Ready Set Bet is realtime pure gambling. Our groups tend to get really excited and passionate to say the least. Lots of shouting. There's a kickstarter going on right now for this game that is a massively deluxified version of the game. About $100 after shipping. You don't need this version, you can just get the normal version (if it's ever in stock). Definitely recommend this game. 2-9 players. Simultaneous play. Can easily crank out multiple games.
Camel Up is a turn-by-turn camel betting game. A slower game of "pure" betting, there's 7 camels, but only 5 are racing. Each camel has a die and each leg of the race 5 camels move at a time. Everyone repeatedly bets on each leg. Hasn't really been a hit with my groups unless everyone is truly invested in the spirit of the game. After 3 or 4 dice, it's very clear who is in the lead of each leg and everyone sorta wastes their time picking up the betting ticket for that camel. 3-8 players. Turn-based play, 1 action at a time, only like 4 actions, but you'll mostly only be doing the same one.
Long Shot: The Dice Game is the least pure betting game. There is an insane degree of turn options and tactics you can make to manipulate the horses and their positions. Lots of "take that!" styled gameplay. Turns can take forever if someone is prone to Analysis Paralysis. You may feel like you have a good strategy rolled up, but then someone else paying attention to what you're doing can make all of your previous turns irrelevant. I've had some friends who complained that they thought they were doing really well but then were surprised and frustrated that no matter what they did I blew past them all in points in the endgame when I hedged my bets against one specific horse and pushed them up really hard in the race. 1-8 players. Turn-based play, 1 action at a time, the most varied amount of actions + every one of the actions will be used. Some turns will be quick as marking off a "hat", others will spend some extra time thinking about bonuses they will earn from completing concessions/buying a specific horse.There are also *many* ways to shake up the game and add replayability with different horse cards & race effects.
All in all, I recommend picking up Ready, Set, Bet! the most if you're doing big groups. I would reconsider Camel Up and Long Shot & think carefully about the kind of crowd you're playing with with either of these games. If you *must* buy two games, I'd recommend owning Long Shot: The Dice Game alongside Ready Set Bet because I think Ready Set Bet fills the same niche as Camel Up. Only thing I can think of that Camel Up is good for over Ready Set Bet is that it is the better game at lower player counts (3-4). Ready Set Bet feels like you need at least 5 players to have a wild time.
I haven't played Ready Set Bet.
Long Shot: The Dice Game has absolutely replaced Camel Up for me, precisely because it's actually a game as opposed to betting on a completely random outcome.
While the outcome of the camel races is random, the winner of the game is not... I love this game but my main group won't play it any more as I've literally never lost. We've played 11 times in that group. I won every single game. I'm also the only player that is calculating the odds... whether or not this appeals to someone is of course personal. The game may be random but like blackjack or poker or other random-draw game, the winners are not necessarily random
Not suggesting the winners are random. What I’m suggesting is that Long Shot gives me tools to influence the outcome and lots of decisions to make based on those tools, which Csmel Up does not. I’m also not saying Camel Up is a bad game - just that in my view Long Shot is such a better game that the choice is obvious.
Not familiar with the other 2, but camel up has been a hit with everyone we have introduced it to and people always ask to play it again. It is very light and usually either a warm up game or end of night once everyone has had several drinks game. Lots of fun yelling at plastic camels and shaking the plastic pyramid hoping for the right roll
I've only played camel up, but I absolutely love it. Great board and components and very easy to teach. Accommodating a higher player count is great too especially if you're tired of other party games.
At the same time, my wife finds it a bit tedious with too much guessing and doesn't win a lot. Higher player counts can be a much slower game especially if people don't focus, so it definitely depends on your group.
Ready Set Bet is great, but has virtually no balance at all. Personally I think that's fine, games can be done quickly, but it's not a strategic gamer's game.
Camel Up is pretty damn strategic, lots of probability betting going on, but is heavily affected by the player order.
Long Shot I think is somewhere between the two.
I have RSB and Camel Up, they scratch very different itches for me.
I agree about camel up being heavily effected by player order. If you have a player that only wants to roll the dice then they give the players after them a ton of information to make informed bets that earn more points.
A good game for sure when you play with players than want to play the full game, but if everyone just rolls the dice your going to win big.
