Horserace is a

drinking game Drinking games are games which involve the consumption of alcoholic beverages and often enduring the subsequent intoxication resulting from them. Evidence of the existence of drinking games dates back to antiquity. Drinking games have been banned ...

using

playing cards A playing card is a piece of specially prepared card stock, heavy paper, thin cardboard, plastic-coated paper, cotton-paper blend, or thin plastic that is marked with distinguishing motifs. Often the front (face) and back of each card has a f ...

that is inspired by horse racing. Participants bet amounts of alcohol on one of four

ace An ace is a playing card, die or domino with a single pip. In the standard French deck, an ace has a single suit symbol (a heart, diamond, spade, or club) located in the middle of the card, sometimes large and decorated, especially in the c ...

s, much like bettors would bet money on horses at a racing track. The game requires a standard deck of playing cards.

Preparation

The horseracing game requires active participation by only one person: the announcer. The announcer prepares the field by searching through the deck, taking out the

(horse) of each suit, and laying them face-up and side by side at one end of the table (these are "the gates"). They then shuffle the deck and lay out a variable number of cards face-down (these form the "links" of the race) in a straight line perpendicular to the row of aces. The cards thus appear to form an "L" or the two legs of a

right triangle A right triangle (American English) or right-angled triangle ( British), or more formally an orthogonal triangle, formerly called a rectangled triangle ( grc, ὀρθόσγωνία, lit=upright angle), is a triangle in which one angle is a right a ...

. The field is now set.

Betting

Before the game begins, each player makes bets based on their horse being as simple as "five on diamonds" but can get as complex as any true horse race such as

Trifecta file:Trifecta.svg, Trifecta A trifecta is a parimutuel betting, parimutuel bet placed on a horse race in which the bettor must predict which horses will finish first, second, and third, in the exact order. Known as a trifecta in the US and Austra ...

Exacta Parimutuel betting or pool betting is a betting system in which all bets of a particular type are placed together in a pool; taxes and the "house-take" or "vigorish" are deducted, and payoff odds are calculated by sharing the pool among all winnin ...

s, Daily Doubles, and others. In another variation, players may simply pick their favorite horse, and the payout is set at 20 drinks for the first-place horse, 15 for second place, and 10 for third place.Drinking Game: Horse Race
description at Barmeister.com Placing a small bet on the "first horse out of the gates" is a popular bet that excites the crowd early. Penalties may be applied to bettors who bet on an ace that never leaves the starting gates. Safeguards are often instituted to prevent players from placing exorbitant bets such as "one hundred on hearts." Such safeguards may include setting bet limits, requiring players to drink a portion of their bet before the race begins, or forcing losers to drink a portion of their bet at the end.Horse Racing
description at Pinky McDrinky.com Variations exist including: *Winners distribute drinks equal to the amount they bet or double *Winners become immune to drinking.

Gameplay

Once all bets are in, the announcer begins the race. They flip over the top card of the remaining deck. Only the suit of this card matters; the ace of that suit moves forward to the first link. The announcer narrates the ebb and flow of the game as the betters cheer on their horse. The announcer continues flipping cards and advancing horses accordingly until one horse wins by passing the final link into the winner's circle.

Variations

Another variation is Faltering. Each time a horse moves up to a new link for the first time (and only the first time), the announcer flips over the card on the side of that link. The suit shown on this sideboard card must move back one space (falter).Horse Race Drinking Games Rules and Directions
at DrinkingGames.com Thus in an eight-link horserace, there are eight instances of faltering that can totally change the outcome of the game. As a rule, any horse in the gates can not be knocked back any further by faltering. Another variation is Stumble in which all horses except the leader move forward one space if a designated wild card is flipped over, such as

the Joker The Joker is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by Bill Finger, Bob Kane, and Jerry Robinson, and first appeared in the debut issue of the comic book '' Batman'' on April 25, 1 ...

. The Pagat card game website gives a version in which the seven cards in the track are laid out face up and used to determine odds. The more cards of a certain suit in the track, the fewer of that suit are in the deck, so the less likely that horse will come in first. The payout varies according to the odds. There is also a version in which the horses are auctioned off, and the two front runners split the pot. Rules of Card Games: Horse Race
description at Pagat.com

References

External links

Online Version of Horse Race Card Game
Online Version of Horse Race Card Game
Download Horse Race Card Game
Download Horse Race Card game to play with your friends even if you don't have a deck of cards handy!
Horse race drinking game
Example of game play on YouTube. {{Drinking games Drinking games