Description from the rulebook: It is the purpose of each player to buy at auction articles put up for sale by the auctioneer. Each article has a hidden value revealed after its purchase by the Highest Bidder. If the buyer purchases the article at less than the revealed value, he scores a profit. If he pays more than it's worth, he loses the difference. The winner of the game is the player with the highest amount of money remaining after all articles are auctioned off. Before play begins each player secretly decides what each article being auctioned is worth and writes the dollar amount on a slip of paper and then inserts the paper into the article envelope. Each player begins with $1,179 and uses this money to bid on articles placed at auction. The "auctioneer" title is passed from player to player and the number of items auctioned per auctioneer turn is determined by the number of players (articles should be divided up so each player has an equal number to auction off. The game instructions use groups of five). After each item is auctioned, the article envelope is opened and the slips are totaled. The auctioneer acts a the bank and either collects money from the bidder if the amount bid is more than the revealed value or pays the bidder if the revealed value is more than the amount bid.