OBJECTIVE OF HORSERACE: Bet on the right ace or get wasted!
NUMBER OF PLAYERS: 2+
MATERIALS OF HORSERACE: Beer, Standard deck of card, a table
TYPE OF GAME: Drinking
AUDIENCE: Adults
OVERVIEW OF HORSERACE
Horserace is a super fun drinking game that utilizes a standard deck of playing cards. You’ll love this game if you love other drinking card games, such as Ring of Fire or Ride the Bus. The game is inspired by horse racing, as alluded to by its namesake. So grab your favorite beverage, and let’s go over the rules of Horserace to ensure your next house party is a blast!
SET UP FOR HORSERACE
Since Horserace is inspired by real horse racing, it is extremely fun to have one person be the announcer. This can be the dealer, or you can choose an extra player just to announce. They are arguably the most fun part of this drinking game.
As a drinking card game, you won’t need too many supplies to play Horserace. To set up the game, you need just a few things: some friends, a deck of cards, your favorite drinks, and a table or long, flat surface.
Shuffle through the deck to find the four aces and place them in a horizontal row across the table. These aces are the horses. Deal 8 cards from the top of the deck to form an L with the Aces: deal the cards in a vertical column perpendicular to the row of Aces. Each card in the column is a “link.”
Prior to starting the game, players bet on which horse (ace) they think will win. Bets are quantified by a number of drinks and a suit, for example, 4 on hearts. Players must drink half of the drinks they bet before the race begins.
1 Drink = 1 oz (2/3 a shot or 1/12 of a beer)
HOW TO PLAY HORSERACE DRINKING GAME
After everyone placed their bets, the announcer flips over the top card of the deck. It is only the suit of the card that is significant. The ace of that suit moves forward 1 link. For example, if the first flipped card is a spade card, the Ace of Spades moves up one link.
Each time all the “horses” reach one row for the first time (this won’t be at the same time), the announcer flips over that link card, and the ace of that suit moves back 1 link. Horses that haven’t moved yet cannot be set back 1 link.
The announcer continues to flip cards from the deck, and the horses gallop forward along the links until one ace passes the final link, across the finish line, to the winner’s circle.
As we mentioned before, the announcer is a big part of the game, whether they are playing in the game or not. It is especially fun to have them announce the race as if it were a real horse race.
BETTING
A big part of Horserace is the betting. You are wagering drinks, and this can make people super competitive. Make the game more interesting by adding new rules and side bets.
For example, you can add a rule such as every time your horse moves back, you drink or make bets on what the next link card will be or how many turns it takes for a horse to reach a certain link. The possibilities are endless!
END OF GAME
Once the race has finished, the players who bet on the correct ace win. They can give twice the number of drinks they wagered, while losers drink half their wager.
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