BoardGamesBot

For3to8players
AGES7toadult.
PIThasentertainedmillionsofhappy “trader s”sinceitwasfirstcon-
ceivedatParkerBrothers andpublishedin1904! Howlongagowas1904?
Well,theWrightBrothersflewtheworld’s firstairplanetheprior
December .
Backthen,neartheturnofthecentury, trading incommodities wasa
newandhighlypublicizedactivity.Although anyone withmoney couldbuy
contrac tsonwheat,orcorn,orbarley, itwasaveryriskybusiness —even
fortheexperts.Traderscouldloseeverythinginamatter ofminutes, or
becomewealthybeyonddreams.Inotherwords, commodity trading was—
andstillis—abreath-taking theme foranovelgame. Andunder thelead-
ershipofGeorgeParker —thefirm’sfounder —PITbecame oneofParker
Brotherstrulygreatcardgames .
Today, over90yearslater,PITcontinue stoprovidegreatfranticfunfor
fans,young andoldalike!
OBJECT
Bethefirstplayertoscoreatotalof500points. Thisusuallytakesseveral
hands ofplay.Atthesoundofthebell,youbecome atrader, asifyou’reat
thecommodityexchange, tryingto“corner” themarket ononeofthefol-
lowingcommodities:Wheat, Barley, Coffee, Corn, Sugar, Oats,Soybeans,
Oranges.You“cornerthemarket” whenyouhaveinyourhandall9cards
ofthesamecommodity.
EQUIPMENT
Onedeckof74cards
-8suitsof9cardseach,plusaBullcardandaBear
card,andatradingbell.
SETUP
TherearetwoversionsofPIT.ThebasicgameisplayedwithouttheBulland
Bearcards.Remove themfromthedeckifyouwanttoplaythebasicgame.
1.Placethetradingbellinthecenter ofthetable.
2.Prepare ascoresheet.
3.Selectadealer.
4.Thedealerpreparesthedeckforplayasfollows: Useonecomplete 9-
cardsuitpereachplayer inthegame. Leavetheremaining suitsoutof
playfortheentiregame.
5.Thedealershufflesthecardsanddeals9,facedown, toeachplayer.
6.Pickupyourcardsandarrange thembysuit.Besurenooneelsecan
seethem.
7.Whilearranging yourcards,decide onwhich commodity you’ll tryto
corner.It’susuallybesttotrytocorner thecommodity ofwhich you
startwiththemostcards.
8.Aftereveryone hashadachance tosorthisorhercards,thedealer
strikesthebellandannounces: “Themarketisopen.”
PLAY
Atthesound ofthebell,begintotradebytaking fromyourhandoneto
fourcardsofthesamecommodity. Theywillbeofacommodity youdo
NOTwishtocorner.Holdupthecards(takingcaretheotherplayers can’t
seethesuit)andcall,“TradeOne!One!One!” or“Trade Two!Two!Two!”
etc.,dependi ngonthenumber ofcardsyouwishtotrade.
Youmaytradecardswithanyopponent whoiscalling outthesame
number.Somet imesaparticularopponentwillwanttotradefewer cardsthan
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youdo.Inthiscase,youmaylower yourbidandtradethesmaller numbe r.
Continuetradinguntiloneplayer gets9cardsofthesamesuit.Ifyou
gettherefirst,hitthebellandcallout“Corner onCorn!” (orwhateve rthe
commodit ymaybe).Score thepoints marked onthecommodit yyou’ve
corneredandrecorditonthescoresheet. Example: Ifyoucorner themar-
ketonCorn, youwin75points.Thewinner ofthecorner reshufflesthe
cardsanddealsthenexthand.
WINNING
Youwinthegamebybeingthefirstplayer withatleast500points. Fora
shortergame,thefirstplayer with250pointswins.
PLAYINGWITH THEBULLANDBEAR CARDS
When youaddtheBullandBearcardstothedeck,twoplayerswill
receiveatenthcard.Ifyou’redealttencards, youmaycall“Corner” ifyou
have9cardsofthesamecommodity andoneothercard.Simply laydown
the9matchingcardsandplacetheextracardaside.
Beyond that,playisthesameasinthebasicgame,exceptfortheval-
uesandpenaltiesattachedtotheBullandBearcards. TheBullcardcanbe
eithera“wild” cardorapenaltycard;theBearcardalwayscarriesapenalty.
IfyouholdtheBullcardwhenyouhave8cardsofthesamesuit,hit
thebell,call“BullCorner” andscorethepoints markedonthecommodity
you’vecornere d.IfyouholdtheBullcardwhenyouhave9cardsofthe
samesuit,hittheCornerboard, call“Double Corner”andscoredouble the
pointsmarked onthecommodity you’vecornered.
IfyouholdeithertheBullorBearcardwhenanopponent calls
“Corner,”youlose20points.IfyouholdboththeBullandBearcards
whenanoppone ntcalls“Corner,” youlose40points. (InPIT,yourscore
cangobelow0.)
YoushouldtradetheBearcardassoonasyougetit,because 1)itwill
costyoupointsifsomeone elsegoesout;and2)whileyouholdit,youcan-
notlaydownyourhandevenifyouhave9cardsofacommodity. Itisalso
goodstrategytotradetheBullcardifyouthinkthehandisabouttoend
andyou’re notgoing towin.
YoumaytradetheBullandBearcardsatanytime.Youmaytradethem
singly,incombination,oralongwithanyothercard(s)ofasuityouwishto
trade.Atnotime,however, mayyoutrademorethanfourcardsatonce.
VARIATION: SILENTBIDDING
ForaquieterversionofPIT,trysilentbidding. Ifyouwishtotrade,holdup
yourfreehandwithyourpalmawayfromyou.Show thenumber ofcards
youwishtotradebyholding upthatsamenumber offingers. Tomatch a
bid,holdupyourhandwithyourpalmtowardyou,usingasmanyfingers
asthenumberofcardsyouwishtotrade.
VARIATION: PITASAPARTYGAME
Anynumbe rofplayersmayjoininthisexcitingpartyvariation. Useone
PITdeckandtradingbellforevery6to8players seated atatable.You’ll
findyourselfmoving fromtabletotableduringplay.Keepyourownscore
andcarryitwithyoufromtabletotable.Thefirstplayer towintwocorners
(regardlessofpointsactually scored) atonetablemoves tothenexttable.
Atthattime,theplayerwiththehighes tscorefromeachoftheothertables
movestoadifferenttable.Thefirstplayer togetapredetermined number of
points(like500)winstheentiregame!
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PIT
®
isaregisteredtrademarkofHasbro, Inc.AllRightsReserved.Usedunderauthorization.
©1997,1998,2009
Contact us: Winning Moves Games
75Sylvan St.,Suite C-104
Danvers, MA01923
Phone: 1-800-664-7788
E-mail: wmoves@winning-moves.com
Wewillbehappy tohearyourquestionsorcomments aboutthisgame.
Formoreinformationabout WinningMoves product safetyandcomplianceplease visit
http://www.winning-moves.com/product_safe ty
Hasbro,Inc.Madeandmarkete dbyWinningMoves,Inc.,
75SylvanSt.,SuiteC-104,Danvers, MA01923

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