Sigma Derby is an electronic horse-racing game that’s often located close to the race and sports book. Up to 10 people can play at any time, and everyone sits around the miniature "track" as five mechanical horses compete in race after race. The minimum bet is 25¢ and the only bet you can make is a "quinella," i.e., choosing which two horses will finish first and second. Until not too long ago, Derby was available in at least 10 casinos around Las Vegas, but today only three games are left: MGM Grand, Excalibur, and Luxor (Luxor’s game uses racing camels instead of horses). It may be the most low-tech mechanical game in the casino, but then that’s part of its charm. This is mitigated, however, by the house edge, which Mike "The Wizard of Odds" Shackleford has calculated as varying from about 12% to 15%.
Actually, if you happen to be venturing a bit beyond Las Vegas on your vacation, we did track down a couple of other places to play. Salamis Bay Conti Resort Hotel in northern Cyprus has a Derby game, while a high-tech version called Derby Mark VI has been spotted in a slot arcade in the Asakusa district of Tokyo.
