King Derby (XE88): the 1980s horse-race game and its odds board

King Derby has been a popular betting game since the 1980s, back when it lived in arcade cabinets. The XE88 version keeps the chunky pixel art and bright green track. Six horses, each with its own colour and saddle number, burst out of the starting gate and sprint for the line. It is quick, loud and entirely down to chance.

The odds board

Before each race the screen switches to a black board headed NEW ODDS. It is a grid with the numbers 6 to 2 across the top and 1 to 5 down the side. Each cell where a row meets a column is a pair of horses: 1-6, 2-5, 4-5 and so on, fifteen pairs in all, with a payout figure in each.

The figures in the screenshots range from 3 up to 1000. Low numbers mark the favoured pairs; 1000 marks the long shots. The LAST 5R column on the right lists recent results, and one screenshot shows "5-6 1000" there: horses 5 and 6 filled the top two places in a race where that pair was a 1000 long shot.

The old guide described the game as picking the horse you think will run fastest. The board in the screenshots is built around pairs, so what you are really backing is a combination of two horses. Check the in-game help to confirm how the pair is settled.

Placing coins and starting the race

The coin buttons on the right (0, 1, 10 and 50) set how many coins go on the cell you choose. Your running total sits in the COINS box at the bottom right, and WIN shows the last payout. PRESS HERE FOR START sends the horses off.

The board also shows STARTER, FINISHER and SPRINTER with a horse number beside each. The game does not explain them. They read like hints about each horse's running style, but treat them as colour, not a tip.

The jackpot line

Along the bottom of the board runs JACKPOT X3 X4 X5 FREE HORSE. It suggests that some races multiply the payout or hand out a free run. There is no rule for when that happens, so don't bet expecting it.

Playing it without getting carried away

A race takes seconds, so coins go quickly. The long-shot pairs at 500 or 1000 are tempting, but they come in rarely. Set a coin limit before the first race. For more games like this, see the XE88 arcade section or its motorcycle twin, Motorbike. Once you can read the board, play King Derby on XE88. 18+ only.