Drinking game classic

Horse Race Drinking Game: How It Works

In Horse Race, the four aces race against each other as horses. You bet on a suit and cheer your horse on.

Four horizontal aces race beside a vertical seven-card track
Players
3 to 10
Duration
10 to 20 minutes
What you need
Deck of cards, drinks
Vibe
Fast, competitive, loud

Rules

Horse Race in 4 steps

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Cards flipped from the deck move the horses forward, while a row of side cards keeps knocking them back. Tension, betting and sips all in one.

  1. Pick a suit and call your stake

    Everyone bets on one of the four suits (hearts, diamonds, spades, clubs) and calls their stake, for example two sips. You drink those sips right away as your bet.

  2. Flip cards

    One player flips the top card off the remaining deck. The horse of the matching suit moves forward one space.

  3. Reveal the tripping cards

    Once all the horses reach a tripping card, it gets turned over. The horse of that suit moves back one space.

  4. Finish line and payout

    If your horse wins, you get to hand out double your stake to the others (so four sips for a two-sip stake). If it loses, you're just out the stake you drank. Then the next race starts.

Variations

  • Higher risk: if you're bold, place a bigger stake. If the horse wins, there's more to hand out.
  • For every space your horse moves forward you may hand out a sip, so something is already happening during the race.
  • Without alcohol, whoever had the most correct bets at the end simply wins.

FAQ

Horse Race FAQ

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