Dostihy a sázky is a board game of Czech origin and one of the most sold ones in the country. Prepare for hours of fun!
Although the official English title of the game is Betting on Horses, the literal translation is “Horse Races and Bets”. Either way, the name tells a lot about the theme of the game.
Dostihy a sázky
Dostihy a sázky is a Czech board game of buying, trading and betting on horses loosely inspired by the American board game Monopoly.
History
The game was invented by Ladislav Mareš and put on the market in 1984. Mareš started printing the game in a small printing shop he was a boss of and after a critical article in Rudé právo (Czech Communist Party newspaper) the demand grew so much it couldn’t be met by the shop. By 2010, the game had sold over 3 million copies and in 2024, there was a special 40th anniversary edition.
Game principle
Dostihy a sázky is a game for 2 – 6 players from 10 years of age. Although the game shares the trading principle with Monopoly, it’s by no means its imitation. There are 22 cards of horses named after actual participants of the Velká pardubická steeplechase. Players buy the horses with the intention to have an entire stable and gather as much wealth as they can. There are additional cards that help the players, complicate their plans or enhance the performance of their cards. Later in the game, players can bet on their own horses and make the other players pay them fines if they step on the field of the horse.
The estimate time is between 2 and 4 hours and the game ends either when the last player stands (players step down when they cannot afford to pay fines) or after an agreed time.
Dostihy a sázky nowadays
The game has been incredibly popular with several generations of Czechs. Not only do people remember the unusual horse names years after playing the game but they also guard memories of hours spent playing the game with their families and friends, especially on summer break in Chalupa.
There have been special editions of the game (junior, faster version, compact travel game) but the classic one is by far the most popular.
