Horse Race

Full rules

1. Overview
2. Setup
3. Betting
4. The race
5. Paying out
6. Tips for beginners
7. Variants

Overview

Horse Race is a betting game for a party. The four Aces are the horses, and a column of face-down cards is the track. Before the race, everyone bets a number of sips on one horse. Then the dealer turns up cards from the deck one at a time, and each card moves the Ace of its suit one step forward. The first Ace past the end of the track wins – and whoever backed it gets to hand out sips.

• Players: 3–10: one dealer (who can bet too) and any number of punters.
• You need: a standard 52-card deck without jokers, and a drink for each player.

The game works just as well with points, forfeits or soft drinks – and nobody should ever be pushed to drink.

Setup

1. Choose a dealer (also called the announcer or bookmaker). The dealer takes the four Aces out of the deck and shuffles the rest.
2. The dealer lays 6 cards face down in a column from the dealer towards the far end of the table. Each card marks one step of the track. Many groups use a longer track of 8 cards – the more cards, the longer the race.
3. The four Aces go face up in a row across the table, next to the start end of the track. Each Ace stands in its own lane.
4. The rest of the deck is the draw pile, held by the dealer.

Betting

Before the race starts, each player bets a number of sips on one suit – "4 on hearts", for example. Say your bet out loud or write it down. It's a good idea to agree on a maximum bet (e.g. 5 sips) before you start.

The race

1. The dealer turns up the top card of the draw pile. Only its suit matters: the Ace of that suit moves one step forward, level with the next track card.
2. Hurdles: as soon as all four Aces have reached a step of the track, the dealer turns that track card face up. The Ace of its suit moves one step back. Each track card is turned only once.
3. The dealer keeps turning cards and commentating the race until one Ace moves past the last track card. That Ace has won. (If the draw pile runs out first – very unlikely – the race is void and nobody pays.)

Example: On a 6-card track, the ♣ Ace is the last to reach step 1, so the dealer turns the first track card: the 7♦. The ♦ Ace, which was on step 1, drops back to the start. The ♥ Ace leads on step 3.

Paying out

• If you bet on the winning horse, you hand out twice your bet in sips to the other players, split any way you like.
• If you bet on any other horse, you drink your bet.

Then shuffle everything, lay out a new track and start the next race – with a new dealer, if you like.

Tips for beginners

• 12 cards of each suit are in play, so every horse has the same chance before the start – betting is pure luck.
• A hurdle card that shows the suit of a horse far behind hurts nobody much; one that hits the leader can turn the race.
• The dealer's commentary is half the fun – make it dramatic.

Variants

Optional – agree before you start.

• Half up front: every player drinks half their bet before the race starts; losers drink the other half at the end.
• Places: pay out for second and third place too, with smaller rewards than for the winner.
• Hurdle for the leader: the track card is turned when the first horse reaches that step instead of the last.
• Turbo: the suit on a turned track card moves its horse forward instead of back.
• Stumble: agree on a wild rank (e.g. the 2s); when it comes up, every horse except the leader moves one step forward.