Tabletop_Gaming__April_2019

tabletopgaming.co.uk

cards you have to trade.

You can only trade

complete sets – with

the exception of the

bear card, which you

can sneak in with other

cards during a trade.

e extra bull and

bear cards are optional for play but are used to add a

further element of luck/risk to the game. e bull can

be used as a wild card to represent any commodity

or it can be used to create a ten-card set rather than

nine, which stands for double points. Any player with

the bear in their hand when a set is completed gets 20

points deducted.

Pit is a game that has lasted. It’s a game that thrives

in a party environment and that’s partly why it it’s still

around today. If you’re looking for a game that can be

played by a group at a party then Pit is worthy of your

attention. It’s noisy, chaotic and fun.

Words Phil Robinson

P

it is a playing card game that

was rst released by Rook

Card Company Inc. in 1904.

In 1919 it released a special

edition which contained

two extra cards: the bull and the bear.

ese cards added some extra strategy

to a game that was already fun to play.

e rights were bought by Parker Bros.

and released in many dierent versions

throughout the USA and Europe. While

there are many older versions out there

it is still being actively produced and

marketed today by Hasbro.

Pit was created by Edgar Cayce,

who later found fame for his psychic

predictions, but it was most likely based

on the game Gavitt’s Stock Exchange,

which was invented in 1903 by Harry E.

Gavitt. e game’s title comes from the

Chicago Board of Trade (known internally

as ‘e Pit’) and it is intended to be a

simulation of the open outcry commodity

trading which took place there. It’s quite

easy to see why Pit was a big hit in the early 20th

century; it was an era where parlour games were

popular and Pit is designed for several players – it’s

noisy, fun and ideal for parties.

e game is for between three and seven players

and the deck of cards represents seven dierent

commodities: wheat, barley, corn, ax, hay, oats and

rye. ere are no turns in Pit but rather all players play

at once, creating a noisy atmosphere representative of

open outcry trading; if you stay quiet in Pit you’re not

going to win.

e aim is to try to collect a full set of nine cards of a

single commodity by trading with fellow players, thus

cornering the market. When this happens you lay down

your cards and collect the points indicated. Versions of

the game from 1970 onwards were issued with a bell,

similar to a hotel desk bell, to signal the start of trading,

at which point everyone starts advertising what they

have to oer – hence the noise. All trading is blind in

respect of commodities so you just shout how many

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PIT: BULL & BEAR

Phil Robinson is a game

historian and the founder

of the Museum of Gaming,

an organisation that

explores and documents

the history of gaming

through its collections,

exhibitions and research.

98 April 2019 tabletopgaming.co.uk

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PIT: BULL & BEAR