Stock hold'em Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Game Contents
  • Information Cards
• Game Setup
• Common Game Rules
  • Regarding Stock Price
  • Regarding Money
  • Regarding Open or Closed Information
• Framework of the Game
• I. Main Phase
  • Trading Step
    • 1. Placing Information
    • 2. Selling Shares
    • 3. Buying Shares
  • Shark Chips and Free Actions
  • Final Card Step
• II. Stock Price Determination Phase
  • 1. Revealing Information
  • 2. Calculating Stock Price
    • a. Base Stock Price
    • b. Price Surge Bonus
    • c. Suit Bonus
    • d. Number Bonus
    • Example: Rockfish Software
    • Example: Tuna Transport Company
  • Special Cards
    • Example: Squid Paint Company
• III. Setup Phase
• Final Scoring and Game End
• Variants
  • Crowded Market Variant
  • Dark Dealings Variant
  • Customized Length Variant
• Round Progress Summary

Game Contents

• 1 Stock Price board
• 4 Round Progress tiles (one for each player count)
• 6 Company tiles
• 6 Share Price discs in 6 colours (red, blue, yellow, green, black, orange)
• 66 Share cards, 11 per Company
• 42 Information cards
• 42 Shark chips
• 3 Price Surge tokens
• 1 Indicator cube
• 1 Start player marker
• 6 Summary sheets
• Money (in the form of banknotes): 40 x $1 (grey), 20 x $5 (pink), 30 x $10 (yellow), 20 x $20 (green), 20 x $50 (blue), 20 x $100 (orange)
• 1 Rulebook

Information Cards

Information cards have information printed on the front and the back. The information on the front of the card (suit and number) is partially revealed by the back of the card (i.e. either the suit or the number). The front of the card contains the following information:

• Number
• Suit: one of 4 Information suits: Internet / Newspaper / Letter / Messenger Dove

The back shows the type of information printed on it (either a number or a suit symbol).

There are two special Information cards: the Bull and the Bear (see Special Cards).

Game Setup

1. Place the Stock Price board in the centre of the table. After that, place the Stock Price disc for all 6 companies on the starting space specified on the Stock Price board.
2. Take a Round Progress tile that matches the number of players and place it to the top of the Stock Price board. The other Round Progress tiles will not be used in this game, so return them to the box. Place the Indicator cube on the leftmost space of the Round Progress tile.
3. Place the 6 Company tiles to the bottom of the Stock Price board. Form 3 rows of 2 columns each, leaving empty space to the right of each Company tile to place 5 Information cards. The area reserved for the Information cards is called the 'Company Information Area'.
4. Place the Share cards for each company on each Company tile.
5. Sort money into each denomination to form a bank.
6. Shuffle the Information cards well face-down to form a deck. After that, draw and place two cards from the Information card deck to each 'Company Information Area' to the right of each Company tile. There should be 12 cards placed in total (2 for each of the 6 companies).
7. Shark chips and Price Surge tokens are each placed in a pile.
8. The player who most recently bought or sold stocks becomes the start player and takes the Start player marker.
9. Each player receives the following items:
   • Money. The amount is determined by player count: 3 players ... $150; 4 players ... $120; 5 to 6 players ... $100.
   • Information cards. The number is determined by player count: 3 players ... 6 cards; 4 players ... 5 cards; 5 to 6 players ... 4 cards.
   • Shark chips. You will receive the following number of Shark chips determined by your starting position clockwise from the start player: Start player ... 2 chips; 2nd, 3rd ... 3 chips; 4th, 5th ... 4 chips; 6th ... 5 chips.
   • 1 Summary sheet.

The game is now ready to play!

Common Game Rules

Regarding Stock Price

The Stock Price of each Company is equal to the number of the space where the Company's Stock Price disc is placed. Therefore, the maximum Stock Price is 57, and cannot go higher than 57. Similarly, the minimum Stock Price is 1, and cannot go lower than 1.

Regarding Money

Money is not limited by the components, and may be exchanged into any denominations at any time.

Regarding Open or Closed Information

All the money, Stock cards and Shark chips you own is public information. Keep the fronts of the Information cards secret from other players, only the backs may be visible.

Framework of the Game

The game is carried out over 2 rounds. After 2 rounds, there is a final scoring and the game ends.

Each round is divided into the following phases.

