A blind auction keeps everything from the open auction, the positions, the tiers and the shared budget, but changes how you bid. Every manager gets one sealed bid per player. Nobody sees anyone else's number until the hammer falls, and the highest bid wins and pays exactly what it bid. It is less about reacting and more about reading people.
How a blind lot works
When a player comes up he is shown for a few seconds, then the sealed bidding opens. You have one chance: enter an amount at or above the opening bid, or pass. The lot closes when everyone who still needs the position has bid or passed, or when the time runs out.
Then the bids are opened. Everyone sees a podium of every sealed bid for that player, highest first, so the whole room learns exactly what each manager thought he was worth. The winner pays his own bid, even if the next best was far lower.
The core problem: how much is enough?
In an open auction you only ever need to beat the current price by €1M. In a blind auction you are guessing what the others will do. Bid too low and you lose a player you could have afforded. Bid too high and you have wasted money you will need later.
A good way to think about it is in three numbers.
- His value. The market value shown on his card. The opening bid is half of it.
- His value to you. How much better is he than what you are likely to get otherwise in this position?
- His value to them. Who else still needs this position, and how much money do they have?
Your bid should sit between the first and the second, nudged by the third.
Use the reveals
The opened bids after every lot are a goldmine. Within a few positions you will know who bids aggressively, who always bids the opening price and who saves everything for stars. Use it.
- A manager who always bids just above the opening price can be beaten by a modest margin.
- A manager who bids big on every star will run out of money. Let him, then take the later positions cheaply.
- A manager who keeps passing is probably saving for one position. Work out which.
Stars and bargains
For a star, expect competition from everyone who still has money. If he is one of your planned star positions, bid with conviction: losing him to a lowball bid hurts far more than overpaying a little.
For a bargain, there is rarely a reason to bid much above the opening price. Bargains exist to fill a position cheaply. If someone else wants to pay double for one, let them.
Hidden budgets
The host can hide everyone else's money. Then you only see your own budget, and you have to remember what each rival has spent. The revealed bids help here too: add up what each manager has won and you know roughly what is left.
Against computer managers
Computer managers seal bids too, and their bids depend on their level and personality. Easy managers misjudge players and sometimes bid wildly. Hard and Impossible managers price players accurately and rarely overpay for filler, so beating them means picking your moments: take the positions they care less about, and do not try to outbid a rich computer manager on the one star he has been saving for.
A worked example
Say a star striker comes up with a market value of €80M, so the opening bid is €40M. Three managers still need a striker: you with €300M left, a rival with €450M, and another with €120M. The third manager can bid at most what he can afford for this position, and he probably wants to keep something for later, so expect him around the opening price or a little above.
The rich rival is the danger. If he has been bidding big on stars all auction, assume he will go well above value. If he has been careful, he might stop near €80M. Your decision is whether this striker is worth more to you than what you would get later. If strikers are one of your planned star positions, a bid around €90M to €100M gives you a real chance without throwing away the rest of your auction. If not, bid modestly and let the others fight.
Blind auction checklist
- Decide your maximum before the lot opens, not after.
- Never bid much above the opening price for a bargain.
- Study every reveal: it tells you how each rival thinks.
- Track spending when budgets are hidden.
- Remember the winner pays his own bid: win by a little, not a lot.