Classroom Activity - The Pit Trading Game

This is always a winner with students, but remember to warn your colleagues next door because this game creates lots of noise and makes for a great break when working through price theory!

Playing the Pit Trading Game

The game is simple to understand and straightforward to play, each "trading session" lasts around 3-4 minutes depending on the number of players and the intensity with which they trade cards with each other.

In the normal version of the game - the "trade barriers" are non-existent because anyone can trade with anyone else. And every player or team starts the game with the same likelihood of winning the round as everyone else. Usually after a few games, the players realise the importance of rapid trading and perhaps renegotiating the number of cards they are trading.

Variations on the trading game of PIT

1. Have extra bull and bear cards in the game - a team cannot corner the market if they have a bear card in their hand, so there is more intense trading to offload the bear card for something else.
2. Attach a premium price to one or more of the commodities for each round to represent the effects of changes in market prices
3. Allow the trading to continue after the first trader or trading team has cornered the market in the first commodity - the second team to corner the market might get a bonus of say thirty marks if they come second, although they cannot win the points marked on the card
4. Giving the bear card to the winning team which they have to take into the next round
5. Silent bidding using hand gestures rather than open out-cry - requires more concentration on behalf of the players in the trading pit.
6. Allow students to trade mixes of commodities provided that they always trade the same number of cards.

As always, providing the right incentives gives that extra competitive edge. In today's round we played for a large bag of chocolates - the prize going to the team with the highest number of points at the end of the lesson.