THE GREAT RACE GAME

TOTOPOLY

A GENERAL IDEA OF THE GAME

Briefly, the idea of the game is that racehorses are leased by players, and trained by them for the race. Players have the opportunity of leasing horses at first option, that is through the deal, and later the chance arises to lease additional ones in the auction sale. In the same way, players will acquire temporary ownership of a racing stable, veterinary surgeon's practice or forage merchant, etc.

When all the horses and businesses have been sold, the training of the horses then commences. Players may have to get trainers' and vet's reports on the progress of their horses, and it will be found, when training has finished, that some horses have made more progress than others by acquiring advantage cards, and have therefore more chance of winning the race.

Whilst it is possible by careful play in the race for any of the horses to win, the black ones have more chance than the red ones, the reds more chance than the yellow ones, and the blues least chance of all, but it may be found that, during training, a blue or yellow horse has improved so much, that it has an equal chance with the blacks and reds. Naturally, the horses with the most chance in the first place, and those that improve well in training, will be backed the most on the Tote, but, as in real racing, an outsider can always give players a big surprise.

Short game

RULES For two or more Players

BANKER
A banker shall be appointed from the players. His duties will include the distributIon of money to the players at the commencement of the game, the collection of all payments for horses and businesses, before and during the auction, the collection of the entrance fees before the race, and finally, after deducting 10% for his services from the total amount paid into the bank by the players, the distribution of the remainder as prize money to the owners of the first, second and third horses in the race. The bank's money must be kept separately from the banker's own money as a player.

MONEY
The banker will provide each player, himself included, with £700, in the following denominations: ten £50, six £25, eight £5, and ten £1.

After each player has received his £700, any money left in the bank does not come into the game again, nor does it constitute part of the prize money for the race, and it should therefore be put back into the box to avoid any confusion.

BORROWING
No borrowing is allowed. If a player becomes unable to meet his liabilities during the course of the game, he must sell privately one of his horses or businesses to any other player at the best offer obtainable. If, at the time of going bankrupt, a player holds certain advantage cards for the race - such as "unbreakable reins", etc.- he may sell these, if he desires, instead of his horses or businesses.

TO COMMENCE THE GAME
Open the board at the sale and training rings, and place the twelve horses, as numbered, in their respective boxes in the stables. Six of these horses represent lightweights - yellow and blue horses - and are trained at Stevedon Stables; the black and red horses represent heavyweights, and are trained at Walroy Stables. The trainers' and vet's reports, members' cards, advantage colour cards, and disadvantage white cards should be placed on the board in their respective positions as indicated.

THE DEAL
If there are fewer than FOUR players, the Auctioneer's Card will be taken from the pack before the deal, and one of the players will be appointed Auctioneer. The twenty lease cards for horses and businesses are then shuffled, and the players will cut for deal. The player cutting the highest number - from one to twelve - on the horses cards, being the dealer.

The cards are then dealt face downwards, one at a time, to each player in a clockwise direction, commencing with the players on the left of the dealer, and ending by dealing one to the board. That is, when there are four players, five hands are dealt, if five players, six hands, and for six players, seven hands. The extra hand dealt making a nucleus for the auction sale.

When all the cards have been dealt in this manner, if one player has received the AUCTIONEER'S card, he must DECLARE it immediately, and place it on the table. Should this card not be found in the hand of any player, then all players are compelled to exchange one of their cards for one of the cards in the "dummy" hand. The player on the left of the dealer shall exchange his card first, and shall do so by placing his rejected card underneath the centre pack, and taking the top card. When all the players have made their compulsory exchange, they are free to throw other cards into the auction if they so desire.

DISCARDING
In discarding cards, players should bear in mind the following points:
1. That no player is allowed to be the owner of both Stevedon and Walroy Training Stables.
2. Not more than three horses per player can be run in the final race.
3. That it is advisable to retain at least one business, with a view to drawing revenue from the other players during the training of the horses.
4. That the black horses have more chance than the red horses, and the red a better chance than the yellow horses, and blue horses least chance of all.
5. That the lowest-priced horses CAN win, as nothing is a certainty in racing.
6. That it may be possible to lease horses and businesses at a lower figure than that printed on the card during the auction.

