Official Horse Race Game Thread (4 Viewers)

[TheOffalo]

Do your players understand that a big pot means big winner(s)!?? How big was the pot?

Biggest I've seen yet was like maybe $35? Somewhere in the $30s. And it was one of those near-perfect scratched ones. I think it was 5, 6, 7, and 8 scratched with 7 in the $0.75. And when it finally ended there were like 3 horses with 1 hop to win! Quite the game, one of the most fun ones, as we were playing short-handed and 2 players had sweeps in their hand. So very exciting! It ended up being chopped up so no one felt the real "pain" LOL.

Yes, they understand, and as I mentioned a few posts back, they're not averse to big pots. We play 25¢/50¢ in poker, $50 buy-ins, and have $600-$700 on the table--average $100/person in buy-ins, w/a couple in for one, some in for 3-4 (or more on a bad night), and the rest in the middle--so we have our share of $100+ pot hands and people are cool with that. But you're in control of when you commit that money in poker, not so much in this game, and maybe my guys just weren't in that mindset.

The pot was ~$30 about 40% of the way through the race before we capped the bet. (Don't remember what it was during the scratch phase, but a few of the guys were very unlucky having to discard cards for multiple scratched horses and rolling scratched horses after, so the pot was relatively big even before the race.) Judging by how many scratches people rolled after we capped the bet, the pot probably could have hit ~$60 by the time the race was done, and that seems high for a 25¢/50¢/75¢/$1 game, or high in general for our very first race at the stakes we play perhaps?

 

[CrazyEddie]

Deal out even number of cards: This isn't really a time saver, and I'm actually not sure if it's more or less equitable to deal out an even number of cards, thus leaving some cards undealt and increasing the share of the purse for some people. Maybe dealing out all the cards is actually more fair even if a few players end up getting more cards? (Has anyone done the math on this?)

No math necessary. Holding cards is a plus; holding more cards is an advantage. If you deal out the cards unevenly, some players will be at an advantage over the others. It won't be fair unless a fair method is used to distribute that advantage, e.g. rolling or cutting cards to see where the dealing starts.

 

[TheOffalo]

No math necessary. Holding cards is a plus; holding more cards is an advantage. If you deal out the cards unevenly, some players will be at an advantage over the others. It won't be fair unless a fair method is used to distribute that advantage, e.g. rolling or cutting cards to see where the dealing starts.

I was thinking about the fact that not dealing all cards out means some players might get a larger share of the winnings if a horse wins that only has 2-3 cards being held, and how that might factor into it.

 

[Darson]

I think I need to expand my simulation to add in the payments and calculate what the average win/loss is for a game.

 

[CrazyEddie]

I was thinking about the fact that not dealing all cards out means some players might get a larger share of the winnings if a horse wins that only has 2-3 cards being held, and how that might factor into it.

Well, yes, that's true - but since the cards are handed out randomly, everyone has a fair chance at ending up with the cards that are more profitable. It's like dealing out poker hands - whoever gets AA has an advantage over whoever gets J5o, but everyone has an equal chance to get the better hand.

Whereas if you deal out all the cards someone will have an advantage, but that advantage will be tied to your position - early players get more cards (and thus an advantage) and later players get fewer cards. Poker has this as well (except the positional advantage runs the other direction, of course), but the advantage is evened out by rotating the deal every hand. You could do the same thing with Horse Race, if you think you'd be playing enough hands to give everyone an equal number of turns with the extra cards. Failing that, like I mentioned, you could roll or draw to decide who deals and thus who gets the extra cards; someone will end up with an advantage, but everyone has an equal chance to get it.

 

[chkyrslf]

Yeah okay then, add me to the club...thanks PCF

 

[BonScot]

Only seem to be able to get the heads up set over here…

 

[LeGold]

Only seem to be able to get the heads up set over here…

View attachment 894745

Dibs!!!

 

[BonScot]

Found the pine version but it’s a little pricey…

 

[LeGold]

Found the pine version but it’s a little pricey…

View attachment 894752

Also, shipped from the US if I recall correctly when checking it myself. Without tax & duties included.

 

[Moxie Mike]

Btw what do you do if a player runs out of money during the race, just start a side pot?

