If you are an entrepreneur at heart, or just a red blooded American, you probably like Shark Tank on ABC. If you are unfamiliar, Shark Tank brings entrepreneurs from all across America together and gives them an opportunity to pitch to a group of high powered venture capitalists. Being on the show can take you from a few hundred dollars in sales to a few million in no time flat, even if you do not get an investment.
Why do I love watching this show? Because Shark Tank shows that the American Dream of working hard and succeeding is still possible. I also like watching it to see how entrepreneurs represent themselves and how they market their products.
Last week Renae and I invited several people over to watch the 2 hour premier of Shark Tank. While preparing to host I thought wouldn’t it be fun if we had a game to go along with the show? So we busted out one of our favorite board games: Wits and Wagers. Buy your copy of Wits and Wagers here
So without further ado:
Here is how you play Shark Tank the board game!
Setup:
1. Set up your Wits and Wagers game board(or make your own). Write on the answer cards the name of each shark on the show that night. With the two remaining cards write: ‘2 or more sharks’ and ‘You’re dead to me’. Randomly distribute the cards on the game board slots.
2. Give each person or team two wager chips and five red chips.
3. Designate one person as the announcer(preferably someone who is familiar with the show) and one person as the banker.
Game play:
1. Watch while a prospect pitches a product. When the prospect finishes his/her pitch the announcer must call out ‘That’s the pitch’. After the announcement the players have 10 seconds to place their bets. Timing can be very important as Sharks sometimes back out quickly.
2. Wait till the sharks have made a deal or all have backed out. Then:
A. Multiply the amount bet by the amount listed on the board (ex: Pays 3 to 1).
B. If a shark goes in with one or more sharks the player receives half of the amount that would have been gained normally. For example: Player bets 3 on the Shark who is on the ‘4 to 1’ would normally receive 12 but since the Shark split the deal the Player only receives 6. Player would receive full amount of their bet if they put his/her wager on the ‘2 or more sharks’ card.
C. Distribute chips earned. Players cannot lose wager chips but can lose his/her other chips wagered.
3. After each pitch shuffle all the cards randomly on game board.
4. Winner is player or team with the most chips at the end of the game.
Remember their are only a few rounds for each game so bet big ad bet early!
Let me know if you come up with any variations of the game or make your own board!