PAYMENT
All cards retained by the players must now be paid for, with the exception of the auctioneer's card, at face value to the banker, who should not forget to pay for his own.

AUCTIONEER
The player holding the auctioneer's card now picks up the "dummy" hand, and any other rejected cards, and puts them up for sale one at a time without reserve, and sells to the highest bidder. In order to stimulate the utmost interest in the auction sale, players should guard their own hands, and the auctioneer should not allow the remaining players to know what horses or businesses he has to sell, other than the one he is offering at the moment.

The bidding shall be in guineas, and immediately a lot is knocked down to a player, he will pay for same to the banker, and hand the auctioneer his commission of one shilling in the guinea, to the nearest £1.

The auctioneer may join in the bidding, and knock down lots to himself, but should give the other players a fair chance of bidding. When all the lots have been sold, the game then passes to the training ring.

TRAINING RING
Two dice will be used in the training ring.

The owners' club steward shall be the first to throw the dice. One throw to count for ALL his horses, each of which shall be led in turn out of its box, and around the training ring in a clockwise direction, the number of spaces indicated by the throw, beginning with the one immediately outside his stable, The dice, when thrown, must be left on the table until the player has moved his horses, and the next player must not throw until the previous player's transactions have been completed. The other players then follow on in turn. A player will obey the instructions written on the square in which each of his horses stops, and any subsequent instructions from his trainer or the vet, if called upon. The owners of the stables, and the vet, must obey the instructions on those squares, calling on the stables or vet, if their horses stop on them, but, naturally, they cannot pay money to themselves.

Black and red horses are carrying heavyweights in the race, and are trained at Walroy Stables. When called upon to receive their trainer's report on the squares headed "stables", they should therefore read those of the Walroy trainer.

Blue and yellow horses are carrying lightweights, and are trained at Stevedon Stables. They should, therefore, read the Stevedon trainer's reports when called upon to do so.

The veterinary surgeon's reports apply to all horses. When called upon to visit either of the trainers or the vet., a player should read the top card of the particular pack of reports, and carry out the written instructions, returning the card to the bottom of the pack, unless told to keep it.

Once a player has paid his entrance fee to the owners' club, he shall take a member's card, and cannot be called upon to pay the entrance fee again during that game.

A member of the owners' club is entitled to obtain a report from either of the trainers or the vet., whomever he desires, at any time before throwing the dice in his turn, provided that he obeys the instructions received.

Members, therefore, have the opportunity of probably drawing reports that will be of great help to them on the racecourse, but at the same time they may get a report giving some disadvantage, and must decide for themselves whether to accept the risk of exercising their rights as members of the owners' club.

Each horse will make one circuit of the training ring, and return to its box, unless it has been told to return there previously during the course of training. If the throw of the dice brings a horse on to the square immediately in front of its box, the player will abide by the instructions written thereon before going in, but, if the throw would take the horse past its box, the player may disregard the excess thrown on the dice, and consider the horses to be home.

If a player continues round the training ring past his horses' boxes for a second time, he may return his horses to their boxes immediately he realises his error, but any payments made or instructions followed during the second circuit must stand.

THE COLOUR CARDS
The colour cards - black, red, yellow and blue, are to give differing advantages to different horses, and apply only to horses of the same colour as the card.

The white cards are to nullify these advantages, or those gained by the coloured squares on the racecourse.

The numerical value of the colour cards is equivalent to the value of the coloured squares on the racecourse. (See under 'The Racecourse'.)

All the horses, having completed their circuit of the training ring, will then be moved on to the racecourse.

THE RACECOURSE
The horses are placed in their respective positions at the starting gate as numbered. Each player will THEN PAY £25 ENTRANCE FEE PER HORSE to the banker. The racecourse is divided into lengths, some of which bear written instructions, and some of which are coloured.

