Monopoly?

[toss]

I swear its a total crapshoot.

[daryn]

some people say the same thing about poker

[mikeyp]

Life is a total crapshoot.

[ThaSaltCracka]

it is if you don't know how to play or make deals.

[exist]

i've crushed my family EVERY time we've ever played.

[MarkL444]

[ QUOTE ]
it is if you don't know how to play or make deals.

[/ QUOTE ]

making deals is what can kill the game. its like in a fantasy football league, some people are better at ripping people off than others.

[Topflight]

The only time I ever finished a game of monopoly was when I played it on nintendo. I could tape the A button down and just come back to see if I won or not.

[youtalkfunny]

I've always wondered how that game got to be so popular.

Kids don't play it any more, do they?

[astroglide]

www.boardgamegeek.com (http://www.boardgamegeek.com)

senor choppy got me started, i might elaborate in a later post

[spamuell]

Kids don't play it any more, do they?

I'm 18 and I played yesterday.

That was somewhat anomolous though, I don't usually play more than once every 6 months or something.

[whiskeytown]

not really...a lot of it does come down to making deals with other players (4 handed - once one guy gets a property, it's really dangerous not to get your own.)

but there are some basic strategys/tricks that you can use to extremely improve your chances.

1. - strive for the 2nd/3rd side of the board - the maroon/orange/red are the prime key properties. these squares are amongst the most landed on, therefore, pay the most back out - like betting all 5 coins at a time - better EV. If you make some deal like giving a guy two green properties for the last orange, and you both have a complete set, you have come out WAY ahead. - Green/Yellow is landed on a lot less and costs twice as much to develop. To people who don't know how to play, this is how you crush them.

2. In addition, the ratio of payoffs for investment is better here. - you make a higher percentage on these squares for houses you buy - and for that matter, never buy less then 3 house per property - it jumps from $300 to $800 for one more $100 house. When you buy, buy 9 houses for 900 mininum.

follow these tactics, and you should win easy.

when my brother found out I was playing poker, he wasn't worried...because he said "I remember how you used to do junk like study for monopoly for hrs" - /images/graemlins/laugh.gif

RB

[toss]

I knew about the first strategy, but definitely not about the second one. It takes a lot of $$ to buy 9 houses at a time though.

[Dynasty]

[ QUOTE ]
www.boardgamegeek.com (http://www.boardgamegeek.com)

senor choppy got me started, i might elaborate in a later post

[/ QUOTE ]

I quickly scroled through the first few hundred games. I think I've only played chess and poker among those.

Poker is ranked as the 445th best game.

[youtalkfunny]

Don't forget:

Never buy hotels! Not worth the extra expense. ROI maxes out at 3 or 4 houses (I forget which). And hogging all the houses keeps your opponent from developing (he can't slap up a hotel unless there are enough houses available, even if he's not interested in houses).

[whiskeytown]

3 houses...

the house hogging strategy REALLY pisses people off- they think they should be able to make more.....

of course, if you REALLY, REALLY, wanna piss someone off, when you land on their property and are bankrupt, sell everything to your close friend for a buck before losing - it's against the rules, but you really have to know them well (like a lawyer) to prevent it.

RB

[MrGo]

Back when I was 19-20 Monopoly came out with the game on cd-rom for the PC. There was also a ladder (case's ladder)online that you join and compete against others over the internet and get rankings and the like. I was #1 for a few months - hence the name MrGo /images/graemlins/smile.gif

It's not a total crapshoot but it does require more luck than poker.

[ThaSaltCracka]

naw, the only luck is what you roll, you need to know what to purchase and when to purchase it.

[ChristinaB]

I heard that there was a major problem with the ladder concept. First, that people played head to head (which is not similar to most real life games). Second, that players refused to play with anyone who would not make deals to their advantage. If no one is willing to "take a dive" in the deal making, then it turns into a luck situation, where the person fortunate enough to land on all 3 properties of a group while getting at least 1 property of each remaining group (to block) will eventually win.

So its either luck or your opponent's poor deal making that gives you the win.

[MrGo]

That's true. Most of the ladder matches were heads-up. Also many of the players who were ranked in the top 20 or so didn't give other players with a lower ranking a game, which defeats the purpose of the ladder.

It would have to be heads up however otherwise I would assume many games would be won in cahoots. There was also a forum (like this one) where player's posted questions and such and it's only natural that some people don't get along with others. So if they played in a multi-player game it's safe to assume that players would do whatever it takes to stop the unliked player from winning.

[ArchAngel71857]

it's against the rules, but you really have to know them well (like a lawyer) to prevent it.

Seinfeld said you can tell which kids will be lawyers when the grow up based on whether or not they read the rules to Monopoly.

-AA