Make-A-Million

Make-a-Million is a card game created by Parker Brothers. It was copyrighted in 1934 and released to the public in 1935. The game was first released in Salem, Massachusetts, and then to New York City, San Francisco, Chicago, and Atlanta.

The original game was designed for four players, with a three-player option with a dummy hand. Later, Parker Brothers adapted the game to accommodate six or eight players. The game enjoyed popularity through the 1930s into the 1950s. Major printings occurred in 1934, 1935, and 1945, with the last printing from Parker Brothers in 1957. The card style was modified slightly with each printing.

In 2004, Packard Technologies purchased the trademark for the Make-a-Million card game. The company printed over 17,000 decks of the original 1934 design and called it the "70 Year Anniversary Edition". Packard Technologies now sells the game as a two-deck game for four to eight players.

The objective of each side is to capture tricks in which Money cards have been played. The side to first score a million dollars wins. The privilege of naming trump color and getting the "widow" goes to the highest bidder. If the highest bidder and partner do not earn at least their bid, they are "set-back" the amount of their bid. The other partnership gets the amount equal to the sum of the Money cards they captured. The Bull and Bear cards play a key role. If the Bull is played it doubles the value for the partners who capture that trick. But if a Bear is played it cancels any value in that trick. The Tiger is the highest trump. The deck contains fifty-five cards. The cards consist of the Tiger (highest trump), the Bull (which doubles the value of the trick on which it is played), the Bear (which cancels the trick it is played on), and four suits of colors-red, yellow, black, and green, which rank in the following order of capturing power: $40,000, $30,000, $15,000, 11, $10,000, 9, 8, 7, $5,000, 4, 3, 2, 1. (There is no 6 card.) Money cards display a Dollar Sign ($).

After each hand, the deal passes to the left. The dealer distributes the entire pack, randomly placing three cards aside to form the "widow". The widow goes to the highest bidder, who also names the trump color.

Players bid for the privilege of choosing trump color. Bidding begins at $175,000 to $200,000, and the highest bid is usually from $220,000 to $260,000. Thus, following a starting bid of $175,000 (commonly expressed by saying "one seventy-five"), bids such as $190,000, $200,000, $210,000, $225,000, $235,000 are proper.

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