Playing games (monopoly)...

Category: Statistics

Published: 03/09/2009 08:17 a.m.

This past Saturday night I played monopoly with Meg and her roommate Leah and her bf Justin. I love the game monopoly. It is probably my favorite game. I think we all had a good time, but I really did because I was the winner.

As it was becoming apparent that I was gaining an advantage and on the way to victory, there was some brief discussion about the irony that I am currently interviewing (read: unemployed). I joked back that because I was winning that I didn't need a job. That is not really so, though. The reasons I win far more often than I lose at monopoly are because I play to win and I understand the game very well.

Even the other night, when everyone had 5 properties and I only had 1, I was not too concerned. That's because no one else had a monopoly, or the wits to trade for one. Going around the board was still a good way to make money, and there were still a few things available (which I would pick-up and then flip for better properties). Once all or most of the property had been purchased, the trading begins. I began by securing red in a trade for the dark blues. While the blues are worth more, they are costlier to develop and are landed on less often. Then I did a few more trades and found myself inpossessionof the light blues. I used their cheap purchasing power to lock up the housing market (the official rules limit the amount of houses for purchase to 32). So, even though my opponents had ample cash and big monopolies, they couldn't yet afford hotels. So I was able to migrate the locked houses from the cheap blues to the pricier reds by selling then buying on my turn. Eventually I had enough cash and momentum to lock up the hotel market, and then they game was pretty much over.

Most people attribute luck to success in this game, but it really doesn't have much to do with it. I wasn't very lucky. The real secret is trading for monopolies,managing cash and properties, and then taking out opponents.

There is quite a bit of monopoly strategy out on the web, as well as some in-depth statistical analysis of the properties and their relative value to how quickly they pay for themselves. I'd like to cover things just briefly to hopefully give you a leg up in your home game.

Properties. Orange is best because of its distance from jail and its house cost. Then light blue, then red, then light purple. The light blues and dark purples are great for locking up houses because they are so cheap to develop.

Trading. Always think about what the other person wants. If it conflicts with what you want, then add cash or other properties to a trade accordingly. Never give someone else a monopoly if you can't also get one through them or another side trade right after. Be sneaky, but not in an obvious way, and if possibly make your opponent think they are smarter and are getting a great deal. If you are doing a trade for yellows and light blues, consider you and your opponents cash positions when deciding who should get which one. Can you quickly develop the pricier one? All these things need to be done when trading as it is a big key to the game.

Cash management. Do not, as my friends say, put 20" rims on you '94 Camry. That is, do not spent all of your money on houses and hope you don't land on anything. This is living paycheck-to-paycheck. Make sure you have some savings, but don't be too frugal either. If you play with me, I will do my best to lock the housing market so if you can afford many houses, at least buy a few.

Pay-off trades. This is when someone has landed on your developed property, owes you a tidy sum, and can't pay cash but offers some property instead. These rarely work in your favor. Would you pay all that you are owed to buy that property? If not, don't do it. Make someone mortgage things and sell houses. It gets you cash that you can then spend on improving your own property.

Unions, teams, sharing, etc. Don't do it. It is dumb to give people permanent free passes. The game is built so that a capitalist will succeed, not a communist. The occasional free trip around the board can be alright once in a while, but never permanent.

The only thing that will really make you better is practice. Play with friends and get to know how they play (and use it to your advantage). When played with 3-5 people it can take about 4 hours, but it goes through fun stages (buying, trading, improving/dodging, victory) that break it up a bit. I really enjoy this game and if you can find a group to play with who understands how it works, then play it as often as you can. Maybe some of these lessons actually can pay off in the real world...