Prairie Thunder Keno

Introduction

Prairie Thunder Keno is a unique twist on the classic keno game that introduces multipliers and free spins with even larger multipliers. Developed by Grand Vision Gaming, I first encountered this game at the DraftKings casino.

Rules

1. This particular game follows the traditional American keno format, utilizing 80 numbers with a draw of 20 balls.
2. Once a player selects between three and ten numbers, the game randomly selects seven from the remaining numbers, marking two with wolves and five with horseshoes.
3. The game proceeds to randomly draw 20 numbers from a pool of 1 to 80. Similar to standard keno, players receive payouts based on how many of their selected numbers correspond with the 20 numbers drawn by the game. The payout table below illustrates the potential winnings based on all combinations of selections and hits.
4. Should both numbers marked with wolves correspond to the drawn numbers, any winnings will be quadrupled.
5. If the game reveals at least four numbers marked with horseshoes, the player activates the free spin bonus round.
6. The free spin bonus begins with 10 free spins for hitting four horseshoes and increases to 12 free spins for catching all five.
7. During the free spins, the betting amount and drawn numbers will replicate those from the initial spin that activated the bonus.
8. During free spins, the game will still select five numbers that the player has not chosen and mark them with horseshoes.
9. In place of marking two numbers with wolves during free spins, the game will mark eight unselected numbers with mountains.
10. If a free spin draws at least three horseshoes that match the drawn numbers, the player will receive extra free spins. For three horseshoes, the player gets 4 additional spins; for four horseshoes, they earn 10 extra spins; and for five horseshoes, they gain 15 bonus spins. These free spins have the potential to generate even more free spins without limit.
11. Matching at least one mountain during a free spin yields a multiplier ranging from 2x to 4x. Should multiple mountains match, the winnings will be multiplied by the total of all the multipliers. For instance, the highest multiplier could reach up to 256 by multiplying 4 by itself four times.
12. The odds for each multiplier are influenced by the number of selections made, as detailed in the multiplier table provided below.

The table below outlines the standard payout for all possible combinations of selections and hits as they appear in the DraftKings game.

The following table illustrates the likelihood of each Mountain Multiplier during free spins based on the number of selections made.

Examples

In the earlier example, I placed a $1 bet, selected numbers 1 through 10, and wolves were assigned to 16 and 37. I matched four of my ten chosen numbers and both wolves. Typically, hitting four would yield a payout of 1, but with the 4x multiplier from both wolves, my total winnings amounted to $1 multiplied by 4, resulting in $4.

In the same example, horseshoes were placed on numbers 32, 36, 73, 77, and 79. I managed to hit four out of the five (missing the one on 36), which awarded me 10 free spins.

During the free spin depicted earlier, I selected numbers 1 to 10 and matched seven of them, which normally pays 53. In free spins, the game tagged four numbers with mountains: 16, 47, 74, and 79. I matched the mountain on 47, granting me a 2x multiplier. Consequently, my total winnings for that spin came to $1 multiplied by 53 and again by 4, totaling $106.

Analysis

The table below presents the return to player percentages for different numbers of selections, clearly breaking down returns from both the base game and the bonus.

It’s evident that the highest return occurs with nine selections, at 93.6862%, which is a mere 0.0001% lower than the return on eight selections.

Acknowledgements

I would like to express my gratitude to Grand Vision Gaming for rectifying a previous error on this page.

External Links

• Discussion For further discussions about Prairie Thunder Keno, feel free to join my forum on Wizard of Vegas.
• Play in demo mode at DraftKings.

Written by: Michael Shackleford