990s, I was questioned about why I was writing in a notebook. I wasn't even sitting at a machine, but they were concerned about what I was writing. You didn't say which casino this happened in, but you did say you were in California and this happened in a local casino. I think once they get more experience managing a casino, they'll realize that having a card with birthdays written on it isn't going to affect their hold on a keno machine. Best of luck in and out of the casinos, Send your slot and video poker questions to John Robison, Slot Expert, at slotexpert@comcast.net. Because of the volume of mail I receive, I regret that I can't reply to every question. This article is provided by the Frank Scoblete Network. Melissa A. Kaplan is the network's managing editor. If you would like to use this article on your website, please contact Casino City Press, the exclusive web syndication outlet for the Frank Scoblete Network. To contact Frank, please e-mail him at fscobe@optonline.net. Recent Articles
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