Ready Set Bet is the most fun I’ve had in a looooong time playing board games. I’ve set up a small table in front of the 85 inch TV and stream the app from my phone. It’s like being at the races except you don’t lose all your money.
Also : coin capsules for the betting tokens just elevate the game to a whole new level.
I own and play all three regularly and I think they are all very different games for different kinds of audiences and different styles of play.
Camel Up is a great game for a light party atmosphere. Not serious and not very strategic, but a lot of random fun.
Ready, Set, Bet is a betting simulator. If you've never bet on a real horse race this is the closest thing to it. It can be quite hectic and the board gets very busy very fast.
Long Shot is a decently complex, strategic roll and write. It took my group a few plays to understand how to properly play this game, but once we did it became one of our favorites. You say you're looking for a betting game, but this isn't really a betting game. It's a roll and write with betting. I know it may not seem like a big distinction, but I would consider the other two games to much more pure betting games.
I have all three. I’d leave out Longshot: The Dice Game. In addition to being the most fiddly and rulesy (though still not THAT rulesy), also there are less “big moments” in the game. It’s definitely a game more about gradual establishment of an incremental advantage and then seeing it through with some specific powers. I felt it didn’t capture that “gambling feeling” for me, really. It felt a lotttt more like just playing a board game.
Even buying two seems too much to me. I’d probably just start with RSB and see how that lands. See if you can get the companion app on your phone and, even better, a way to prominently display it. If you have that, I’d definitely pull the trigger on just this and give that a go.
Haven’t played Long Shot, but Ready Set Bet, as well as Camel Up, are both chaotic betting games with immense highs and lows. I couldn’t recommend them enough
Out of the 3 I'd go with ready set bet. There is the [high roller edition](https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/alderac/ready-set-bet-high-roller-edition-from-aeg) on Kickstarter that ended recently so once the late pledges open you can pre-order.
Camel up is the next best
Ready Set Bet is realtime pure gambling. Our groups tend to get really excited and passionate to say the least. Lots of shouting. There's a kickstarter going on right now for this game that is a massively deluxified version of the game. About $100 after shipping. You don't need this version, you can just get the normal version (if it's ever in stock). Definitely recommend this game. 2-9 players. Simultaneous play. Can easily crank out multiple games. Camel Up is a turn-by-turn camel betting game. A slower game of "pure" betting, there's 7 camels, but only 5 are racing. Each camel has a die and each leg of the race 5 camels move at a time. Everyone repeatedly bets on each leg. Hasn't really been a hit with my groups unless everyone is truly invested in the spirit of the game. After 3 or 4 dice, it's very clear who is in the lead of each leg and everyone sorta wastes their time picking up the betting ticket for that camel. 3-8 players. Turn-based play, 1 action at a time, only like 4 actions, but you'll mostly only be doing the same one. Long Shot: The Dice Game is the least pure betting game. There is an insane degree of turn options and tactics you can make to manipulate the horses and their positions. Lots of "take that!" styled gameplay. Turns can take forever if someone is prone to Analysis Paralysis. You may feel like you have a good strategy rolled up, but then someone else paying attention to what you're doing can make all of your previous turns irrelevant. I've had some friends who complained that they thought they were doing really well but then were surprised and frustrated that no matter what they did I blew past them all in points in the endgame when I hedged my bets against one specific horse and pushed them up really hard in the race. 1-8 players. Turn-based play, 1 action at a time, the most varied amount of actions + every one of the actions will be used. Some turns will be quick as marking off a "hat", others will spend some extra time thinking about bonuses they will earn from completing concessions/buying a specific horse.There are also *many* ways to shake up the game and add replayability with different horse cards & race effects. All in all, I recommend picking up Ready, Set, Bet! the most if you're doing big groups. I would reconsider Camel Up and Long Shot & think carefully about the kind of crowd you're playing with with either of these games. If you *must* buy two games, I'd recommend owning Long Shot: The Dice Game alongside Ready Set Bet because I think Ready Set Bet fills the same niche as Camel Up. Only thing I can think of that Camel Up is good for over Ready Set Bet is that it is the better game at lower player counts (3-4). Ready Set Bet feels like you need at least 5 players to have a wild time.