EACH COLOURED SQUARE APPLIES ONLY TO A HORSE OF THE SAME COLOUR AS THAT SQUARE, and the ruling is as follows:

THE COLOURED SQUARES - RULING
If a Black horse stops on a BLACK square, it moves on FOUR LENGTHS to complete its turn.

If a Red horse stops on a RED square, it moves on THREE LENGTHS to complete its turn.

If a Yellow horse stops on a YELLOW square, it moves on TWO LENGTHS to complete its turn.

If a Blue horse stops on a BLUE square, it moves on ONE LENGTH to complete its turn.

USE OF THE COLOUR CARDS AND WHITE CARDS
Colour cards and white cards gained in the training ring are to be used in the following manner:
If a black, red, yellow, or blue horse stops on any coloured square on the racecourse different from its own colour, it must stand still until the player's next turn, unless the player holds a card of the same colour as the horse, in which case he may put the coloured card on the track, and gain the advantage given by the particular colour, i.e., move on four for black, three for red, two for yellow or one for blue. Each card may be used only once, and must be thrown into the centre when used.

The white disadvantage cards are discarded in the following manner:
If a player's horse stops on a square of the same colour as the horse, he can throw in a white card, and not take the advantage given by that colour. In the same way, when stopping on a square of a different colour from the horse, a player may, if he holds the correct colour card, throw this in together with a white card, and stand still until his next turn, thus not getting the advantage given by the colour cards.

The fact that a player holds a certain number of colour cards does not entitle him to throw these into the centre with an equal number of white cards as a means of getting rid of the latter. White cards may only be discarded along with a colour card, if a player is in a position to use one, and would thus lose the advantage given by his colour card. Colour cards may be used only one at a time.

Players are not compelled to use all their colour cards, although it is to their advantage if they are able to do so, but they must get rid of all their white cards before the end of the race, or else they will be disqualified, if they come in first, second or third.

Colour cards and white cards may be used for any horse of the same colour, and need not necessarily be used for the particular horse that gained them in training.

Cards entitling a player to "remount immediately", etc., etc., may be used only once, and then thrown into the centre. If he so desires, a player holding any of these cards may sell them to any other player.

NOMINATION
Players may now nominate one of their horses to win. This would usually be the one that gained the most advantage cards in training. The value of nomination is that it allows a player to move the horse he has nominated out of its turn at each of his throws during the race, thereby being in a position to give his best throw to his nominated horse. If a player does not nominate one of his horses to win, he must move all his horses in precisely the same order as he moves them for his first throw on the track. For example: if a player owns horses No. 4, 8 and 12, and he moves them in that order from the starting gate, he must move them in that order for subsequent throws, but if he nominates, say, No. 4 to win, he may move this either first, second, or last, if he wishes, but must always move No. 8 and No. 12. in the same order.

THE TOTALISATOR OR BOOKMAKER
Players may back any horses they fancy, and there shall be no limit to the amount of each bet. THE OWNER of each horse shall have the right to back his own horses first. A player making a bet will receive from the Tote clerk a numbered ticket with the name of the horse thereon as a receipt for his stake money. The Tote clerk will make a note of the amount laid in the appropriate space on the pad provided.

There shall be no place betting, unless any player wishes to make a separate 'book' on the race, in which case he would be a separate bookmaker from the Tote. Any player backing the winner will present his ticket to the Tote clerk for payment after the race.

The Tote clerk should add up the amounts laid on each horse, and add these amounts into a grand total, from which he should take his 10% commission. An approximate 10% should be taken in some cases in order to produce round figures. The remainder is then divided by the total amount laid on the winning horse. The answer giving the amount to be paid on each £1 invested by backers on the winner.

For each £1 invested £10 would be paid. Therefore, if one of the bets on the winner was £20, the backer would receive £200.

If, of course, the winner has not been backed, then the Tote clerk keeps all the money.

THE RACE
One die will be used on the racecourse, and will be thrown for each horse. A player will move all his horses at his turn, and will throw the die for each horse separately.

