Official Horse Race Game Thread (6 Viewers)

[WedgeRock]

On my Derby Dash game board, the number of holes match up with the chart above (3x each probability - e.g. 3 holes for #2, 12 holes for #5, 18 holes for #7, etc) - that board has no Scratched area/holes. I think this is intentional in order to run full 11 horse races with true probabilities/chances for each horse.

Easy to fix with some buttons from BRPro. For the first scratch, discarded the cards and cap it with a button marked "1x," the 2nd scratch cards get capped with "2x" and so on.

I like the the Derby Dash odds are exact.

Does Derby Dash have plastic horses?

Does

 

[Samuel]

Does Derby Dash have plastic horses?

Yes:

 

[WedgeRock]

It almost gonna be better/easier to make your own...

 

[Littleluck55]

ROLL A…	PROBABILITY
2​	1/36 (2.778%)​
3​	2/36 (5.556%)​
4​	3/36 (8.333%)​
5​	4/36 (11.111%)​
6​	5/36 (13.889%)​
7​	6/36 (16.667%)​
8​	5/36 (13.889%)​
9​	4/36 (11.111%)​
10​	3/36 (8.333%)​
11​	2/36 (5.556%)​
12​	1/36 (2.778%)​

On my Derby Dash game board, the number of holes match up with the chart above (3x each probability - e.g. 3 holes for #2, 12 holes for #5, 18 holes for #7, etc) - that board has no Scratched area/holes. I think this is intentional in order to run full 11 horse races with true probabilities/chances for each horse.

On my Fineni game board (with a Scratched area/holes), there is one less hole for horse #'s 4-10 than 3x each probability - so e.g. the #4 has 8 holes, the #5 has 11, and the #7 has 17, etc. I'm guessing that the one less hole per lane is supposed to offset the greater chances for the "middle" horses to be scratched (and not finish at all) when running less than full field races?

This was my first one. I ended up never using it. I had planned to add some new holes to extend the game. The holes on this one is different than both your games.

 

[wonderpuddle]

Sounds like a great excuse to have some one cent chips made. This game sounds like it can get expensive.....fast.

Based on our experiences, paying $1/2/3/4 on scratched horses tends to build a pot of $100-150 most games. Given that the game takes 10-15 minutes and winners only take 1/4 pot per card held, I think going in dollar increments fits pretty comparably to playing in a $.50/1 type of game. A quarter of the pot gets you like $25-35 most games. And the winners each probably paid a bit into that pot. So winners are probably looking at a profit of like $10-20 with one card held, depending on how many players are in the game. Losers are looking at an average loss of less than $20 per race, if you have more than 5 or so players.

Playing for pennies would mean you’d invest 15 minutes to make a profit of like a dime or two. Don’t think many would find the game as fun at those prices.

As an example, I got completely shut out of the first two races last night and had really bad luck rolling (hitting the $4 scratch several times). And even taking zero percent of two decent pots, I was down less than $50 after those races.

 

[Geremie]

To make it more extreme, you could make an increasing multiplier every time you roll a scratched horse.

First time = 1x * scratch (1x-4x) * bet amount
Second time = 2x * scratch (1x-4x) * bet amount
Third time = 3x * scratch (1x-4x) * bet amount

Could get interesting with a few people rolling the scratched horses back to back

 

[legonick]

A couple things I'm planning, but I haven't tried this yet, so take it with plenty of salt grains....

1. $20 "buy-in" which will be 40 $0.25 cent chips, and 10 $1.00 chips. I don't have a good chipset yet, so this is going to be a mixed $0.25, and black $1.00 chips. Playing $0.25/$0.50/$0.75/$1.00.
2. Per-game ante of only $0.25 per person.
3. Dice rolls to see who gets dealt first. Highest goes first, if tied, roll-off. This is important because getting dealt first is an advantage as you'll most likely get more cards than others.
4. Unsplittable winnings stay in the pot. If it's the last round, best poker hand of the winners also gets the dredges.

Also I'm thinking of trying to come up with a "better way" to play with less people. 44 cards, so if you had only 4 people playing, 4 scratches, so 28 cards, so 7 cards each. Is that unmanageable? It seems like 4 or 5 would be better. Maybe you could deal a "dead hand" making it 5.6 cards each. But then you could get in an unlikely funky spot of having, say, all winner cards in the dead hand...then what do you do? Just leave that money in the pot? Maybe 7 cards isn't so bad if playing 4-handed.... Thoughts?

 

[legonick]

It looks like adding the metal grommets to the holes is a good idea to help protect the wood and keep the horses from getting wobbly.

Where are you picking up the grommets?

 

[TheOffalo]

 

[JRald07]

Where are you picking up the grommets?

From Amazon

 

[Rieguy]

Bought mine yesterday morning for our big 4/1 game. I'm just worried the degenerate gamblers in our group are going to enjoy it more than actual poker .

 

[RowlettTexasChipGuy]

I took mine to the cigar shop yesterday to try it out and see what kind of reaction I would get before breaking it out for my poker group

well we now have a 7 pm post time every Thursday........

