A Look Behind the Quackers and Chaotic Game of Duck Race Betting with 155.io’s Sam Jones

Forget greyhound tracks and horse racing. A new kind of race is taking over the gambling scene—one that involves robotic arms, plastic ducks, and a river filled with unpredictable obstacles and one that might be coming to a casino near you. 

I sat down with Sam Jones, the founder and CEO of 155.io, to talk about his latest sensation: Duck Race—a 24/7 live betting game that’s part traditional fairground fun, part gambling innovation, and entirely chaotic.

From Village Tradition to Global Innovation

“It really goes back to those village events I grew up with,” Sam tells Casinos.com. “Small towns holding duck races in rivers for charity. But then I saw the scale of duck races in places like Chicago in the US, with thousands of ducks in the water. That gave me the spark.”

That spark became Duck Race, a real-world, continuous betting game where players wager on plastic ducks released into a flowing course every two minutes. The ducks navigate a series of unpredictable obstacles—with chaos being the key ingredient.

“We specialize in real-world physics,” Sam says of his company, 155.io, known for turning chaotic environments like marble races and ping pong tournaments into betting platforms. “Anyone can clone a digital game. Try cloning our physical river, robotic arms, and duck mechanics. That’s a different league.”

A $10,000 Yellow Duck and 24/7 Action

Duck Race isn’t just a quirky side show. It’s already drawing high-stakes action.

“We had someone place $10,000 on a yellow duck,” 

Sam says that casually, as though that’s not the most surreal sentence ever uttered in a betting interview. “And starting tomorrow, the race goes live 24 hours a day until Christmas.”

Each race lasts a couple of minutes. Ducks are randomly selected and placed into the water via a robotic arm, with steel weights inside to affect movement. From there, it’s all physics, luck—and maybe a bit of strategy.

“We’re adding duck weight categories,” Sam explains. “Do you go with a light, agile duck or a heavy, stable one? There’s depth coming to this.”

A Crocodile in the River and Kids Mode on the Way

The game is evolving quickly. One new addition? A crocodile.

“We just added it to the course,” Sam says with a smile. “More chaos. People love it when a duck gets stuck or flips. The unpredictability is the entertainment.”

But with that fun comes responsibility. The cute visuals have raised ethical questions, particularly about appeal to children. Casinos.com made a quip recently about the demise of greyhound racing and horse racing and we posed the question; ‘What’s next, duck racing?  The anti gambling lobby might have some fun going after this genius idea which ticks all the boxes for those who have taken part in those huge traditional village duck races, which raise a lot of cash for good causes.  

“We’re working on a free-to-play version for kids,” Sam says. “No gambling—just fun. Like Candy Crush with ducks.” 

Who is Sam Jones?

Sam Jones is a serial entrepreneur based in Dubai. He founded 155.io in 2024 to deliver real-world, live chaos to the igaming industry. Their first game was marbles.io, and have followed up with StairPong, and now ducks.io

Sam's background prior to 155.io was founding a live shopping company, as well as a real-time fantasy sport company. He also served as Managing Director of Wish.com - where he lead marketing and partnerships, where they sponsored the LA Lakers jersey, UFC, Joe Rogan podcast. Wish went public in 2020.

Las Vegas, Global Growth, and the Casinos.com Connection

So what’s next for Duck Race?

Sam is already planning to enter regulated markets, including the USA and Brazil, with the right certification and licenses.

“Las Vegas is absolutely in our sights,” Sam confirms. “We want to build a full-scale river version in a casino. Big audiences. Big prizes.”

He also mentions plans to bring the game to markets in Africa, Russia, South America, Japan, and Korea.

There is no end to the chaos Sam intends to unleash. It is rumoured that a duck resembling President Donald Trump may make an appearance in the races. There are plenty of celebrities Sam can call on to name his ducks. Kim Karquackian, Quacky Chan and Justin Beaker are just a few we can think of here in the newsroom. We'd love to hear your suggestions too.

Merch, Media, and Momentum

Alongside racing, Duck Race is becoming a brand. Sam’s sending out merchandise. He’s working on a kids’ game. And his company is moving quickly to trademark and patent the concept to protect against copycats. It takes hundreds and thousands of dollars to build this game and there were plenty of failures and sacrifices along the way Sam says.

“Speed and creativity are our defense,” he says. “And we’re building something people remember.”

Want to know more or feature Duck Race at your venue or platform?
Visit 155.io or stay tuned to casinos.com for updates, interviews, and the chaos of the world’s quirkiest new betting phenomenon.