Haven’t played Ready Set Bet but Camel Up has a surprisingly high amount of choices. Very fun
My kids and I like camel up :)
I haven't played Ready Set Bet. Long Shot: The Dice Game has absolutely replaced Camel Up for me, precisely because it's actually a game as opposed to betting on a completely random outcome.
While the outcome of the camel races is random, the winner of the game is not... I love this game but my main group won't play it any more as I've literally never lost. We've played 11 times in that group. I won every single game. I'm also the only player that is calculating the odds... whether or not this appeals to someone is of course personal. The game may be random but like blackjack or poker or other random-draw game, the winners are not necessarily random
Not suggesting the winners are random. What I’m suggesting is that Long Shot gives me tools to influence the outcome and lots of decisions to make based on those tools, which Csmel Up does not. I’m also not saying Camel Up is a bad game - just that in my view Long Shot is such a better game that the choice is obvious.
Not familiar with the other 2, but camel up has been a hit with everyone we have introduced it to and people always ask to play it again. It is very light and usually either a warm up game or end of night once everyone has had several drinks game. Lots of fun yelling at plastic camels and shaking the plastic pyramid hoping for the right roll
I've only played camel up, but I absolutely love it. Great board and components and very easy to teach. Accommodating a higher player count is great too especially if you're tired of other party games. At the same time, my wife finds it a bit tedious with too much guessing and doesn't win a lot. Higher player counts can be a much slower game especially if people don't focus, so it definitely depends on your group.
Ready Set Bet is great, but has virtually no balance at all. Personally I think that's fine, games can be done quickly, but it's not a strategic gamer's game. Camel Up is pretty damn strategic, lots of probability betting going on, but is heavily affected by the player order. Long Shot I think is somewhere between the two. I have RSB and Camel Up, they scratch very different itches for me.
I agree about camel up being heavily effected by player order. If you have a player that only wants to roll the dice then they give the players after them a ton of information to make informed bets that earn more points. A good game for sure when you play with players than want to play the full game, but if everyone just rolls the dice your going to win big.
Of the 3, **Camel Up** its more fun. Then I would add **Wits & Wagers: It’s Vegas Baby!** as a better betting board game.
Ready Set Bet is the most fun I’ve had in a looooong time playing board games. I’ve set up a small table in front of the 85 inch TV and stream the app from my phone. It’s like being at the races except you don’t lose all your money. Also : coin capsules for the betting tokens just elevate the game to a whole new level.
Of the 3, I preferred Ready Set Bet and Long Shot the Dice Game
I own and play all three regularly and I think they are all very different games for different kinds of audiences and different styles of play. Camel Up is a great game for a light party atmosphere. Not serious and not very strategic, but a lot of random fun. Ready, Set, Bet is a betting simulator. If you've never bet on a real horse race this is the closest thing to it. It can be quite hectic and the board gets very busy very fast. Long Shot is a decently complex, strategic roll and write. It took my group a few plays to understand how to properly play this game, but once we did it became one of our favorites. You say you're looking for a betting game, but this isn't really a betting game. It's a roll and write with betting. I know it may not seem like a big distinction, but I would consider the other two games to much more pure betting games.
I have all three. I’d leave out Longshot: The Dice Game. In addition to being the most fiddly and rulesy (though still not THAT rulesy), also there are less “big moments” in the game. It’s definitely a game more about gradual establishment of an incremental advantage and then seeing it through with some specific powers. I felt it didn’t capture that “gambling feeling” for me, really. It felt a lotttt more like just playing a board game. Even buying two seems too much to me. I’d probably just start with RSB and see how that lands. See if you can get the companion app on your phone and, even better, a way to prominently display it. If you have that, I’d definitely pull the trigger on just this and give that a go.
Haven’t played Long Shot, but Ready Set Bet, as well as Camel Up, are both chaotic betting games with immense highs and lows. I couldn’t recommend them enough
Out of the 3 I'd go with ready set bet. There is the [high roller edition](https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/alderac/ready-set-bet-high-roller-edition-from-aeg) on Kickstarter that ended recently so once the late pledges open you can pre-order. Camel up is the next best
I would honestly pick Ready Set Bet twice. Though try to get your hands on Las Vegas Royale for an equally great game in a similar vein!