Pokeno is a game manufactured by

United States Playing Card Company The United States Playing Card Company (USPC, though also commonly known as USPCC) is a large American producer and distributor of playing cards. It was established in 1867 as Russell, Morgan & Co. and founded in its current incarnation in 1885. ...

. First released in 1930, the game is a combination of poker and

keno Keno is a lottery-like gambling game often played at modern casinos, and also offered as a game in some lotteries. Players wager by choosing numbers ranging from 1 through (usually) 80. After all players make their wagers, 20 numbers (some va ...

(or

lotto Lotto may refer to: * Lotto, original, 15th century name of the Italian lottery * Lotto (Milan Metro), a railway station in Milan, Italy * Lotto carpet, a carpet having a lacy arabesque pattern * Lotto Sport Italia, an Italian sports apparel manu ...

) and is similar to the game of

bingo Bingo or B-I-N-G-O may refer to: Arts and entertainment Gaming * Bingo, a game using a printed card of numbers ** Bingo (British version), a game using a printed card of 15 numbers on three lines; most commonly played in the UK and Ireland ** Bi ...

in several aspects.

Gameplay

The game can be played by between 2 and 13 people. The dealer places five ranks of five squares across the board for a total of 25 squares. With another deck of cards at hand, cards are turned over one at a time and each player who has a board with that playing card pictured places a poker chip or other marking device over the square. The first player to get five squares in a row is the winner.

Methods of scoring

There are many possible ways to keep score in Pokeno. * The winner receives a reward, greater or lesser, according to the poker value of the line or "hand." Note that the boards are arranged so that each vertical and horizontal line represents a different

poker hand In poker, players form sets of five playing cards, called ''hands'', according to the rules of the game. Each hand has a rank, which is compared against the ranks of other hands participating in the showdown to decide who wins the pot. In high ...

, ranging from "

straight flush In poker, players form sets of five playing cards, called ''hands'', according to the rules of the game. Each hand has a rank, which is compared against the ranks of other hands participating in the showdown to decide who wins the pot. In high ...

" to "one pair." No boards are better than others. All are intended to be balanced. * The same as before except that the dealer continues turning over cards until every player has five in a row; the player with the highest poker hand covered is the winner. * Pokeno may be played similarly to

Blackjack Blackjack (formerly Black Jack and Vingt-Un) is a casino banking game. The most widely played casino banking game in the world, it uses decks of 52 cards and descends from a global family of casino banking games known as Twenty-One. This fami ...

, where the dealer covers his own board and plays against each individual player. The dealer turns over playing cards until he has five in a row covered on his own board. Any player who does not have five in a row covered, or whose row has a lesser value than the dealer's, loses. The dealer loses to those who have rows covered of greater poker value. Larger hands may bring a greater reward. * Pokeno may be played similarly to

. Each player except the dealer or "banker" is given a board and may bet on any figure that automatically covers one row and one column. The banker turns over playing cards and the players cover only those called that are in the two rows on which he wagers. If one of these two rows is not covered by any player so that no one is "out" by the time twenty-five cards are turned over, the banker gets the wagers. If player is "out" on either his horizontal or vertical row, that player gets a certain standard reward arranged in proportion, as in

roulette Roulette is a casino game named after the French word meaning ''little wheel'' which was likely developed from the Italian game Biribi''.'' In the game, a player may choose to place a bet on a single number, various groupings of numbers, the ...

. * Pokeno may be played like regular

with poker cards instead of numbers/bingo balls.

References

{{reflist American card games