Winner’s Circle

In Winner’s Circle (previously published as Royal Turf) there are seven horses racing around the track – and players will bet on the horses over a series of three races.

Everyone has four betting chips numbered 4,2,1,1 and zero. Horse cards are dealt randomly to the different-coloured horses and these have four values on them: Head, Hat, Saddle, and Horseshoe – but each symbol refers to the same thing: movement! Before the race begins players will place all their betting chips on the horses, one at a time, going clockwise around the table. Then they’re off!

One at a time players take turn rolling a die, which has the matching symbols on the horse cards. Whatever the result, the active player chooses which horse to assign this movement value to, giving everyone some modicum of control, but not enough to guarantee an outcome unequivocally. Crucial to remember here is that each horse may only move once per round, so it’s worth laying each moved horse flat to keep track of this. After all horses have moved, stand them up again and repeat the process until three horses have finished the race: these will pay out to the players who bet on them, with how much exactly printed on the board itself.

With the third and final race, winnings are doubled, and then players count up their cash: whomever has the most money is the winner. The game can optionally be played with all betting chips face-down, giving each race a little extra drama to the reveal at the end, and with horses sharing spaces on the track or not (instead, any moving horses ignore occupied spaces).

Sam says

Various updates of what was originally published as Turf Horse Racing back in 1995 have resisted the urge to make the game look a little more family-friendly, which is a bit of a shame because that’s what it is: a silly racing game, but not so silly as to make your choices feel disposable. We’d recommend the hidden bets variant – it’s a big improvement on the basic game not only because of the bluff, deception and drama it adds, but also it removes any vestige of player feeling targeted when ‘their’ horse is moved one space instead of six: nobody knows if you’ve bet four or zero on it. If I’m being picky, the game can sometimes run a little long – especially with six players – and don’t play with two, it feels pointless. For four or five though, this is a fun hour of your time, packing in a surprising amount of fun compared to its somewhat sombre presentation.

Take That!

Nothing direct
Fidget Factor!

Although with six players things can go on a bit, the pace of the game is usually brisk
Brain Burn!

A combination of table-reading - especially if you play the (recommended) hidden bets version - luck-pushing and even bluff. It's not bereft of strategy, but it's luck-infused for sure.
Again Again!

There are variable set-ups and ways to play, and the dice-rolling keep things fresh.