Official Horse Race Game Thread (11 Viewers)

[Moxie Mike]

So after playing a couple times, the game is pretty fun with the stock set of rules but we're not looking for 'pretty fun'... we want MAXIMUM FUN!

So I dreamed up a few variations. LMK what you think.

Idea #1: Leave the Kings and Aces in the deck and deal them out.

Aces = Avoid penalties for rolling scratched horses. Must discard the ace after using it. Another idea is where if during the scratch round a player rolls a number they don't want scratched, they can play the ace and re-roll. They can only 'veto' their own rolls.

Kings = Pass penalties along to the next player when rolling a scratched horse. King must be discarded after.

Idea #2: Best poker hand after the scratches. If the 7 is NOT scratched, the best 2-7 hand wins. If the 7 IS scratched, the best 'Hi' hand wins. Prize is 2 units from every player. In the event of ties, Every player pays BOTH PLAYERS 2 units.

Idea #3: All winning players must tip the winning roller 2 units unless the roller is a winner themselves. This means per 2 units per 1/4 of the pot... so if a player wins 3/4 he/she pays 6 units.

 

[Chipandchair]

Does anyone with a Fineni board have the ability to measure their board's grommets or the pegs on their horses? I do love their nicer horses, curious if they'd fit into my ATB setup.

ACB also will sell you metal (silver or gold) horses separately that do fit into their boards
https://acrosstheboardgame.com/board-games/accessories/?v=7516fd43adaa

 

[Samuel]

Does anyone with a Fineni board have the ability to measure their board's grommets or the pegs on their horses? I do love their nicer horses, curious if they'd fit into my ATB setup.

Mine is the basic, non-grommet board: holes are approx 5mm diameter. Horse pegs (the 6 or so I measured) were 4.2 and 4.3 mm. Hope that helps somewhat...

 

[Samuel]

I have some Super Poker World chips (BrProPoker) on order. Found some little MarioKart figurines on Aliexpress to hopefully match those chips. https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005003831151426.html?spm=a2g0o.order_list.0.0.21ef1802K9rjg2 (unfortunately, it's only a set of 9)

Tentative plan is to put metal Allen head set screws into the holes of one or both of the boards and magnets on the bottom of the figurines. Haven't gotten around to ordering some set screws yet...

 

[legonick]

So after playing a couple times, the game is pretty fun with the stock set of rules but we're not looking for 'pretty fun'... we want MAXIMUM FUN!

So I dreamed up a few variations. LMK what you think.

Idea #1: Leave the Kings and Aces in the deck and deal them out.

Aces = Avoid penalties for rolling scratched horses. Must discard the ace after using it. Another idea is where if during the scratch round a player rolls a number they don't want scratched, they can play the ace and re-roll. They can only 'veto' their own rolls.

Kings = Pass penalties along to the next player when rolling a scratched horse. King must be discarded after.

Idea #2: Best poker hand after the scratches. If the 7 is NOT scratched, the best 2-7 hand wins. If the 7 IS scratched, the best 'Hi' hand wins. Prize is 2 units from every player. In the event of ties, Every player pays BOTH PLAYERS 2 units.

Idea #3: All winning players must tip the winning roller 2 units unless the roller is a winner themselves. This means per 2 units per 1/4 of the pot... so if a player wins 3/4 he/she pays 6 units.

My 2 cents - idea #1 seems pretty awesome! I like the concept of having a "skip" or "pass along" and then discarding it. Players would have to decide if they want to spend it or save it. Like, say you have 1 Ace. Do you save it for that highest scratch, or blow it on the $0.50 scratch (playing $0.25/$0.50/$0.75/$1) and hope you don't scratch worse later? With your Kings concept, does it get passed along to the next player who scratches, or are you thinking an immediate f' you to the guy to your left?

 

[satisfyingbutton]

I have some Super Poker World chips (BrProPoker) on order. Found some little MarioKart figurines on Aliexpress to hopefully match those chips. https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005003831151426.html?spm=a2g0o.order_list.0.0.21ef1802K9rjg2 (unfortunately, it's only a set of 9)

Tentative plan is to put metal Allen head set screws into the holes of one or both of the boards and magnets on the bottom of the figurines. Haven't gotten around to ordering some set screws yet...

