Fund Raising with Armchair Horse Racing Frequently Asked Questions
WHO ENJOYS PLAYING ARMCHAIR RACES?Men and women alike enjoy playing Armchair Races at their fund raising and charitable events. No previous experience is needed by committee or guest, that's how simple, yet action-packed we design our action packed fund raising kits. Armchair Races will bring the fun, laughter and excitement back to your next charitable fund raising event.HOW DO WE ADVERTISE ARMCHAIR RACES? We offer a wide variety of fundraising advertising material. We have 41/2 x 6” full color post cards and large color posters that can be delivered to you before your fundraiser begins to advertise that date and time of your night at the races. We also offer multi-colored balloons imprinted with our logo, and multi-colored plastic pennants that are 60’ long.HOW DO WE PREPARE OUR SEATING ARRANGEMENTS?Arrange the room with the projectionist’s table in the center and the guests’ tables set where everyone would have a clear view of the horse races when the fund raiser begins. Set up the “seller”, “daily double“, and “cashier” tables on the outer area toward the front of the room in full view of your audience. Click here to see a typical seating chart HOW DO WE PLAY ARMCHAIR RACES?Have the Master of Ceremonies welcome your guests and give a short explanation of how ARMCHAIR RACES is played according to the pamphlet that we supply with all our packages. He then announces, “The betting windows are now open for the first race”, and your fund raising event begins. SELLING THE MUTUEL TICKETSEach mutuel ticket seller would have a strip of mutuel tickets. The tickets are numbered with a “00” in the lower right hand corner and go up to “24”. When the 1st ticket is sold, “01” is shown. This means you have sold one ticket. Continue selling tickets until the MC announces “the windows are closed for the 1st race”. The windows should close about five minutes before the start of the horse race so the odds can be computed and announced before the horse race begins. COMPUTING THE ODDSWhen the betting windows are closed, the strips of mutuel tickets are brought to the person in charge of computing the odds. The process of computing the odds is as easy as third grade math, adding, multiplying then dividing. Our fund raising packages each contain sample odds forms and a division chart that will walk you through the process.
Once the odds are computed, the Master of Ceremonies will announce the odds, for example – Horse #1 pays $7, Horse #2 pays $9, etc. RUNNING THE RACESIn our standard fund raising kit you are supplied with either 16mm horse racing films, VHS tape or DVD. Each is hermetically sealed in its own racing box. When using 16mm film, and all betting windows are closed, a volunteer from the audience selects one sealed horse racing film and hands it directly to the projectionist. When using video or DVD, all races are contained on one reel. The projectionist would unseal the video or DVD in front of the audience. This ensures that the horse race was not previewed before your night at the races.
Now you are ready for the fun to begin. The race is started, the excitement builds. First you see the colorful post parade, next “THEY’RE OFF”!! Follow your horse around the track. WOW, that was a close finish! The “photo finish” is shown, then you see the actual track tote board with the official order of finish.
PAYING OFF THE WINNERSOnly the guests with the winning horse are winners. They would proceed to the cashier’s table with their winning ticket in hand. Each winning ticket holder would receive the amount of pay off that was previously announced by the Master of Ceremonies. ARMCHAIR RACES supplies “Funny Money” for no additional charge upon request. We have $1, $2, and $5 denominations.
As the cashiers are paying off the first race, the Master of Ceremonies should announce “The betting windows are now open for the 2nd horse race”. ARE CUSTOM PACKAGES AVAILABLECustom designed packages are absolutely no problem! Simply write or call our office, we have the experience and friendly representatives to assure you of a successful event, whatever your specific needs.HOW WOULD WE CONDUCT AN AUCTION? (horse ownership)The Master of Ceremonies should announce beforehand that there will be an “Auction Race” during your fund raising night at the races and explain that this is the way that the guests can actually own one of the horses of a particular horse race.
When the auction is ready to begin the Master of Ceremonies should open the bidding at $5 and proceed in $5 increments. The bids can be individual or each table can be a group and bid against the other tables. This makes it very exciting and fun, having the tables bid against each other. The highest bidder “owns” that horse. When all horses are auctioned off, the race can begin. When the race is over, the winning horse owner collects from a separate pool of winnings.
Horse auctions can add excitement and additional profits to your charity fund raiser. |
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