Monopoly - My Latest Obsession

If you know me well, then you’ll probably know that I go through sporadic phases where I’ll be absolutely obsessed with something before eventually growing tired of it and seek something new to try out. Recently, my latest obsession has been that famous board game “Monopoly” which, until 2 weeks a go, was something I rarely played! But then Laura reintroduced me to the game which now threatens to be the subject of all my attention for the coming weeks!

Even if you do know me well, you’d be forgiven for wondering what one could possible obsess about with Monopoly, after all, it’s just a basic boardgame where you win by being lucky, right? Well yes, admittedly luck does play a vital role in the outcome of a game, however so does discovering the right property to buy based on probability. In fact, in the past week or so that I have been addicted to the game, I reckon I’ve spent more time theorising and playing out scenerios in my head about which properties one should own. I’ve also been using the internet to discover some exciting House Rules which make Monopoly more exciting to play!

As for the right property to own though, I can safely say that the orange group of properties (Bow Street, Marlbrough St and Vine St) are the most lucrative! I’ve come to this conclusion because the Jail square is the most visited square on the board thanks to the “Go To Jail” square and the Chance and Community Chest cards which send players there. When coming out of jail, a player is more likely to roll 5, 6, 7, 8 or 9 than he is to roll a 2, 3, 4, 10, 11 or 12 which means that there is a very high chance that the player will land on an orange property. In other words, you don’t have to rely as much on luck for people to land on them. And land on them they will! Just you watch!

As for other properties to buy, I’d be inclined to buy the reds as they offer a greater return than the oranges at only a marginal increase in price. If someone rolls low when coming out of jail then there’s a high chance of them landing on a red property, although this will require more luck than the orange properties command.

If you want a real safe bet though, you can’t go far wrong with the railway stations. There are 4 stations which means that a player is more likely to land on a station on a round trip than they are to land a single group of properties. If you own all 4, then you will receive £200 everytime someone lands on one. Over time the money you earn from them will far surpass the amount you initially paid for them all and they become a nice and constant supply of cash to feed the development of your properties later on in the game. The green group, with its Go To Jail square just before it, and the blue group, which only have 2 properties, are generally unattractive to form a monopoly over because they are far too expensive! Although by all means buy the property when you land on it, as you could find yourself making a nice tidy profit on them later which can be used to develop your orange and red properties - properties that you know people will land on as opposed to properties you hope people will land on!

I think I’m going to leave my analysis there. If you just remember that then I can guarentee that you will have a better chance of winning than someone who relies on luck. Although sometimes you can be a victim of wicked bad luck such as rolling a double to land on a fully developed Mayfair and then landing on a chance card which asks you to advance to Mayfair. It’s improbable, but can and has happened in the past! Just remember that winning isn’t everything! Wait, it is! Sorry.