 

[upNdown]

Just to make sure I'm not missing something, this is purely a game of chance, right? There are no decisions to be made?

 

[BPTDirector]

Currently the hottest thread on a chipping site! Lol

 

[iballman]

This is a fun game, at times has more interest than poker. I painted my even number columns to make it easier to help the people moving the horses. Also painted the helmets and horse saddles different colors, although not shown in the pic below. We also changed some rules as follows:

• Everybody gets two sets of dice (2 different colored pairs) and each person rolls 4 dice each unless a horse is "in the barn" (ala euchre - aka one spot from winning - I know it's really the opposite) which makes the games go faster. Once one horse is on the last hole we just roll one pair each until a winner if determined.
• We're not high rollers when we play and we found the whole scratch thing made the game drag a bit so we just have a flat ante, of either $2, $3, or $4 per game. The game price is based on the person to the dealer's left who rolls on die. A roll of 1 or 2 = $2 each, 3 or 4 = $3 each , 5 or 6 = $4 each. Every 10 games it's double. People win/lose in the $0 to $30 range in a few hours.
• We deal a "dead hand" like in Tripoly. That way if the dead hand has a winning card, the dead hand's allocation is carried over to the next round.
• Weirdly, we found that 2 & 12 win far more often than they should so we start them back one spot...and if they still win, it's a push and the entire pot is carried over. If you are dealt a 2 or Q -- too bad -- you're screwed. : )
• We keep track of the winners to see how terrible our rolls defy the odds.
• Also. my board is somewhat warped, but doesn't impact play.
• Observation, 2/12 win a lot (when played normally) and 7 hardly wins. Anyone else find it this way?
  
  
  
• 

 

[Samuel]

Just to make sure I'm not missing something, this is purely a game of chance, right? There are no decisions to be made?

I'm wondering if there is a way to inject some kind of decision making - e.g. leftover/excess cards after the deal could be auctioned (face up or blind) or there could be a round where cards are passed or traded or discarded (either voluntary or mandatory) or maybe add a bonus or partial pot for best poker hand (before or after the Scratches)?

 

[WedgeRock]

Just to make sure I'm not missing something, this is purely a game of chance, right? There are no decisions to be made?

Correct.

 

[iballman]

I'm wondering if there is a way to inject some kind of decision making - e.g. leftover/excess cards after the deal could be auctioned (face up or blind) or there could be a round where cards are passed or traded or discarded (either voluntary or mandatory) or maybe add a bonus or partial pot for best poker hand (before or after the Scratches)?

We created a way to run it more like an actual race track where people can bet on individual horses with different amounts. It's a little more work and requires a spreadsheet, but it gives that element of decision making. The numbers not in the grid change based on the winning horse. The "added to progressive" is for when the rounding doesn't work evenly.

 

[TheOffalo]

Easy to fix with some buttons from BRPro. For the first scratch, discarded the cards and cap it with a button marked "1x," the 2nd scratch cards get capped with "2x" and so on.

I like the the Derby Dash odds are exact.

Or you could cap the scratched cards with these dice:

Then you could do 1x through 6x bets. So if you wanted to have double bets on scratched #2 or #12, you could do that, unless it was the fourth scratched horse, in which case you could cap it at 6x or use the 5th dice. This is flexible too if you don't want to go up to 4x. If I get a set, I may start with 1x/1x/2x/2x or 1x/1x/2x/3x for that Fibonacci goodness...

 

[Moxie Mike]

First I've heard of this. This. Looks. Awesome!

A few questions:

1) What's the least number of players you could reasonably play with?

2) How many rolls of the dice are typically required before a game ends?

3) What rule mods could make this suitable for 2 or 3 handed play?

4) Why are there 4 holes in each horses 'scratched' section? Once a horse is scratched why does it need to keep moving backward?

5) Is there any special prize for being the player who rolls the dice that puts a horse over the finish line? If not it seems like that could be an interesting variant.

6) Could there be a way to 'assign' a horse to each player... so if their horse wins then get some special prize?

7) I assume all dealt cards are exposed since there's no real reason to conceal your cards?

8) Aside from the links already posted, is there anywhere else boards can be purchased? $80 seems ridiculous.

 

[RowlettTexasChipGuy]

there are cheaper versions on Amazon, looks a little different put same concept/game

 

[ekricket]

This is a good one as well, everyone get s a program and can run races of different lengths.
Fill out a betting ticket and all, play the odds!

 

[Bluegrass Poker]

What a bunch of degenerate MFers! What is this abomination of a game? And more importantly where do I get one.

 

[ekricket]

First I've heard of this. This. Looks. Awesome!

A few questions:

1) What's the least number of players you could reasonably play with?

2) How many rolls of the dice are typically required before a game ends?

3) What rule mods could make this suitable for 2 or 3 handed play?

4) Why are there 4 holes in each horses 'scratched' section? Once a horse is scratched why does it need to keep moving backward?

5) Is there any special prize for being the player who rolls the dice that puts a horse over the finish line? If not it seems like that could be an interesting variant.