They would have to reload in order to stay in the race. Or they could quit and forfeit any potential winnings.

...On a related note, has anyone run into a "0-race"? Where someone has all horses scratched? It'd be highly unlikely but totally possible, especially if playing with a very large crowd, so less cards per player.

How do you handle that? There'd be no incentive to roll as you couldn't possibly win anything. Do you just let them sit out the race? This is probably so rare it's not worth thinking about too much, but it's good to be prepared....

Haven't ran into this but I would let them sit out. It wouldn't affect the race since it would still require the same number of rolls in order to finish. The size of the pot would be unaffected.

 

[TheOffalo]

Well, yes, that's true - but since the cards are handed out randomly, everyone has a fair chance at ending up with the cards that are more profitable. It's like dealing out poker hands - whoever gets AA has an advantage over whoever gets J5o, but everyone has an equal chance to get the better hand.

Whereas if you deal out all the cards someone will have an advantage, but that advantage will be tied to your position - early players get more cards (and thus an advantage) and later players get fewer cards. Poker has this as well (except the positional advantage runs the other direction, of course), but the advantage is evened out by rotating the deal every hand. You could do the same thing with Horse Race, if you think you'd be playing enough hands to give everyone an equal number of turns with the extra cards. Failing that, like I mentioned, you could roll or draw to decide who deals and thus who gets the extra cards; someone will end up with an advantage, but everyone has an equal chance to get it.

Had an idea for more equitable card distribution while also discarding cards during the scratch phase. First, deal players out an equal number of cards, and set any remainders aside:

• 2, 4, or 11 players: 22, 11, or 4 cards each (respectively), 0 cards left.
• 3, 6, or 7 players: 14, 7, or 6 cards each (respectively), 2 cards left.
• 5, 8, or 10 players: 8, 5, or 4 cards each (respectively), 4 cards left.
• 9 players: 4 cards each, 8 cards left.

Unless you're playing with 2, 4 or 11 players, you should have some leftover cards. Then proceed to scratch phase, where players discard cards for scratched horses, paying the bet amount.

Then whoever has the fewest cards left gets to pick a remaining card at random. If more than one player tie for fewest cards, and there's enough un-dealt cards, each would get one. Continue until all players have an equal number of cards (remaining unused cards are removed; shares increase for those horses), or until all cards are dealt.

If not enough cards to give multiple tied fewest-cards players each a card, then those players can roll to see who gets the last card (or cards, if, say, 3 players tie but only 2 cards left).

Yes, some players may still end up short, but this should reduce the penalty from both having to pay bets because they held cards for scratched horses, and having fewer cards with which to potentially win part of the purse.

 

[Josh Kifer]

Last night. I had the most incredible run. I rolled a 4 - 11 times in a row. Non stop.... 4.... 4.... 4....



The four was the dollar scratch....



One dollar.... One dollar.... One dollar....



I lost 40 bucks over like 4 games and pulled 1 - 1/4..... It was the saddest run I've ever seen.



Obviously this means I need to order some chips.

 

[WedgeRock]

Two #5 horses, no #11.

#7 jockey has a broken knee.

EDIT: Amazon says they have great customer service and replace missing horses. I sent an email to customer service at the address on the material enclosed. We'll see what happens.

 

[NotDunric]

Last night. I had the most incredible run. I rolled a 4 - 11 times in a row. Non stop.... 4.... 4.... 4....

The four was the dollar scratch....

One dollar.... One dollar.... One dollar....

I lost 40 bucks over like 4 games and pulled 1 - 1/4..... It was the saddest run I've ever seen.

Obviously this means I need to order some chips.

I love this so much.
When I taught friends last week, the very first game one of them ended up with all four 2s, so naturally that horse won the race. It was obscene, and awesome.

 

[Josh Kifer]

I love this so much.
When I taught friends last week, the very first game one of them ended up with all four 2s, so naturally that horse won the race. It was obscene, and awesome.

I had 3 Jack's the last run. 11 got all the way to the last peg, then nothing...... Then two boxcars in a row to ruin my entire night.

 

[BSteck]

Do we need a new Horse Racing bad beat thread?

