blurb about party gaming in The Economist

"PartyGaming the internet's leading pkier site, saw it's share price fall by 33% after it revealed that new customer growth and spending by players had slowed more than anticipated, worrying investors that the online gaming boom may be ending."

ouch...is this what schoonmaker and ed miller were talking about? I guess here comes the poker bust.

[Synergistic Explosions]

[ QUOTE ]
ouch...is this what schoonmaker and ed miller were talking about? I guess here comes the poker bust.

[/ QUOTE ]

With all the new competition in real money wagering games out there, of course poker will show a decline. Online Monopoly for instance has been increasing 125% per quarter the last two years. It is not uncommon to see 15,000 players now at the top Monopoly sites. I have been multi-tabling 4 games of Monopoly at two sites now, which was virtually unthought of just last year.

So with all the new great gambling alternatives out there, poker sites are sure to show some decline. If Party was smart, they'd start a Party Monopoly site of their own.

Now some people are saying Battleship is the next great emerging gambling game to come. All I can say is these poker sites need to get on the ball and expand their offerings or be left in the dust.

[Hellmouth]

Isnt Monopoly entirely luck based? I mean you pretty much buy up every property you land on until they are gone and hope that you got the best ones. Then build houses and whoever has the best property in the end wins.

People wont stop gambling. They will continue to go to casino's. They will continue to play poker.

Investers are just worried becasue they buy in with an expectation of a certain rate of growth. The growth has slowed, but 300%Annual growth doesnt last forever. We will see what happens after the 2005 WSOP.

Greg

[Synergistic Explosions]

Most online players don't play optimal Monopoly strategy and therefore a top monopoly player can clean up on the noobs.

Deal making is the key, as well as being able to value the utilities correctly.

[Reef]

how much money are we talking about in a game of monopoly?

[Hellmouth]

[ QUOTE ]
Most online players don't play optimal Monopoly strategy and therefore a top monopoly player can clean up on the noobs.

Deal making is the key, as well as being able to value the utilities correctly.

[/ QUOTE ]

What is the proper valuation? I value the little purple (cheapest) properties more. You make more in the long run with them and a hotel then you ever will from the utilities. Railroads are good if you can get a couple early on but rarely pay back your investment without multiple players.

Does this sound about right? How many people play on each game?

Greg

[Hellmouth]

I also have to wonder whether it is easier to learn than poker. If so wouldnt your advantage decrease much faster than with poker, where the proper play is many times counter intuitive and hard to realize without actual studying (ie books etc)?

Greg

[Synergistic Explosions]

I think you all are imagining the Monopoly game you played as a kid. Online real money Monopoly is much different. Just the doubling cube alone makes the game totally different. Often a double is declined after the first couple rolls and a new game begins. Games are always heads up games.

I have been in a $5 buyin game where the doubling cube hit 64 and have won $320. My opponent was behind the whole way but kept doubling back at me each turn. I would then beaver it and double again on my turn. Just a total noob.

[Keres]

2+2 poster Aaron Brown wrote a couple of articles on Monopoly from a quantitative analyst viewpoint. Interesting reading.

http://www.wilmott.com/pdfs/040810_brown.pdf (part 1)
http://www.wilmott.com/pdfs/040831_brown.pdf (part 2)

[ThePinkBunny]

where do you play monopoly online for money?