Hot Streak

Here is a general overview of how to play Hot Streak, structured step by step from setup to the end of the game.

Setup

1. Assign player roles by choosing a Bookie, a Dealer, and a Handler (p. 14).
2. The Handler pulls out the racetrack mat and places the four mascots—Gobbler, Hurley, Dangle, and Mum—on their starting positions (p. 14).
3. The Bookie sorts the betting tickets into stacks and gives every player $10 (p. 14).
4. The Dealer sets up the side bet cards, creates the racing deck using the starting cards plus a specific number of random cards based on the player count, and deals a starting hand of 3 racing cards face down to each player (p. 14, 19).

How the Game Works

The game is played over a total of 3 races (p. 16). Each race follows a progression of betting, racing, and payouts:

• Betting: Players draft 2 betting tickets each using a snake draft pattern, starting with the unluckiest player (p. 16). After drafting each ticket, players choose either the safe or risky side (p. 16).
• Racing: Before each race, every player secretly chooses 1 card from their hand and adds it face down to the racing deck so that it contains exactly 18 cards (p. 18). The Dealer burns 3 cards face down while counting down "3, 2, 1... GO!" and then flips cards face up one by one while the Handler moves the mascots accordingly (p. 18).
• Payouts: Once 3 mascots have either finished or been disqualified, the race ends and the Bookie pays out cash from the pots based on how the mascot and side bets resolved (p. 15, 23, 25).

How the Game Ends

After the 3rd race is completed, the game ends, and players add up their total money earned to discover their final life outcome by consulting the results pages in the rulebook (p. 4, 20).