View attachment 892025

View attachment 892026

I had been pondering getting some D&D minis to replace horses, but this is a great idea and a nice match with the chips!

 

[Samuel]

I had been pondering getting some D&D minis to replace horses, but this is a great idea and a nice match with the chips!

D&D minis would be Cool!

 

[Moxie Mike]

With your Kings concept, does it get passed along to the next player who scratches, or are you thinking an immediate f' you to the guy to your left?

The guy sitting to your left has to pay the penalty and then the king is discarded.

 

[TheOffalo]

Tonight's the night--Post Time is 7pm! My plan is to introduce the game by using fairly standard rules and modest bets to start: 50¢ or $1 antes and 25¢/50¢/75¢/$1 scratch bets; deal out all 44 cards, discard/pay during scratch round.

House Rules I'm considering adopting from the jump:

• Players rolling already-eliminated horses in scratch round has to pay the bet before passing the dice.
• If the 2 or 12 horse is scratched, their bets are doubled.
• Half the ante goes to the player who gets the winning horse across the finish line.

Any other house rules I should consider for tonight? My guys will have no problem picking up the game during actual play, but their eyes may glaze over if I have to explain too many rules beforehand. I figure I could add other rules once we get a few races under our belts, maybe at the next live game session. Goal tonight is to get them to like the game enough to run more than 1-2 races and then to want to play it next time!

 

[JMC9389]

I'll send you some tags, PM me your address!

If anyone else has the Derby Dash version of the game and want a set of tags, let me know.

Me!

 

[JMC9389]

I ran a simulation of three rounds. 2, 3, and 10 won the rounds. Playing 0.25, 0.50, 0.75, and $1, the pots were between $15 and $25. The $25 game got bloated because the 7 got scratched last and each one was $1.

In a simulated game, one stack almost lost all $20, while one was down a bit, with the other four about even or slightly up

 

[legonick]

Tonight's the night--Post Time is 7pm! My plan is to introduce the game by using fairly standard rules and modest bets to start: 50¢ or $1 antes and 25¢/50¢/75¢/$1 scratch bets; deal out all 44 cards, discard/pay during scratch round.

House Rules I'm considering adopting from the jump:

• Players rolling already-eliminated horses in scratch round has to pay the bet before passing the dice.
• If the 2 or 12 horse is scratched, their bets are doubled.
• Half the ante goes to the player who gets the winning horse across the finish line.

Any other house rules I should consider for tonight? My guys will have no problem picking up the game during actual play, but their eyes may glaze over if I have to explain too many rules beforehand. I figure I could add other rules once we get a few races under our belts, maybe at the next live game session. Goal tonight is to get them to like the game enough to run more than 1-2 races and then to want to play it next time!

My $0.02, the 2/12 scratch double thing isn't worth it. The likely hood of it happening is low, and the impact is not that big. Adds to the eye glaze, with pretty little return.

If you want to get a little fancy, consider the recommendation in here regarding Aces and/or Kings. Deal the Aces, and have them act as a "get out of jail free" card for 1 scratch...discard after using. Adds a little player choice...do they use it on the first scratch of any value, or save it for a "big scratch"? And/or the Kings idea - the player to the left of the holder has to pay the scratch.

Also something to consider - who do you deal to first? A simple roll-off for first deal and first scratch action is the best IMHO.

 

[TheOffalo]

My $0.02, the 2/12 scratch double thing isn't worth it. The likely hood of it happening is low, and the impact is not that big. Adds to the eye glaze, with pretty little return.

If you want to get a little fancy, consider the recommendation in here regarding Aces and/or Kings. Deal the Aces, and have them act as a "get out of jail free" card for 1 scratch...discard after using. Adds a little player choice...do they use it on the first scratch of any value, or save it for a "big scratch"? And/or the Kings idea - the player to the left of the holder has to pay the scratch.

Also something to consider - who do you deal to first? A simple roll-off for first deal and first scratch action is the best IMHO.

