Horse Racing for PE+

[Stolistic]

It's also interesting to know that Sigma used the standard method of calculating these payouts. Is the house edge then built into the single odds used for each individual horse winning the race?

That would be my guess too or they adjust the odds in a mini parimutuel pool as the players place wagers.  But I don't remember this being the case when playing.  I'm pretty sure the payouts remained fixed during the betting process.

[jay]

It would be a good networked game where you would have 5 terminals, one screen and the bets on each horse impacted the paytable.

[knagl]

I'm pretty sure the payouts remained fixed during the betting process.

That is correct -- the odds did not change on the Sigma Derby game once they were posted prior to the race.

[StatFreak]

I'm pretty sure the payouts remained fixed during the betting process.

That is correct -- the odds did not change on the Sigma Derby game once they were posted prior to the race.

Confirmed. I was enough of a sucker to play uh -- enjoyed playing -- these in Reno a long time ago, and the odds never changed during the betting period.
It was the only game that I recall that could take so many coins for one play at that time. If you went crazy, you could bet 20 coins on every single outcome of a race, or 200 coins, on a single outcome, and that was before bill acceptors. Not that anyone would be foolish enough to bet that much, but it caught my eye at the time as being a way for casinos to get a lot more of a player's money a lot faster than with a slot machine of the day.

[knagl]

By chance, today's Las Vegas Advisor Question of the Day is about Sigma Derby!

Q:
A few years ago at my friend's wedding in Michigan we went across to a casino in Canada and became fixated with playing Sigma Derby, a horse racing game where you wagered on the quinella of 5 plastic horses. The groom and myself are huge fans of horse racing in general, so this was entertaining for hours. In August (11-16) we are coming to Vegas for the bride's 30th birthday and I am hoping to find a Sigma Derby left somewhere in Vegas. The last one I knew was one in the MGM, but I don't know if it's still there or not. Can the LVA help me find Sigma Derby or something similar for this trip with my friends?

A:
Happy to oblige. Sigma Derby and where to find it was the subject of one of the earliest QoDs we ever ran, back in May, 2005. Since then it's been an FAQ that we address from time to time, the last occasion being in October, 2007. Each time we research it, it turns out a few more games have bitten the dust and this time was no exception...
For those of you who don't know the game and didn't catch the previous answers, Sigma Derby is an endearingly low-tech electronic horse-racing game with a horrible house edge (12%-15%) that was often found close to the race and sports book. Up to 10 people could play at any time and everyone sat around the miniature "track" as five mechanical horses competed in race after race. The minimum bet was 25¢ and the only bet you could make was a "quinella," i.e., choosing which two horses would finish first and second, in either order.

Until not too many years ago, Derby was available in at least 10 casinos around Las Vegas, including the Hilton, Orleans, MGM Grand, New York-New York, Caesars Palace, Imperial Palace, Riviera, Bally's, New Frontier, Excalibur, and Luxor (which had racing camels instead of horses). One by one they all disappeared, however (as did one of the casinos) and for some time the only remaining game in Las Vegas is to be found near the race and sports book at the MGM Grand. Yep, it's still there -- we called to check.

A few years back, we heard reports of a new "hi-tech" (or at least higher-tech) version called Derby VI, which was spotted by an LVA reader at the Silver Slipper in Lakeshore, Mississippi (and was also sighted in Japan). A call to the Slipper revealed that that one's gone, as has the traditional Sigma game that was formerly at the Horizon, Lake Tahoe. However, Horizon's machine still exists and has been relocated to Tahoe's newish Montbleu casino, where, we were assured, it can be found located close to the Sun Bar. The game at what's now Caesars Windsor disappeared from the casino floor in early 2007, we're sorry to relate.

The Wizard of Odds also did an evaluation of the paytables on Sigma Derby games around Las Vegas (when they still existed).

[theDotster]

Hi Stolistic, did you get to finish this?

[billb707]

I wish i was smart enuff to do this kind of thing.

[hulkinator]

I am quite famillier with the Sega version of these casino mechanical-electronic track horse games

The Sega version was called Royal Ascot, fiber optic to all stations and horses could cross and zig zag each other...

They were IR remote controlled robots with a large magnets to keep each articulated horse attached to its IR remote controlled robot running under the track...through the track on top.

Quite reliable for many years if you take into account how we operated this 24h day...robots needed the occasional overhaul, tire and brush replacements...horses would wear out on pivot points and wheels...

IIRC the whole Sega division in Japan that built-designed those games (also blackjack...Bingo with a huge 6 foot dia bingo capsule...and others) was sold when Sega was in trouble in the...mid 90s?