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Derby Day

Introduction

Derby Day is a fairly simple horse racing game by Playtech. Every race features six horses of varying "points." As in a real horse race, the player can bet on the win, place, show, exacta, pick-4, or pick-5. The graphics are not the best I've ever seen for a horse racing emulator, but the simplicity may be nostalgic to people of a certain age. *ahem*

Rules

 
  1. There are six horses in every race, each with a different number of "points." How these points are defined or earned, I have no idea.
  2. The following bets are available on each race:
    • Win — Winner of the race.
    • Place — Bet that a chosen horse will finish in the top two.
    • Show — Bet that a chosen horse will finish in the top three.
    • Exacta — Bet that two specific horses will finish first and second, in order.
    • Pick IV — I think this is an abuse of Roman numerals, but I digress. This is a bet on the first, second, third, and fourth place horses, in order.
    • Pick V — This is a bet on the first, second, third, fourth, and fifth place horses, in order.



    3.  
  3. It probably doesn't help, but the player can click on any horses's name for some background information and alleged results from the last six races. The race history is evidently made up. I've seen the same horse compete in consecutive races and the place in the last race in the horses's record did not generally match his actual finish in the previous race.
  4. Odds on any bet are expressed on a for one basis, unlike actual horse racing. This means the player does not get his original bet back on a win.
  5. After selecting a bet and amount, the player should click "confirm" to lock in the bet.
  6. Once the player is done betting, he should click "race" for the excitement of the race. Following the race a card will show how his bets did.
 

Analysis

 

I analyzed the pays given for each bet in a few races to determine an overall return of each type of bet. Assuming the return percentage were the same for each horse, or combination of horses, for any given bet, I show a very consistent return percentage from race to race for each bet. I also show the return for each type of bet is about the same at 95.0%.

External Links

 

Discussion about Derby Day in my forum at Wizard of Vegas.

Written by: Michael Shackleford