6) Could there be a way to 'assign' a horse to each player... so if their horse wins then get some special prize?

7) I assume all dealt cards are exposed since there's no real reason to conceal your cards?

8) Aside from the links already posted, is there anywhere else boards can be purchased? $80 seems ridiculous.

You can get this one to see if it’s your cup of tea before splurging or for travel if you are into it that much!

The horse race killer is in the background of the second pic. Not a puzzle, baseball!

 

[WedgeRock]

4) Why are there 4 holes in each horses 'scratched' section? Once a horse is scratched why does it need to keep moving backward?

Only one scratch spot is used per horse, per game. But because it could fall into any scratch position from 1-4 in various games, they each have 4 spots to identify their scratch position.

5) Is there any special prize for being the player who rolls the dice that puts a horse over the finish line? If not it seems like that could be an interesting variant.

No. But I suggested extra chips for rounding could be given to the roller as jockey pay. I kinda like the idea of giving the roller a set amount (10 units?) from the prize pool before splitting up shares.

7) I assume all dealt cards are exposed since there's no real reason to conceal your cards?

Yes, no reason to conceal cards. We even started dealing them face up.

8) Aside from the links already posted, is there anywhere else boards can be purchased? $80 seems ridiculous.

I thought the same thing, and so I bought the $20 option from Amazon. It's not as nice, and the odds are way off (3 rolls for 2/12 or 8 rolls for 7).

 

[wonderpuddle]

First I've heard of this. This. Looks. Awesome!

A few questions:

1) What's the least number of players you could reasonably play with?

2) How many rolls of the dice are typically required before a game ends?

3) What rule mods could make this suitable for 2 or 3 handed play?

4) Why are there 4 holes in each horses 'scratched' section? Once a horse is scratched why does it need to keep moving backward?

5) Is there any special prize for being the player who rolls the dice that puts a horse over the finish line? If not it seems like that could be an interesting variant.

6) Could there be a way to 'assign' a horse to each player... so if their horse wins then get some special prize?

7) I assume all dealt cards are exposed since there's no real reason to conceal your cards?

8) Aside from the links already posted, is there anywhere else boards can be purchased? $80 seems ridiculous.

1. You could probably play with two or three, but I would only use 2 of each card. Taje the rest out of the deck when you deal them out. Ideal number of players seems to be 6-8 but you could make it work with less.
2. Haven't counted but it's 10-15 minutes on average.
3. Take cards out of the deck (i.e., only deal out spades and clubs).
4. To indicate where each scratched horse scratched (in the $1/2/3/4 spot)
5. I LOVE THIS. Going to add a jockey's ante next time we play. Everyone antes up an extra $1 and the player who rolls the hose across the line wins the jockey's purse.
6. Haven't figured that out yet.
7. Correct.
8. Could probably build your own:

 

[TheOffalo]

Only one scratch spot is used per horse, per game. But because it could fall into any scratch position from 1-4 in various games, they each have 4 spots to identify their scratch position.

No. But I suggested extra chips for rounding could be given to the roller as jockey pay. I kinda like the idea of giving the roller a set amount (10 units?) from the prize pool before splitting up shares.


Yes, no reason to conceal cards. We even started dealing them face up.


I thought the same thing, and so I bought the $20 option from Amazon. It's not as nice, and the odds are way off (3 rolls for 2/12 or 8 rolls for 7).

I bought the $20 option too and then cancelled it because the holes seemed so off compared to the odds . If the holes were consistently double the odds then I would have considered it for the cost saving. If I do end up purchasing one, I'll probably go with the one @Samuel mentioned that have the proper number of holes based on the odds x3. It's double the price at $39 but at least it's not $55 or $84.

(Yes, to the no-context thread we go!)

 

[iballman]

Regarding the price, you are paying for the horses (more so) and the track. In my opinion, the Fineni horses are the best...thick, heavy 3D metal pieces which have a real nice quality to them. I wish they had a better/other wood selection process, but even still, the Fineni board has some craftmanship to it, not just silkscreened or painted. Even with the wood being pine, I'm very happy with it. A few others I know bought the cheaper one and were really disappointed. You can make a board, but trying to make the nice metal horses would be tough.

 

[RowlettTexasChipGuy]

If you build your own, you can get the metal horses on Etsy and Amazon for between 12 and 22 for the set of 12

 

[Samuel]

I bought the $20 option too and then cancelled it because the holes seemed so off compared to the odds . If the holes were consistently double the odds then I would have considered it for the cost saving. If I do end up purchasing one, I'll probably go with the one @Samuel mentioned that have the proper number of holes based on the odds x3. It's double the price at $39 but at least it's not $55 or $84.

(Yes, to the no-context thread we go!)

I am planning to drill 4 holes (for scratched positions) for each horse lane below the starting line on the Derby Dash game board so I could play it either way (full field, no scratch, using all the holes OR partial field with 4 scratches and blocking off the first hole after the starting line for horses #4-10 to match the hole numbers of the Fineni game board).