Derby: The electronic horse racing game

Last update: June 23, 2009

Introduction

Derby is an electronic horse racing game. One to 10 players sit around a racetrack as they watch 5 horses compete in race after race. With a bet as little as 25 cents and about 90 seconds between races this can definitely be a decent time killer -- if you can find one. They've been disappearing from casinos and in May 2005 the Las Vegas Advisor reported that the only remaining machines in Vegas are at the MGM Grand, Excalibur, and Luxor.

Picture courtesy of L.A. Slot Machine Company

Rules

The only betting option is the quinella, which is betting on the first and second place horses in either order. With 5 horses there are 10 possible combinations of the first 2, without regard to order.

At the close of one race the odds for the next race will be posted, which are on a "for one" basis. In other words the player doesn't get his original bet back. For example, the board may display the odds as follows, taken from a typical race at the Flamingo in Laughlin.

The player may bet from 1 to 20 quarters on each quinella. The smallest payoff is 2 for 1 and the largest is 200 for 1, although not all races offer either of these. I have seen winnings both paid immediately and added to the player's credits.

House Edge

The following table shows the average house edge based on actual observations at various casinos. Unless otherwise noted each casino is in Las Vegas.

Note that the returns in the table above tend to fall in clusters. For example, Caesars Palace, Imperial Palace, Ballys, Excalibur, Flamingo Laughlin, and the Luxor are all in a tight range. I believe all these machines are set to the same long term return and race to race variation accounts for the small variation.

The house edge is calculated assuming each bet carries the same house edge. For more information on this method of calculation please see my futures in sports section.

Locations

When I wrote this page in 2005 I knew of the following tables. Today, in 2009, I think the only one left is at the MGM. Please let me know if you see any others in Vegas.

• MGM Grand, Las Vegas (Near the sports book)
• Excalibur, Las Vegas (Near the sports book)
• Caesars Palace, Las Vegas (In the sports book)
• Imperial Palace, Las Vegas (Near the sports book, take the escalator to the second floor)
• Bally's, Las Vegas (Take the escalator down to the shopping area, once at the bottom the game is to the left)
• Luxor, Las Vegas (Outside the sports book, uses camels instead of horses)
• Hilton, Las Vegas (In the sports book, toward the back by the sandwich shop)
• New York, New York (Near the sports book)

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