No of Players

3 to unlimited

Cards to be dealt

None

Stake

As agreed - players to take turns at being the bookmaker. The bookmaker will make the odds on each race.

Preliminaries

4 Aces removed from the pack and placed face upwards side by side.

Remainder of the pack is shuffled by the nominated bookmaker who then turns over the top 7 cards of the pack and places them in a line to the side and at right angles with the 4 exposed aces. The 4 aces become the horses, the 7 cards the edge of the track.

Once the track has been laid, the bookmaker will set odds on each horse. The setting of the odds is a matter of experience and is influenced by the number of cards of each suit used to make up the track. The more cards used of a particular suit to make up the track, the greater the odds. For example, if only three suits appear in the track, the horse of the missing suit will become clear favourite, by reason that there are more cards of that suit sleeping in the remainder of the pack.

Play

Each player places money on one (or more) of the horses, after the odds have been declared.

The race commences by the bookmaker turning over the top card of the pack. Whichever suit appears, the appropriate horse is moved one card forward on the track. The process is repeated, the horses moving forward as the cards of the pack are turned over, until one horse crosses the finishing line (i.e. eight cards of one suit have been revealed).

The Bookmaker collects the money off the losing cards and pays to the winner(s).

NB

If more than 4 cards of one suit appear on the track, then the track has to be redealt.

Suggested Odds

If no cards of a suit appear in the track, odds might be …Even money

If 1 card of a suit appears in the track, odds might be ….. 2 - 1

If 2 cards of a suit appear in the track, odds might be ….. 3 - 1

If 4 cards of a suit appear in the track, odds might be anything from 4 - 1 to 10 - 1

The choice will be up to the bookmaker and vary from race to race.

Forward

Back

Card Index

Quizzes

Card Tricks