 Initial setup with eight links | |
| Type | Drinking |
|---|---|
| Players | 2+ |
| Cards | 52 |
| Deck | Anglo-American |
| Playing time | 5 minutes |
Horserace is a drinking game using playing cards that is inspired by horse racing. Participants bet amounts of alcohol on one of four aces, much like bettors would bet money on horses at a racing track. The game requires a standard deck of playing cards.
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 ace (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. The field is now set.
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 trifectas, exactas, 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. [1] 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. [2] [1]
Variations exist including:
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. [2] [1]
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). [3] 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. [2]
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. [4]
Blackjack is a casino banking game. It is the most widely played casino banking game in the world. It uses decks of 52 cards and descends from a global family of casino banking games known as "twenty-one". This family of card games also includes the European games vingt-et-un and pontoon, and the Russian game Ochko. The game is a comparing card game where players compete against the dealer, rather than each other.
A card game is any game that uses playing cards as the primary device with which the game is played, whether the cards are of a traditional design or specifically created for the game (proprietary). Countless card games exist, including families of related games. A small number of card games played with traditional decks have formally standardized rules with international tournaments being held, but most are folk games whose rules may vary by region, culture, location or from circle to circle.
Poker is a family of comparing card games in which players wager over which hand is best according to that specific game's rules. It is played worldwide, but in some places the rules may vary. While the earliest known form of the game was played with just 20 cards, today it is usually played with a standard deck, although in countries where short packs are common, it may be played with 32, 40 or 48 cards. Thus poker games vary in deck configuration, the number of cards in play, the number dealt face up or face down, and the number shared by all players, but all have rules that involve one or more rounds of betting.
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 winning bets. In some countries it is known as the tote after the totalisator, which calculates and displays bets already made.
Red dog, also known as Yablon, is a game of chance played with cards, in which two cards are dealt and a player bets on whether the rank of a third card would fall between them. While found in some land casinos, its popularity has declined, although it is featured at many online casinos.
War is a simple card game, typically played by two players using a standard playing card deck — and often played by children. There are many variations, as well as related games such as the German 32-card Tod und Leben.
Fixed-odds betting is a form of gambling where individuals place bets on the outcome of an event, such as sports matches or horse races, at predetermined odds. In fixed-odds betting, the odds are fixed and determined at the time of placing the bet. These odds reflect the likelihood of a particular outcome occurring. If the bettor's prediction is correct, they receive a payout based on the fixed odds. This means that the potential winnings are known at the time of placing the bet, regardless of any changes in the odds leading up to the event.
President is a shedding card game for three or more, in which the players race to get rid of all of the cards in their hands in order to become "president" in the following round. It is a Westernized version of Chinese climbing card games such as Zheng Shangyou, Tien Len in Vietnam and the Japanese Daifugō.
Video poker is a casino game based on five-card draw poker. It is played on a computerized console similar in size to a slot machine.
Razz is a form of stud poker that is normally played for ace-to-five low. It is one of the oldest forms of poker, and has been played since the start of the 20th century. It emerged around the time people started using the 52-card deck instead of 20 for poker.
Spanish 21 is a blackjack variant owned by Masque Publishing Inc., a gaming publishing company based in Colorado. Unlicensed, but equivalent, versions may be called Spanish blackjack. In Australia and Malaysia, an unlicensed version of the game, with no dealer hole card and significant rule differences, is played in casinos under the name "Pontoon". It was first introduced about 1995.
Double Attack Blackjack is dealt primarily in Atlantic City casinos.
Nerts (US), or Racing Demon (UK), is a fast-paced multiplayer card game involving multiple decks of playing cards. It is often described as a competitive form of Patience or Solitaire. In the game, players or teams race to get rid of the cards in their "Nerts pile" by playing them in sequences from aces upwards, either into their personal area or in a communal central area. Each player or team uses their own deck of playing cards throughout the game.
Super Fun 21 is a variation of blackjack. The game is played using a standard 52 card deck. Aces can be counted as either a one or eleven depending on which value would best benefit the player's hand. All the face cards in the deck each count as ten. The remaining cards are taken at face value. The player must first place a bet and is then dealt two cards face up. The dealer is dealt two cards as well, but one is face up and one face down. The player then has the option to either "hit", or "stand". The player's hand must beat the dealer's by coming closer to 21 without "busting". A winning hand with a total of 21 is called a blackjack, or natural.
Around the world is a card-based drinking game, similar to president, but more complex and at the same time quicker. The game requires one standard (52-card) deck of playing cards. More decks can be added to accommodate additional players and increase difficulty.
The following is a glossary of poker terms used in the card game of poker. It supplements the glossary of card game terms. Besides the terms listed here, there are thousands of common and uncommon poker slang terms. This is not intended to be a formal dictionary; precise usage details and multiple closely related senses are omitted here in favor of concise treatment of the basics.
Stud poker is any of a number of poker variants in which each player receives a mix of face-down and face-up cards dealt in multiple betting rounds. Stud games are also typically non-positional games, meaning that the player who bets first on each round may change from round to round. The cards dealt face down to each individual player are called hole cards, which gave rise to the common English expression ace in the hole for any hidden advantage.
Tarot games are card games played with tarot packs designed for card play and which have a permanent trump suit alongside the usual four card suits. The games and packs which English-speakers call by the French name tarot are called tarocchi in the original Italian, Tarock in German and similar words in other languages.
Australian Patience is a patience or card solitaire using one deck of playing cards. This game is a challenging combination of Klondike and Scorpion, and is also closely related to Yukon. The object of the game is to move all of the cards to the Foundations.
Polish Bank, Polski Pachuck, Grundehrlich, Polish Red Dog or Stitch, is a gambling game using playing cards which resembles Häufeln and Mauscheln. The game is recorded as early as 1836 in the Austro-Hungarian Empire where it was banned on the grounds of being purely a game of chance or hazard.
| Word games |  | |
|---|---|---|
| Pong games | ||
| Table games | ||
| Card games | ||
| Dice games | ||
| Binge drinking games | ||
| Miscellaneous | ||
