#1 Don’t hold onto your cash.

Once the game is over your money isn’t worth anything. When the last gift is opened it will typically go to whoever held onto the most money.

If your event is an office party and management is moderating the gift opening order, you may want to hold onto a small universal gift, like a food basket (something anyone will like) for the last present.

#2 Don’t let people win nice gifts for little money.

It’s in your best interest to cause other players to use up their cash. If something nice is going for cheap, try bidding it up a little even if you don’t really want it.

#3 You never know what people will start a bidding war over.

Every time I’ve played this, at some point there will be a really nice gift that sells for cheap simply because nobody needs it followed by some cheap toy that two people want and they end up bidding hundreds of dollars for it. It’s part of the game and adds to the excitement and humor.

4 Typically at the start of the game people are hesitant to spend money and near the end players tend to over spend.

5 A gift can be a pack of gum and a lottery ticket

6 You can bid on your own gift, but try not to.

Nobody knows who brought what (unless you fess-up). But please don’t abuse this freedom, buying a really nice gift (for yourself) and saving all your cash waiting for your own gift. That ruins the fun!

KIDS!

Involving kids and adults together requires a little planning. Depending on how many kids are involved you can approach this in different ways. Make sure the adults invited know there are younger people to consider when buying gifts for the game. If there are enough kids you can have a separate game just for them. When my daughter was just 4 years old, she was the only young child. We planned in advance what special kid present(s) would be opened early in the game and gave her $100 in game money instead of the $500 each adult got. It was obvious to the adults who the present was for but it included her in the game. Also, food gifts (candy, cookies, etc…) are good for any age player.

Some real world experiences:

My nephew went home with way too many gifts because he was young and just getting started in life so he needed everything. He kept making low offers early in the game on things nobody else really wanted. This is why I suggest up-bidding when something is under selling. A crock pot sold for $10 because everyone else already owned one. Meanwhile an extra large women’s bra from a discount store started a bidding war and went for $200 while intoxicated people took turns putting it on over their clothes and taking pictures.

Early on I had gotten a nice gift for a great price and then nothing else struck my fancy. So near the end when only a few gifts remained, a $5 toy was opened and both myself and my cousin wanted it. I ended up winning it for around $400.

You never know what people are going to end up fighting over. A giant cafeteria sized can of tuna went for a lot of money.