PLAYED FOR YOU

Bookmaker

Horse racing and betting

A horse racing game that puts, as indicated by the name, heavy emphasis on the betting side of events. At the start you decide on a number of races, all playes should be bookies equally often. Two players are bookies for a race, in case of more than four players in the game, and there is only one bookie in a game for less than four players. Each player begins the game with a capital of 1000 $.

Each race comprises the phases betting and race. For betting, four cards from the race card stack are displayed open-faced and four cards are dealt to each player - this is meant to let you assess the horses' chances, as there are two sets of cards of values 1-10 for each of the four horses. Bookies decide on their quotas - they must add up to at least 10 - and each player must place a minimum of one bet. After a bet is placed the bookie can lower the quota on this horse, but must raise it on another, and he can, but need not, accept bets higher than 10$ for any given quota. A bookie can also place a bet himself with the other bookie. The race is run by turning up cards from the stack and moving the horses accordingly, horses can share the same position. At the end the winnings are paid out by the bookies, not the bank. If necessary, you borrow money from the bank which must be repaid with 10% interest. After all races you win with most money. If you cannot pay back a loan, you have lost automatically.

Bookmaker offers an interesting variant of the horse racing topic with a very clear emphasis on the betting side, the races themselves are a necessary side-effect. All in all a nice family game featuring a standard topic.

Players: 3-9

Age: 12+

Time: 45+

Designer: Guiseppe de Carolis

Artist: Christophe Swal, Salvatore Russo

Price: ca. 30 Euro

Publisher: Giochi Uniti 2012

Web: www.giochiuniti.it

Genre: Race and betting game

Users: For families

Special: Many players

Version: multi

Rules: de en es fr it

In-game text: no

Comments:

The result of the race is entirely chance-driven

Chances for a horse need to be assessed with 80 out of 80 cards

Detailed betting simulation, very simple race mechanism

Compares to:

Other horse racing games with a betting mechanism

Other editions:

Currently none

Chance (pink): 2

Tactic (turquoise): 3

Strategy (blue): 0

Creativity (dark blue): 0

Knowledge (yellow): 0

Memory (orange): 0

Communication (red): 0

Interaction (brown): 1

Dexterity (green): 0

Action (dark green): 0