Pit (game)

Pit

The box and cards for Pit.
Years active	1904
Genres	Trading Card Game
Players	3 to 8 players
Setup time	1 to 2 minutes
Playing time	1 to 10 minutes per round, Any number of rounds
Chance	Dealing cards, blind trades
Skills	Hand management, Deal making

Pit is a fast-paced card game for three to eight players, designed to simulate open outcry bidding for commodities. The game was developed for Parker Brothers and first sold in 1904. This popular version of the game was developed by Edgar Cayce, who would also become famous for his psychic predictions.

The inspirations were the Chicago Board of Trade (known as 'The Pit') and the US Corn Exchange and it was likely based on the very successful game Gavitt's Stock Exchange, invented in 1903 by Harry E. Gavitt of Topeka, Kansas (and reprinted in 2004 in an authentic "heirloom" edition by Out of the Box Publishing). Versions of the game have been marketed under the names Billionaire, Business, Cambio, Deluxe Pit, Quick 7, and Zaster.

Contents

Each deck consists of 74 cards with nine cards each of eight different commodities. The specific commodities have varied over the various editions of the game, but those used in most modern editions are Barley, Corn, Coffee, Oranges, Oats, Soybeans, Sugar and Wheat. The classic version has flax, hay, oats, rye, corn, barley, and wheat. Two special cards are also included, the Bull and the Bear.

Versions of the game starting in the 1970s contained a bell used to start trading. The first player to hold all nine cards of a commodity would ring the bell.

The Bull and the Bear

The Bull card is considered wild and can be used to complete any set. If the player has the full nine cards as well as the Bull, the player earns double the score for that round. A player cannot win if they hold the Bear, and at the end of each round, the player holding the Bear and any losing player holding the Bull each lose 20 points.

The game ends when either a set number of rounds have been played, or when a player reaches a certain agreed upon point total.

Variations

The original edition contained only seven commodities.

Commodity	Value
Wheat	100
Barley	85
Corn	75
Rye	70
Oats	60
Hay	50
Flax	40

Newer versions include seven or eight commodities, replacing Flax, Hay and Rye with Oranges, Coffee, Sugar and Soybeans.

Commodity	Value
Wheat	100
Barley	85
Coffee	80
Corn	75
Sugar	65
Oats	60
Soybeans	55
Oranges	50

The 100th anniversary edition released in 2004 included a reproduction of the original edition as well as a brand new edition that featured 8 "modernized" commodities.

Commodity	Value
Cocoa	100
Platinum	85
Gold	80
Cattle	75
Oil	65
Rice	60
Silver	55
Gas	50

Phrases often used during play

Chasing the bear

When one attempts to follow the progress of the bear after trading it away by watching the following trades.

Going for a hay ride

When one attempts to pick up all of a commodity that one has little of, because one has traded enough of it back and forth that one has an idea where it is all located.

Slip him/her the bull/bear

When one trades away the bull/bear, usually just before the game ends.

The granary

A player's hand.

Getting flaxed

Inadvertently acquiring an abundance of flax, the commodity with the lowest value.

Flaxing out

Cornering the market on flax.

Bear trap

Receipt of the Bear just preceding the ring of the bell to signify the game's end; doubly nasty if receipt of the Bear was part of the final trade that facilitated the winning hand.