• I. Main Phase
  • Trading Step (several times)
    1. Placing Information
    2. Selling Stocks
    3. Buying Stocks
  • Final Card Step
• II. Stock Price Determination Phase
  1. Revealing Information
  2. Calculating Stock Price
• III. Setup Phase

These three phases in sequence constitute one round of gameplay. However, at the end of the second and last round, skip 【III. Setup Phase】 and proceed to the final scoring.

The details of each phase will be explained below.

I. Main Phase

The Main Phase consists of a sequence of Trading Steps and ends with the Final Card Step.

In each Trading Step, take turns clockwise from the start player. After each player performs a set number of turns (according to the number of players as stated below), advance to the Final Card Step.

• 3 players ... 6 turns
• 4 players ... 5 turns
• 5 to 6 players ... 4 turns

In order to track the number of turns each player has taken, the start player advances the Indicator cube to the right of the Round Progress tile when it is their turn during the Trading Step.

Trading Step

For each player's turn, they follow and carry out each of the actions below in sequence.

1. Placing Information (skip on first turn)
2. Selling Shares
3. Buying Shares (from any Company on the first turn, then restricted on following turns)

Aside from these 3 actions, you may perform as many free actions as you like by paying Shark chips anytime during the Trading Step. For details, please refer to 【Shark chips and free actions】.

Each action will be explained in detail below.

1. Placing Information

This action will not be carried out on the first turn of each round.

Choose one Information card from your hand and place it face-down in the Company Information Area of any Company. However, the maximum number of cards that can be placed in the Company Information Area of one company is 5. These 5 cards include the 2 face-up cards that are already laid out during setup.

Gameplay Tip: As the cards placed here are crucial in determining the Stock Price of the company in 【II. Stock Price Determination Phase】, think carefully where you want to place your cards!

2. Selling Shares

In this action, players sell 1 Company share that they own.

1. Select 1 Share card that you own and put it back on the corresponding Company tile.
2. Refer to the Stock price of that Company and receive the corresponding amount from the bank.
3. Lower the Stock price of the company by 1 by moving the Stock Price disc on the Stock Price board.

If you decide not to sell Shares, receive 1 Shark chip.

* For details on Shark chips, please refer to 【Shark chips and free actions】.

3. Buying Shares

In this action, players buy 1 Company Share.

In the first turn of each round, you can buy Share cards from any Company. However, from the second turn henceforth, you may only buy Shares from the Company in which you placed an Information card in 【1. Placing Information】.

1. First, check if at least 1 Share card of the Company tile you want to buy is present. If there are none left, the player may not buy that Share.
2. Then, refer to the Share price of the Company, and pay the corresponding price to the bank.
3. Receive 1 Share card of the Company from the Company tile. Display all owned Share cards in front of yourself.
4. Increase the Share price of the company by 1 by moving the Stock price disc on the Stock price board.

If you do not have enough money to purchase Share cards or choose not to, you will receive 1 Shark chip instead.

* For details on Shark chips, please refer to 【Shark chips and free actions】.

* When you buy or sell Shares, execute the actions one by one, since the Stock Prices fluctuate after each purchase or sale.

When all the players have taken their allocated number of turns, proceed to the Final Card Step.

Shark Chips and Free Actions

Shark chips can be received at various points of the game, usually from skipping actions. Each player can have up to 7 Shark chips. If you have 7 and you were to receive more, do not receive a chip, but instead receive $1 per Shark chip you were supposed to receive. During your turn in the Trading Step, you may do the following as free actions as many times (repeating the same action is possible) and in any sequence by paying Shark chips.

Pay 1 Shark chip to:

• Receive $1.
• Peek at one of the face-down Information cards in the Company Information Area.

Pay 2 Shark chips to:

• Sell 1 Share (see 【2. Selling Shares】 for more details).

Pay 3 Shark chips to:

• Buy 1 Share (see 【3. Buying Shares】 for more details). Buying shares in this way allows you to buy from any Company regardless of where you played an Information card this round.
• Place a Price Surge token on the Company tile of a company of your choice. Each round, each Company may only have one Price Surge token, and there are only 3 in total. You may not move Price Surge tokens that have already been placed on Company tiles.

Final Card Step

The start player advances the Indicator cube to the rightmost space on the Round Progress tile. This space tells you how many cards need to be placed in this step. In a 6 player game, there is no Final Card Step to be performed. In this case, immediately proceed to the start of the 【II. Stock Price Determination Phase】.

