Escalado
Escalado Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Directions for Fixing
Unroll the Linen Race-course and fasten the box end of it to one end of a dining table (from which the cloth has been removed), by means of the screw clamps. At the end of the table clip on the wire clamps the same distance apart as the width of the Race-course, on to which the untearable perforated tapes fit.
See that the square block under the handle moves freely in the rectangular slot, and that the race-course and housing are in a perfectly straight line.
Employ as little tension as possible.
Do not fold the cloth, creases prevent the horses running properly.
Place the horses on the track with their hind legs touching the sewn end, and turn the handle at the opposite end of the Race-course, when the horses will be found to move forward. The correct tensions will be quickly found by tightening or loosening the elastic springs by means of the perforated tapes, which allow the game to be played on a table of any length. If played on a table of exceptional length and the perforated tapes will not reach the wire clamps, a piece of string fastened into the last hole of each tape and looped round the clamp will overcome the difficulty.
Rules of the Game
The horses having been placed in a straight line, players should stake on whichever one they fancy, one of the players acting as Banker, and should offer odds of: with 5 horses running 4—1, and so on, the staking-sheet being placed at the starting end of the track.
Should a horse fall over at a fence, the player turning the handle (who should not watch the race, and if necessary be blindfold) must stop and have it removed from the course and then continue the race.
The horse which first passes the finishing line is the winner.
Sweepstakes
Players each pay an agreed number of chips into a pool and toss for choice of horse and position: the winning horse takes half the pool, the second two-thirds of what is left, and the third horse the balance.
In the event of three horses not finishing the course, the winner still takes half the pool, the unclaimed share or shares being added to the next race.
Onlookers if they so wish, may back any respective horse, or horses; one of the onlookers should act as Banker.
Other methods of determining the odds will occur to players. Should, for example, one particular horse win more frequently than others, the odds against it should be reduced.