Derby Party Games
 

Hey folks, I need a little help.

I am having a benefit to raise money for a couple who wants to adopt a child. We are going to have a big shindig on Derby Day. Cornhole tourney, watch the Derby and then a Hold 'Em tourney that evening.

The Cornhole and Hold 'Em tourneys are a snap. But I don't have many ideas for the Derby. I will have an auction for sure, but I need 1 or 2 more "games". Can anyone help me out?

Thanks!! :D

You could have a 50-50 raffle using the field of the Derby. People can purchase a horse for $20 on a first come basis, the person with the winning horse gets half of the pool.

I wouldn't let DrugS in on the contest as he will somehow someway figure out a way do win it.

I would do a Derby 50/50 for $20 pp (or whatever folks are comfortable with). 20 party goers get to randomly select a Derby runner. Person who draws winning runner gets the 1/2 the kitty, regardless of odds. Other half goes to your cause.

Good luck!

I had forgotten about the 50-50 raffle. That could be a good one. Thanks!!

That is a GREAT idea!

Good one....:tro:

You could do a random drawing/raffle for the last place finisher too, that could be fun.

Do what the tracks do book all the action and chop 25%

I don't know how much money you are trying to raise. Sighty has a good idea, but I think you might want to take it a bit further. If you are having a lot of people there and you think you could fill a couple of those pools (have 60 people eneter 3 drawings based on a 20 horse field). Buy $20 tickets on every horse in the field and then charge $25-$30 a raffle. More people might be enticed to go in with the chance to win some real money as opposed to only having a chance to win $200 (conventional $20 raffle with 20 horses and the house keeping half) even if their 50-1 shot comes home. Who knows a guy making a big score might even kick some extra money towards the house.

We are basically attempting to raise whatever we can. We had a Hold 'Em tourney and cash game a few weeks ago. Raised close to $500. We were thinking Derby Day will be bigger. The last one I found out about a week before and many didn't play or come. Now that we have more time, there should be more interest.

I see your point about the 50/50. That is why I did want to do an auction (at the very least), so people can get value if they are looking for it. For the majority, they will play a "luck of the draw", even if they get a 'Mine That Bird' or 'Giacomo' :D.

Thanks for the feedback!

You could also do a "Chinese Auction" where people put as many tickets as they want to bet on a horse. Use a separate box for each horse.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_auction

For example, a guy with 10 tickets can split them up any which way, putting 4 for horse A, 3 for horse B, 2 for horse C, and 1 for horse D.

In this application, the Chinese Auction will become a mini - parimutuel system.

To do 50/50 here, just give half the number of tickets, so $20 buys 10 tickets. At the end, just divide up the non-winning boxes of tickets by the winning tickets. You've already done the "takeout" at the buy-in. Round down for "breakage".

Not as simple as the 50/50 but still has potential.