Players choose which of the four racetracks will be used for the game. Each player is handed a copy of the appropriate race form (which should be studied!). The eleven racehorses, which are numbered two through twelve, are randomized and are bought, one at a time, by the players in an open auction. Money spent in the auction will be brought back into the game during the third, fifth and eighth races.
Eight races make a complete game and each follows the same procedure. Each player, in turn, has the option to make as many bets as one wants but each bet is made “across the board.” All bets are made in 150-skin (the game’s monetary unit) increments: 50 to win, 50 to place and 50 to show. After everyone has placed their bets, the money is divided as equally as possible into seven stacks.
After all bets have been placed, the race is run. A horse has completed a circuit of the track when five Xs have been placed next to it. Sometimes horses begin with some Xs and sometimes the favorites, horses 6, 7 and 8, need an extra X.
When a player rolls the dice, that player may give the horse rolled an X and pass on the dice or give that horse a / (half-X) and roll again to that horse an X. When three horses have finished the race, the owner(s) of the winning horse and winning bettors are paid. The player with the most money at the end of the game is the winner.
Across the Board features a pari-mutual betting system to mimic a real racetrack. There are no fixed odds. The winners win what the losers lost. That makes Across the Board unique among horse racing games.
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