Three Great Kentucky Derby Betting Games

You have your tried-and-tested mint julep recipe on hand and the horsey decorations ready, but what's a Kentucky Derby party without betting? Check out our fun, family-friendly derby betting games and ideas, no bookie needed. And they're off! 

Kentucky Derby Betting Pool

Prepare and hand out race stats and horse information to each of your guests and take their wagers.

Create a poster board with a large block for each horse in the race.

Have everyone at the party buy a horses block and have them write their name on it. They can do this for one or more horses and they can also enter their name under a horse more than once. Guests can also put their names in the same horse's blocks.

At the end of the race, take all of the money divided by the number of bets on the winning horse and distribute that percentage of the pot to each person who chose the winning horse.

Horse in a Hat Betting Game

All you need is a designated "Derby Hat", some paper and some gung-ho party guests. Let the fun begin.

Write down all the names of the horses on pieces of paper. You can find a list of horses in the race at www.kentuckyderby.com. Feel free to add stats and information for each horse.

Put the pieces of folder paper in your "Derby Hat" and mix them up.
Get everyone to make a "bet" by paying $1 and have them pull a name out of the hat.

Watch the race.

When the race is complete, the person that has the winning horse collects the pot. You can also offer a percentage of the pot for the first-place horse, a smaller percentage to the second-place horse, and an even smaller percentage to the third-place horse.

At Home Betting Window

Set up a "betting window" at your party and let guests make their bets just like at the track!

Look for the current Derby odds out in your newspaper and post it on the wall for the guests to view as they enter the backyard or the living room.

Pass out the Derby tickets and have everyone choose their favorite horse or horses. Charge $2 for each ticket turned in.

Close the betting an hour before race time and award the winners their share of the money after the race.