Thanks for the suggestions. I'll scrap the doubles 2 and 12. Might try the AK idea next session. Was definitely thinking of rolling for who's dealt first and probably have that person as first scratch roller too.

 

[LeGold]

OK guys, let's try to stay on topic, shall we? This being poker chip forum 'n' shit.

So, how many chips is it per person (-ish), assuming a $1/2/3/4 game? Apart from the obvious answer ("moar")...

 

[TheOffalo]

Well my guys didn’t take to the horse racing game as much as I thought they would. However I’m not giving up yet. Hopefully we’ll squeeze in another live game in the next couple weeks and I can see if they want to try again. If not then I’ll either return the board to Amazon or sell it here…

Not really sure why it didn’t catch. We were rolling a hell of a lot of scratches during the race, that we capped the bets. I think my guys just rather compete for a big pot in poker, where there’s some strategy, rather than something that’s a crapshoot. *shrug*

 

[legonick]

Well my guys didn’t take to the horse racing game as much as I thought they would. However I’m not giving up yet. Hopefully we’ll squeeze in another live game in the next couple weeks and I can see if they want to try again. If not then I’ll either return the board to Amazon or sell it here…

Not really sure why it didn’t catch. We were rolling a hell of a lot of scratches during the race, that we capped the bets. I think my guys just rather compete for a big pot in poker, where there’s some strategy, rather than something that’s a crapshoot. *shrug*

What are the details on the night? Were you doing cash games, and rotating in racing? Or tournament and doing it before/after/on break?

I'm still trying to work out the details on how to integrate it into my night. We messed with a bit last poker night before the tournament started - we had 5 people playing, and people opted to just try a practice race, and everyone was having a good time even without money involved. So much so that when the last few people for poker night crawled in right before the tournament started, they were like "what's all the hooting and hollering about?"

So I'm thinking about a future night doing some kind of short tournament - either a hyper targeted at like 1.5 hours, or a short 50/50, or an all-in-or-fold tournament, something that'll leave time for some real racing afterwards. And do like a set number of games at $0.25 stakes, then maybe 2 bigger games at the end at $0.50 stakes. I think some of my guys wouldn't like to play too high even seeing as it's pure luck, but others wouldn't mind. I'm fine for playing bigger because it's not like there is a rake or skill advantage - everyone is even in this game. If you lose big, well, most likely you'll make some of it up next time!

Hmmm it'd also be interesting to do a race as part of a tournament, although that might be pushing it. Like what if you had one of the later breaks and you played with 100/200/300/400. It'd be funny to see how small-stacks guys might be totally sweating it, while big stacks don't care much. But that could easily be pushing it...might be tilting to be putting in serious tournament chips for that luckbox game.

I'm also torn on weather I should just play with cash as it might add to the feel of it for those who aren't big casino go-ers. Raking a pot full of quarters and $1 feels better than raking a pot of chips maybe?

 

[NotDunric]

OK guys, let's try to stay on topic, shall we? This being poker chip forum 'n' shit.

So, how many chips is it per person (-ish), assuming a $1/2/3/4 game? Apart from the obvious answer ("moar")...

I'm making some plans for a small dedicated set to play .25/.50/.75/1.00, so presumably take this and scale it up a bit?

My expectation is $10 buy-ins, maybe $20. With that in mind I'm planning to get 300 quarters and 100 dollars made up, which honestly feels like it will be overkill, but like you said..."moar"...

At $10 everyone gets a barrel of 25s and five 1s, and then we just make change through the night as we go. At 300/100 there's $175 in the bank which means enough for SEVENTEEN PEOPLE to play for $10, which is excessive as hell to expect on a single table. At half that many heads everyone could buy in for $20 and you'd still have some chips left over, and if/when someone goes out and wants more, they could easily just buy off of a big stack at the table who's won a race or two. But I don't expect that to likely ever become an issue.

 

[LeGold]

I'm looking at how I can use these chips in the best way for this purpose. Even the inlay is on topic!

It won't be for real money anyway, so it's just about chips here.

 

[Sprouty]

A few of us are talking about some non-denoms. 500/100 as 600 chips fit in the ATB box.

