- Player Count: 3 or more
- Required Materials: deck of cards, poker chips or coins
- Objective: Place bets on the suit you think will be drawn the most and move the matching ace across a finish line.
Horse Race Setup
Set the 4 aces in a face-up column. Look through a deck of cards and take out all 4 aces. Lay them out on a table face-up in a vertical column. The aces become the “horses” that race during the game.
Deal out 7 cards into a face-up row near the aces. Shuffle the cards and lay them out in a horizontal row so they form an L-shape with the aces. These cards are sometimes called the “links.” If there are 5 or more cards of the same suit in the row, reshuffle the cards and lay out 7 new cards. If you want to play a longer game, place 8 or 9 cards in the row instead. Place the rest of the deck to the side face-down.
Choose a player to be the announcer. The announcer doesn’t place any bets, but they get to draw cards to move the aces and narrate what happens during the race. Pick someone to be the announcer at random, and all the other players become the bettors.
Horse Race Betting
Determine the betting odds for each suit. Check how many cards of each suit are face-up in the row on the table. Based on the number of cards of each suit, the odds and payouts may increase for each of the aces. The betting odds for a suit are: 0 cards: 1:1 1 card: 2:1 2 cards: 3:1 3 cards: 5:1 4 cards: 10:1 If there are more cards of a suit in the face-up row, then it’s less likely they’ll get drawn from the deck so the payouts are higher.
Make bets on which suit will cross the finish line first. All the players except the announcer place bets on what ace they think will win. Each player places poker chips, coins, or any other token to mark their bet next to the ace they chose.
Playing a Round
Flip the top card of the deck and move the matching ace forward. Once everyone places their bets, the announcer reveals the top card of the deck and checks its suit. Then, they move the matching ace 1 space forward so it’s under the first card in the row. As the announcer, use a lot of excitement and enthusiasm in your voice to get everyone into the game. If it’s a close game, take your time revealing cards to add more tension.
End the round when an ace moves forward 8 spaces. The announcer continues flipping over cards and moving the matching aces further down the row. As soon as an ace moves past the last card in the row, it’s crossed the finish line and wins the race!
Pay out bets to any players that bet on the winning ace. Anyone who placed a bet gets their original bet back and the payout is based on its odds. Any player who placed bets on another ace besides the winner loses their bet. Example: If the ace of hearts won with 2:1 odds and you placed 2 poker chips as your bet, you would win 4 chips and keep your original 2 chips for a total of 6 chips.
Horse Race Variations
Deal the links face-down and reveal them to move aces backward. Set the 7 cards of the starting row face-down. When an ace moves underneath a new link for the first time, flip the card over. The ace that matches the suit of the card must move backward 1 space. Moving an ace backward is also called “faltering.” Aces can’t move further backward than their starting space. When you place bets, just play with 1:1 odds. If you made a $1 USD bet on the winning suit, your payout would be $2 USD.
Shuffle the jokers in to make the lead ace stumble. Add the jokers to the deck after you set out the starting row. Whenever the narrator reveals a joker, all the aces except the one in the lead move forward 1 space. This is also called a “stumble.”
Place drinks as bets. Instead of using poker chips or money, bet on how much you’re willing to drink, such as sipping for 5 seconds or taking a shot. Play the game as normal until an ace crosses the finish line. Whoever placed a bet on the winning ace picks someone to drink the amount they originally bet. The losers must also drink the amount they bet. If you’re only playing with a few people, choose small amounts to drink. With a larger group, you may split up how you distribute drinks between multiple people. Remember that 1 drink is equal to a 12 fl oz (350 ml) can of beer or a 1 ⁄2 fl oz (44 ml) shot of hard liquor. Drinking in moderation is 2 drinks per day for men and 1 drink daily for women.
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