The highest throw of the die shall entitle that player to commence the race, the other players following on in clockwise rotation. This player starts the race by throwing the die for each of his horses separately. He may take his first throw for his nominated horse, if it appears to gain advantage thereby, or, if not, he may use it for his second horse, taking his next throw for his nominated horse, or moving his third horse, and using his final throw for the horse he has nominated to win.

At each subsequent throw players will move in the same manner, that is, they may use their best throw for their nominated horse, but MUST move the others in strict rotation.

Every throw of the die is to count. Players MUST move their horses, if possible.

Horses will move the number of lengths indicated on the die, and will then obey the written or coloured instructions ONLY ON THE LENGTH TO WHICH THEIR THROW HAS MOVED THEM, and will ignore the second set of instructions on the subsequent length to which the prior instructions moved them; e.g., if the throw of the die moves a horse on to the length - 'Flying start, go on two lengths' - it will go on two lengths, and IGNORE the instruction 'boxed in, fall back one length'. Similarly, if the throw of the die moves a black horse on to a black square, it will move on four lengths, and, if this brings it on to another black square, it will NOT move on another four lengths, nor can a white disadvantage card be discarded.

It is to the player's advantage to keep to the rails, and also to position his horses for coloured squares ahead, but no horse is allowed to cross the course AFTER completing its move, either inwards or outwards, until it is three clear lengths in front of the following horse.

Each horse will complete the number of lengths indicated on the die on the same track from which it commences, unless prevented by a horse in front, in which case it will take an outside track, but, if this is occupied, it will take the nearest track available. AFTER obeying the written or coloured instructions on the length to which the throw has moved it, it may then, if desired and if possible, be moved inwards or outwards as far as the following horses will allow of three lengths interval.

If a player's horse is unable to move on to the length to which his throw would move it, this being occupied by other horses, he must consider himself baulked, and stop on the length behind, the instructions on which he is not allowed to follow.

If a player's horse moves on to the length 'Horse falls; to remount throw six,' this means that the horse remains in this position until the player throws a six. The throwing of a six is to enable the horse to be remounted only, and the player must wait until his next turn before moving his horse.

Players must not change tracks when going round the bend into the finishing straight, once their horses have commenced to move along a particular track. Therefore, players should strive to get on to the rails before going into the bend, as the inside track is the only one which is free from the hazard of a collapse through a "burst blood-vessel". When coming down the straight to the finish, the exact number must be thrown, to get on the length past the winning post.

When the first, second and third horses have past the winning post, and if no objections have been raised as to the non-use of all white cards by the owners of the first three horses, then the Tote will pay out the winning "backers".

PRIZE MONEY
The banker will then hand over the prize money to the owners of the winning horses.

The prize money is made up of all the money paid for horses and businesses, both at face value and at auction, together with all the entrance fees for the race. The banker will take 10% of this total for his services to the remaining players, and divide the remainder as follows:
ONE-HALF to the WINNER, and ONE-QUARTER each to the owners of the second and third horses.

THE WINNER
The winner of the game shall be the winner of the race, irrespective of whether he has the most money at the end of the game, as a player without a horse in the first three may have had a heavy bet on the winner, and thereby finish the game with more money than the winner of the race.

Short Game

The following is a variation of TOTOPOLY, and is particularly suitable when only three or four people are playing, or when it is desired to end the game in three quarters of an hour or an hour, as the usual Totopoly long game takes an hour and a quarter or an hour and a half.

INSTRUCTIONS

Take out the Blue Horses, Nos. 10, 11, and 12. Take out the Lease Cards for the Blue Horses, Nos. 10, 11, and 12. Take out the Totalisator Clerk or Bookmaker card, as the Totalisator is not used in the short game.

Now play the game in the usual way, with the exception that, after training, £100 Entrance Fee is necessary, in place of the £25 Entrance Fee in the long game. If a player, at the end of the Training period, has not sufficient money to enter his horse or horses for the race, he may either sell one of his horses to another player, or scratch it from the race, at his option.

© Waddingtons Games Ltd.