 

[WedgeRock]

Idea #1: Leave the Kings and Aces in the deck and deal them out.

Aces = Avoid penalties for rolling scratched horses. Must discard the ace after using it. Another idea is where if during the scratch round a player rolls a number they don't want scratched, they can play the ace and re-roll. They can only 'veto' their own rolls.

Kings = Pass penalties along to the next player when rolling a scratched horse. King must be discarded after.

I did not initially like this idea. It has really grown on me.

 

[Sprouty]

Hmmm, getting ideas. Hinge clearance is an issue with racks but if you remove two barrels it should work just fine. Five racks leaves space for additional storage (horses/die).

 

[WedgeRock]

Hmmm, getting ideas. Hinge clearance is an issue with racks but if you remove two barrels it should work just fine. Five racks leaves space for additional storage (horses/die).View attachment 892972View attachment 892973View attachment 892974View attachment 892975

I've already talked to @Boother about designing a box.

 

[satisfyingbutton]

A few of us are talking about some non-denoms. 500/100 as 600 chips fit in the ATB box.

I really like the idea of non-denominated chips. The ability to run up and down a set of stakes with this kind of thing seems like a good idea. You can play for dimes with just about anyone, and you can ramp up to big stakes when called for. I had a blast playing this with @Saoliver's limit set at the Soiree.

 

[warma]

I really like the idea of non-denominated chips. The ability to run up and down a set of stakes with this kind of thing seems like a good idea. You can play for dimes with just about anyone, and you can ramp up to big stakes when called for. I had a blast playing this with @Saoliver's limit set at the Soiree.

There’s a rumor that I have plenty of non-denom super diamonds. Just saying.

 

[legonick]

I'm making some plans for a small dedicated set to play .25/.50/.75/1.00, so presumably take this and scale it up a bit?

My expectation is $10 buy-ins, maybe $20. With that in mind I'm planning to get 300 quarters and 100 dollars made up, which honestly feels like it will be overkill, but like you said..."moar"...

At $10 everyone gets a barrel of 25s and five 1s, and then we just make change through the night as we go. At 300/100 there's $175 in the bank which means enough for SEVENTEEN PEOPLE to play for $10, which is excessive as hell to expect on a single table. At half that many heads everyone could buy in for $20 and you'd still have some chips left over, and if/when someone goes out and wants more, they could easily just buy off of a big stack at the table who's won a race or two. But I don't expect that to likely ever become an issue.

So ~8.5 to play for $20, yeah, sounds like you'll be set. I think a $20 buy-in with $10 in 1s and $20 in $0.25 is pretty ideal, and with a big group, it'd take a bad night to need a rebuy, and then you could just rebuy for $10 or something.

 

[Darson]

I’ve created a monster. This is my wife’s most recent Facebook post.

 

[ThinkingFold]

Not sure if already discussed, but betting on if next roll was a scratch or not became a popular side bet.

 

[LeGold]

Just remembered that I have a nice wooden set like this at home:



So... by using the solid box lid, I only need a topper with the right dimensions to match the lid and the abovementioned army of riders:



Bonus - I can easiliy divide it into smaller parts for storage

 

[NotDunric]

I’d say that my introduction of horses to the weekly poker gang was a success. @radishgoblin feeling the pressure!

 

[Rieguy]

Well my guys didn’t take to the horse racing game as much as I thought they would. However I’m not giving up yet. Hopefully we’ll squeeze in another live game in the next couple weeks and I can see if they want to try again. If not then I’ll either return the board to Amazon or sell it here…

Not really sure why it didn’t catch. We were rolling a hell of a lot of scratches during the race, that we capped the bets. I think my guys just rather compete for a big pot in poker, where there’s some strategy, rather than something that’s a crapshoot. *shrug*

When did you play it during the game session? While we liked it a lot, we agreed it would be better placed at either the beginning or end (preferable) of the night. It kind of broke the flow of poker, one detractor really wanted to get back to NLH, and a couple others just wanted to keep playing it. Placing it on one of the bookends would have basically gotten rid of all of those issues and anyone not wanting to play could simply opt-out.