 

[NotDunric]

I had 3 Jack's the last run. 11 got all the way to the last peg, then nothing...... Then two boxcars in a row to ruin my entire night.

In the last 11 or 12 races I’ve played, which includes Sat at COTS, I’ve had a single 25% pull and $0 wins on every other race. It’s been insane. I still love it.

 

[CrazyEddie]

Had an idea for more equitable card distribution while also discarding cards during the scratch phase.

I like this! It puts more cards into players' hands rather than letting sit out undealt, which increases everyone's interest in the race. It compensates players who were unlucky enough to lose some of their cards to scratches, so that getting stabbed by fate doesn't sting quite so badly, and gives the greatest compensation to those who were stabbed the hardest. And it's fair from the start, so there's no issues about someone being advantaged or disadvantaged by their position in the deal.

Nice work! Good idea.

 

[Darson]

Finished my box - went with a wax finish as it’ll double as a lubricant for the lid.

I guess the board really is made from cherry as the colour match is spot on!

 

[chkyrslf]

Do we need a new Horse Racing bad beat thread?

Do we need a new forum??

 

[Josh Kifer]

I like this! It puts more cards into players' hands rather than letting sit out undealt, which increases everyone's interest in the race. It compensates players who were unlucky enough to lose some of their cards to scratches, so that getting stabbed by fate doesn't sting quite so badly, and gives the greatest compensation to those who were stabbed the hardest. And it's fair from the start, so there's no issues about someone being advantaged or disadvantaged by their position in the deal.

Nice work! Good idea.

I was thinking of removing the unplayed hands into a bad beat jackpot. Then make some trifecta rule that if it hits, everyone wins a chunk that's in that round.

 

[Samuel]

Two #5 horses, no #11.

#7 jockey has a broken knee.

View attachment 895141

EDIT: Amazon says they have great customer service and replace missing horses. I sent an email to customer service at the address on the material enclosed. We'll see what happens.

I ended up relabeling all the horses, both sides, with black numbers on white backgrounds - the stock colors, especially 4, 7, & 10 were pretty hard on my AARP eyes if the lighting wasn't bright enough... lol

Hope the vendor/Amazon takes care of you - a spare set of horses would be pretty nice...

Btw, played a 6 handed cash game earlier tonight for about 6 hours - brought the HRG with me but unfortunately none of other guys wanted to give it a go (everyone was jonesing for NL and PL games) - maybe next time...

 

[WedgeRock]

Two #5 horses, no #11.

#7 jockey has a broken knee.

View attachment 895141

EDIT: Amazon says they have great customer service and replace missing horses. I sent an email to customer service at the address on the material enclosed. We'll see what happens.

Sent an email two days ago, got a response yesterday asking for proof of purchase, pics and codes off the box. Sent them what they asked for yesterday after work and within an hour, I had an email saying they were shipping out a new #11 horse and providing a tracking number.

 

[Venturalvn]

Had "pub night" at the house with non poker players and got a 8-handed table going for $20. Massive hit, and everyone LOVED it.

 

[legonick]

Had "pub night" at the house with non poker players and got a 8-handed table going for $20. Massive hit, and everyone LOVED it.

View attachment 896657

Dude that looks awesome!

What other activities did you do, aside from horses and drinking? (Although in my mind, that's enough to make a night for sure....)

 

[Venturalvn]

Dude that looks awesome!

What other activities did you do, aside from horses and drinking? (Although in my mind, that's enough to make a night for sure....)

Music, darts, golden tee, slot machine, draft beer, cocktails. Had 8 people - good friends, great drinks, fun time!

 

[Darson]

Had to put the finishing touches to the box as we’re having some friends over for Easter lunch tomorrow with the promise of some racing. Last time we played the box was a very handy place to keep the pot so it’s likely that the box will be open for future games like the first photo.

 

[WedgeRock]

Prepping for a little microstakes gambool with the ponies at Easter tomorrow.

 

[T_Chan]

I'm planning to turn this into a custom felt and make it much bigger to put onto a poker table. Instead of horses with pegs, we can use anything with a flat bottom and move them across the felt. Might still use a horse and jockey though. Maybe add a half tub at one end of the table with craps table rubber for a throwing area.