Horse Race
Drinking Game

The card suits are the horses: ♥ Hearts, ♦ Diamonds, ♣ Clubs and ♠ Spades. Each player is dealt a horse, and a card is drawn one at a time to advance the matching horse. The first horse to collect 7 cards wins — its backers hand out drinks, everyone else drinks their own bet.

Step 1 — Place your bets: Every player gets their own horse and sets a bet from 1 to 5 sips. Two players race a two-horse duel, three players race three horses — the field grows with your group, up to all four suits.

Step 2 — Start the race: Hit Start and the deck is shuffled. Tap Draw Card to flip the top card, or switch on Auto Race and let it run itself.

Step 3 — Every card moves a horse: A card of a suit advances that suit's horse one step down the lane. The running count shows how close each horse is to 7.

Step 4 — First to 7 wins: The moment a horse banks its 7th card, the race ends. Everyone on the winning horse hands out drinks equal to their bet; everyone else drinks their own bet.

Step 5 — Race again: Reshuffle and go. Every horse holds the same number of cards, so the odds stay even race after race.

Two to eight. With two to four players everyone gets their own horse — two players race a two-horse duel, three race three horses, four race the full field. Past four players the field caps at four horses and players share one, splitting the payout.

Your horse wins by collecting 7 cards before any other horse. When it does, you hand out drinks equal to your bet to anyone you choose. Every player whose horse lost drinks the amount they bet. The higher the bet, the bigger the reward — and the bigger the risk.

Yes. Each race shuffles only the horses in play — a 26-card deck for a two-player duel, the full 52 for four horses — and cards are drawn without replacement, so every horse holds the same number of cards. No horse is ever favoured, and the winner is pure luck.

Just a drink, some friends, and this page. There's no app to download, no deck of cards to bring, and nothing to sign up for. Open it on your phone and the whole race runs in the browser.

That's one of the best ways to play. Two players get two horses and race heads-up — nothing else on the track, so it's a clean 50/50 duel that finishes in about a dozen cards. It plays fast and works great as a two-player betting match.