Gameplay Tip: When entering the Final Card step, there should exactly one card left in all players' hands.

From the start player and going clockwise, place Information cards from your hand into the remaining empty spaces in the Company Information Area as in 1. Placing Information.

When there are exactly five Information cards for each company in the Company Information Area, this step ends. Continue to the start of 【II. Stock Price Determination Phase】.

* Depending on the number of players, there may be some players with 0 cards and some players with 1 cards in their hand at the end of the Final Card step.

Important! Note that you may not trade Shark chips for free actions during the Final Card step.

II. Stock Price Determination Phase

In this phase, the new Stock price of each company is determined.

First, remove all Stock price discs from the Stock price board. After that, for each company, carry out the following steps from 1 to 2:

1. Revealing Information

Flip over all 5 Information cards in the Company Information Area.

Important! The position and order in which Information cards are placed in the Company Information Area does not affect the Stock Price. Information cards of a Company may be moved around for faster verification.

2. Calculating Stock Price

Calculate a. to d. respectively, and add up the total. The total tally will be the new Stock Price of the company. Place the Stock Price disc at the position of the new stock price on the Stock Price board.

Game Tip: Base stock price (highest suit total) + Price Surge bonus + Suit bonus + Number bonus = new stock price.

a. Base Stock Price

Add up the number total of each Information card suit. The tally from the suit that has the highest total is the Base stock price, before adding the bonuses below.

b. Price Surge Bonus

If a Price Surge token is placed on the Company tile, increase the Stock price by 5.

c. Suit Bonus

Check to see if the suits on the cards displayed meet any of the conditions below. If so, raise the Stock price accordingly.

Name	Condition	Stock price
Flush	When all the suits are the same	+10
All 4 Suits	When all four suits are present	+10

d. Number Bonus

Check to see if the numbers on the cards displayed meet any of the conditions below. If so, raise the Stock price accordingly. In the case that more than one of the following conditions are met, choose the one with the highest Stock price addition.

Name	Condition	Stock price
Five of a Kind	All five numbers are the same	+30
Four of a Kind	Four of the same number	+25
Full House	3 of the same number and 2 of the same number	+20
Large Straight	All five numbers are in sequential order	+20
Three of a Kind	3 of the same number and 2 different numbers	+10
Small Straight	Four numbers are in sequential order	+10

Example: Rockfish Software

The following Information cards were placed in the Rockfish Software Company Information Area. There is one Price Surge token present.

First, calculate a. Base stock price. Tally the total for each suit: Internet: 4; Letter: 4; Newspaper: 10; Messenger Dove: 6. Newspaper has the highest tally, therefore: a. Basic stock price = 10.

Next, proceed to b. Price Surge bonus. As there is one present, b. Price Surge bonus = +5.

Next, c. Suit bonus. There are four suits: Internet, Letter, Newspaper, and Messenger Dove. c. Suit bonus = +10.

Finally, d. Number bonus. There are 3 Information cards with the number 4 and 2 Information cards with the number 6, giving us a Full House. d. Number bonus = +20.

When a to d. are added up: A. + B. + C. + D. = 10 + 5 + 10 + 20 = 45. Thus, the new Stock Price of Rockfish Software is 45!

Example: Tuna Transport Company

The following Information cards were placed in the Tuna Transport Company Company Information Area. There is no Price Surge token.

First, calculate a. Base stock price. Tally the total for each suit: Letter: 17. Letter has the highest tally, a. Basic stock price = 17.

Next, proceed to b. Price Surge bonus. As there is none present, b. Price Surge bonus = 0.

Next, c. Suit bonus. The cards are all the same suit: Letter. Therefore, this is considered a Flush. c. Suit bonus = 10.

Finally, d. Number bonus. The 4 numbers are not paired or in sequence. d. Number bonus = 0.

When a to d. are added up: A. + B. + C. + D. = 17 + 0 + 0 + 10 = 27. Thus, the new Stock Price of Tuna Transport Company is 27!

(As printed: the suit bonus of 10 is listed under C. but the final sum shows it in the D. position; the total of 27 is correct.)

Special Cards

There are two special cards in the Information card deck, the Bull and the Bear.

