A novice's instruction, set down plainly
How It Is Kept
Never stood at a 50/50 block before? Good — this page is written for you. It walks your first night from the moment you arrive at Fort Zeren in Bal Foyen to the moment the numbers are drawn: what tickets cost, how your name reaches the sheet, how the bids are called, and what happens when a number of yours comes up. Everything here is exactly how the hall keeps it.
What to bring to the block
Three things, and none of them heavier than a coin purse.
Gold for tickets
Every ticket costs 1,000 gold — and there's no limit. Buy as many or as few as you like; each ticket is its own chance in the draw. Bring a little more than you mean to spend; the ledger forgives a padded purse, not a short one.
Your name, said clean
Say your PSN or ESO handle exactly as you carry it in game when you trade the runner — they ink your name onto the sheet by hand, and the winning numbers are called against what they wrote. Say it clean; a name half-said is a coin half-lost.
An ear for the block
You don't need to talk, bid, or know anyone. First-timers are welcome to sit the whole night and only watch — half the hall's regulars started exactly that way.
How your name reaches the sheet
The sheet is tonight's runner's own ledger, kept at the block in Fort Zeren, Bal Foyen — the crowd may read it, but only the runner holds the pen. Four steps, in ink:
Open tonight's sheet
From the front page, tonight's auction section links straight to the runner's sheet — open for any trader to read, so you can watch the entries gather as the night runs.
Trade your gold to the runner
Every ticket is 1,000 gold, and there's no limit. Open trade with the runner and enter how much gold you wish to enter — 50,000 gold at 1,000 gold a ticket buys you 50 numbers. Do not accept the trade until the runner accepts first; the pause gives them a chance to get your name down.
The runner inks your line
No one but the runner can write on the sheet — trading them your gold is how your name makes it. Your line appears on the sheet within about five minutes; if your name is misspelled, reach out to the runner and they will set it right. Want your numbers in hand sooner? Whisper the runner and ask politely — they serve many hands at once, so give them a few minutes.
Watch the ink
As the runner records entries, the pot grows — our front page reads the pot, the winner's half, and the entry count live from the sheet, so you can watch your coin join the pool while the night runs.
There are no refunds — a ticket bought is a ticket spent. This is gambling, plain and simple, and you choose to play.
How bidding works at the block
At the start of the auction the rules are posted and read aloud to the crowd in area voice chat. Between that reading and the gavel, every bid follows the same customs:
All bids in 1,000-gold increments
Bids move in thousands — if someone bids 42, that is 42,000 gold and not 42 gold. Count your bid in increments and the caller will keep the pace.
Say text chat only
All bids must be made in say text chat or they do not count — not party chat, not voice, not a whisper.
Call the total
If you add on to someone's bid, include the total — '100 on HighElf420 for a total of 200' says the name, the raise, and the whole sum in one breath.
Bid with the gold you have
Bid with the gold you have, not the gold you wish you had — a bid you cannot honor stops the whole block.
Despawn your combat pets
Combat pets and minions make it harder to interact and complete trades. Send them away before the block opens and the night moves quicker for everyone.
The exchange
All gold from buying a lot is traded to the seller; the lot is then mailed or traded to the buyer. No coin changes hands by any other road.
Never talk prices
What a lot is worth to you may not be what it is worth to another. Keep your valuations to yourself — the block is for bids, not appraisals.
Big lots travel in parts
When a seller offers more than five items, trade the full amount of the winning bid on the first trade; the rest of the lot you have won follows in the trades after.
Dishonest, disruptive, or blatantly disrespectful conduct can cost a trader their seat — blacklisted from Auction House auctions and from the guilds that keep them.
Selling a lot at the block
Got wares of your own to sell? Lots are claimed in the order they are asked for — speak up early, for the night's list is short and first come, first served.
Claim your slot
Whisper the auctioneer early and ask for a lot. The night's list is first come, first served and holds only so many names; once it is your turn, the auctioneer will let you know.
List in say chat only
When your turn is called, list your items for sale in say text chat — never in party chat or voice. Keep the lot to fifty items or less, and check with the auctioneer if you carry more.
Reserve, or open the floor
After listing, set a floor by naming your reserve — 'Res 100K' asks at least 100,000 gold — or type 'Open' and let the highest bid carry the lot. Mind the warning: an open lot can go for as little as 1,000 gold.
The 1b1 question
Some bidders ask to send your lot to their friends '1b1' — one piece at a time by mail. It is a burden, but such buyers often pay more for the pleasure. If you would rather not, type 'no 1b1' when you announce the reserve or the open — though it may soften what the lot fetches.
Every auctioneer keeps their own customs — ask before the block opens and they will give you their limits and their terms.
If your number is called
The part everyone asks about first — here is exactly how the draw is run.
The raffle is called down
At the end of the auction the 50/50 runner calls the raffle to a close and gives the crowd the final ticket number. From that moment, no new entries ride in the draw.
A joke for luck, then the numbers
Someone calls on an AI assistant — Alexa, Siri, and their kind — to tell a joke, and then the runner begins asking for random numbers, one draw at a time.
Everyone keeps their chance
If you win a prize, all your numbers after that are redrawn — so every ticket in the crowd keeps its shot at the rest of the night's prizes.
Let the runner accept first
When the runner trades you your winnings, do not accept the trade until they do. The pause is deliberate — it gives them time to write your name down accurately.
Not at the draw? Your prize finds you
If you aren't there when prizes are drawn and you win something, it will be mailed to you — or the guild will contact you to handle the prize in a trade, so nothing is lost to the mail.
Common questions, answered plainly
The questions every first-timer asks, in the order they ask them.
Do I need to be in one of the guilds to take part?
No. The block is open to any trader on the PlayStation North American server. Membership is a matter for the guilds — the 50/50 itself asks only your ticket gold.
How much does a ticket cost, and how many can I buy?
Every ticket costs 1,000 gold, and there's no limit — buy as many or as few as you want. Tickets are collected until the auction ends, and your name reaches the sheet only through the runner: trade them your gold and they ink your line.
I can't stay the whole night. Does my entry still count?
Yes — the draw reads the sheet, not the crowd. And if you win while you're away, your prize is mailed to you, or the guild contacts you to handle it in a trade so nothing is lost in the mail.
Is the 50/50 the same as the guild traders' stalls?
No. Trader stalls sell wares across Tamriel; the 50/50 is the hall's nightly pot, drawn from the block's tickets. Many traders do both.
How do the alternating Thursdays work?
Thursday is kept by two guilds — Unprecedented Trading and CTRL ALT Defeated — trading the week back and forth. The schedule page marks them plainly, and the front page resolves tonight's keeper for you.
My question isn't written here.
Ask at the block — the callers answer everything sooner or later — or set your name upon the ledger on the join page and a gatekeeper will take it up with you.
Your first night awaits
You know what tickets cost, how your name reaches the sheet, how the bids are called, and what happens if you win. The rest you learn at the block, like everyone did.