Over the years, live dealer games have gone from an innovative niche to the primary way we play our favourite releases.

The continued growth and popularity of live casinos mean the number of available games grows with each passing year. Some are re-creations of existing titles, while others are brand new games! Both offer you a fantastic time and many great wins. Which makes choosing one very difficult!

The recent launch of Mega Ball had us rather preoccupied. We sank many hours into this new title, trying to make the magic happen! Exciting as it is, there is no denying that it shares some similarities with another game. If you have ever tried your hand at Keno, you will see the two games share some similarities. Which begs the question: which one is better for players?

Join us as we take a deep dive into both games. We will discuss how they play and what kind of rewards we can expect. By the end of this article, you will have a clearer understanding of both releases. Armed with that knowledge, we will be able to decide which of these two new titles is better. Should you play Live Keno or Live Mega Ball?

Mega Ball

Few developers can generate the same buzz Evolution Gaming can. Then again, part of that can be attributed to Mega Ball’s big win potential! It was one of the most interesting games made by the software provider in 2020. The buzz surrounding this game is well earned. After all, it is one of the few live dealer games which allows you to win up to €500,000 in a single round.

At the beginning of each turn, you can buy up to 200 cards. Each card has twenty-four numbers that are assigned in random positions on a 5×5 grid. The centre position is considered a free space.If you are not happy with the numbers on a specific card, you can rearrange the numbers as many times as you like. This does not cost you anything either, which is a big plus.

With bets out of the way, the game begins! A ball-drawing machine is visible at all times and will start shooting up numbers. Each ball has a number on it. After being shot up, the ball rolls down into a tube, which feeds back into the machine after the round ends. Twenty numbered balls are drawn automatically, filling in positions on the cards.

Finally, the twenty-first ball comes with an attached multiplier! It can range from 5x to 100x. The multiplier only applies if the last drawn ball helps to complete a winning combination. How much money you win depends on how many lines you have completed and whether a multiplier was active or not.

Live Keno

The basic premise behind BetConstruct’s Live Keno is quite similar to Mega Ball. Once again, the end goal is to draw the right numbers, and hope enough of them match to form a win. While certain core aspects are similar, the fundamental experience is a lot different across the two games. Play it right and get lucky, and you could walk away with €100,000 for a single played round!

When the round starts, you select a combination of numbers that you want to play. In the version we played, you could pick ten numbers. Twenty total numbers in the form of balls are then drawn. Your goal is to predict what numbers will be drawn. The more numbers on your ticket match, the better the final reward will be.

Part of what we really like about BetConstruct’s release is how versatile it is. As part of their Live Keno game, they offer several different options. You can play a version where you choose ten or eight numbers. You can play tables where you have a new round every half a minute, versus playing a round every three or four minutes. You can opt for the main bets or side bets. The sky is the limit for this title!

You have a wide variety of side bets to play. You can try to predict whether there will be more odd or even numbers in the first five drawn numbers. Along the same vein, you can try to predict if the first number will be odd or even. Two more possible wagers are whether the sum of the first five numbers or just the first number will be low or high value. You can also wager on what colours will be drawn and the order of the balls.

The Differences

One of the things that immediately stood out to us was just how better the visuals were on Evolution’s end. Both dealers have high-quality video streams and skilled dealers, that is not an issue. The difference lies in all the extra details we see in Mega Ball that is not present for Live Keno. Considering the developers, this did not shock us all that much. Evolution is working with a much larger budget, after all.

That said, polish and little visual details are not the only difference. Despite playing similarly on paper, there are some big differences. Primarily: multipliers! Mega Ball’s thrilling prizes are often enhanced with these special features. That, combined with the game’s unique structure give it yet another major advantage.

If you want to win big, then you will definitely go for Mega Ball. The maximum prize for this Evolution Gaming release is €500,000. It would be even higher, but the developers had to cap the maximum prize artificially. Do not get us wrong, Live Keno’s jackpots are nothing to sneeze at either. However, when it comes to the biggest payouts, Mega Ball takes home the win.

Live Kenostrikes back by offering you more diverse gameplay. Evolution Gaming’s title is very much so a one-trick pony. In contrast, BetConstruct gives you many more options through its side bets. As a result, the fun of playing Live Keno lasts much longer for us.

Summary

Ultimately, both sides have their advantages. Which one you pick will probably depend on what you prioritize in each release.

We would go with Live Keno if you want more gameplay options. The side bets allow you to win on several fronts. Even if the main bet does not work out, you can still score a win here and there to make some money back. Definitely the more varied of the two!

Meanwhile, Mega Ball benefits from big wins and multipliers. It also has the advantage of being the new kid on the block. It is legitimately a better-looking game than Live Keno is. That is to be expected, given that Evolution Gaming is a bigger company. While it has fewer gameplay options, we do consider it to be the more exciting of the two. You are always at the edge of your seat, hoping for that one life-changing multiplier to appear.