• Bear. The Bear card contains no suit or number information. Therefore, the Company where Bear is placed will proceed to calculate Stock Price with only 4 cards in its Company Information Area. For example, if the other 4 cards are the same suit, it is still treated as a Flush.
• Bull. When calculating Base stock price, after calculating the sum total for each suit, the Bull card is treated as a wild suit and is added to the highest tally. (The Bull card shows a value of 10.)

Example: Squid Paint Company

The following Information cards were placed in the Squid Paint Company Company Information Area. There is no Price Surge token.

First, calculate a. Base stock price. Tally the total for each suit: Newspaper: 7; Messenger Dove: 11. Messenger Dove has the highest tally. The 10 points for the Bull card is added on to this: a. Basic stock price = 11 + 10 = 21.

Next, proceed to b. Price Surge bonus. As there is none present, b. Price Surge bonus = 0.

Next, c. Suit bonus. There are only two suits: Newspaper and Messenger Dove. The Bull is not treated as its own suit. c. Suit bonus = 0.

Finally, d. Number bonus. There are 4 numbers in sequence: 6-5-4-3, giving us a Small Straight. d. Number bonus = +10.

When a to d. are added up: A. + B. + C. + D. = 21 + 0 + 0 + 10 = 31. Thus, the new Stock Price of Squid Paint Company is 45!

(As printed. The sum is 31; the "45" in the last sentence is an error in the source rulebook.)

III. Setup Phase

If two rounds have been completed, skip this phase and proceed to Final Scoring and Game End.

In this phase, the board is set up for the next round.

1. Retrieve all Information cards from the table, and shuffle them into a deck. Then, draw and place two cards from the Information card deck to each 'Company Information Area' to the right of each Company tile. There should be 12 cards placed in total (2 for each of the 6 companies).
2. Each player draws the following number of cards into their hand: 3 players ... 6 cards; 4 players ... 5 cards; 5 to 6 players ... 4 cards.
3. Each player receives two Shark chips.
4. Remove the Price Surge tokens from the Company tiles and place them back in the bank.
5. Reset the Indicator cube to the leftmost square of the Round Progress tile.
6. The player with the least Shark chips will become the new start player and will receive the Start player marker. If there are two or more players with the smallest number of chips, remove the current start player from consideration. After that, the closest player clockwise from the current start player amongst the tied players will be the new start player.

Important! Do not move or change any Share cards or Stock Prices during this phase.

Final Scoring and Game End

1. For each Company, each player sells their Share cards to the bank one by one at the price listed. The Stock Price does not change during this time.
2. Receive 1 dollar for each remaining Shark chip.

The player with the most money is the victor! In the case of a tie, all tied players share the victory.

Variants

Crowded Market Variant

Players who want to try a more intense and interactive variant may adopt the following rule. Change the following:

During 【Game Progress】 【I. Main phase】 - 【Transaction Step】 - 【3. Buying Shares】, from the second round onward, you may buy shares from any Company without placing Information in that Company. All other rules remain the same.

Dark Dealings Variant

This variant reduces the amount of information available to players, making the game more difficult to predict. This is recommended for advanced players. Change the following: During 【Setup】 and 【Game Progress】 【III. Setup Phase】, the two Information cards are allocated face-down to each Company Information Area instead of face-up. All other rules remain the same.

Customized Length Variant

Changing the number of rounds will change the playing time and well as the narrative arc of the game. Try different lengths for different experiences!

Number of rounds	Gamer Type	Estimated playing time
1	Beginner	30 minutes
2	Intermediate	40 minutes
3	Advanced	60 minutes

Round Progress Summary

I. Main Phase

• Trading Step (multiple times). In clockwise turn order, execute 1. to 3. in order:
  1. Placing Information: Skip the first turn. Place one Information card in the Company's Company Information Area.
  2. Selling Shares: Sell 1 Share or take 1 Shark chip.
  3. Buying Shares: Buy 1 Share or take 1 Shark chip. Buy from any company on the 1st turn, buy only from where you place Information from the 2nd turn.
  • ※ Free actions
• Final Card Step. Clockwise from the Start Player, place Information cards one by one, filling all empty spaces.

II. Stock Price Determination Phase

1. Revealing Information: Flip Information cards over.
2. Calculating Stock Price: Calculate the Stock Price for each company.

III. Setup Phase (not the final round): Set up the board for the next round.

Final scoring (final round): Cash in all Shares at the current Stock Price. Sell each remaining Shark chip for $1. The player with the most money wins!