# Favorite unofficial rules for playing Monopoly **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [September 12, 2014, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-unofficial-rules-for-playing-monopoly/698305 "2014-09-12T16:36:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2014, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-unofficial-rules-for-playing-monopoly/698305/1 "2014-09-12T16:36:38Z")
When my brother and sister and I played, the only rule we had that wasn’t on the printed page was that the funds from fines and taxes was put in the middle of the board and collected by the next player to land on the “Free Parking” space. I’ve played with others who use other such rules, but I never learned all of them. ---
**Author:** ![etv78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2014, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-unofficial-rules-for-playing-monopoly/698305/2 "2014-09-12T18:24:32Z")
I used that. Also, rolling doubles got you out of jail. Didn’t use it, but landing ON Go earned you $400. ---
**Author:** ![Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/prof.pepperwinkle/32/13627_2.png) [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2014, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-unofficial-rules-for-playing-monopoly/698305/3 "2014-09-12T18:31:18Z")
We had a house rule growing up that if you were to draw a Chance card, you could pick someone else to draw it. This had to be decided before the card was seen. My dad used it whenever a deck was getting low and the “You are assessed for street repairs” hadn’t shown up yet. ---
**Author:** ![ekweizn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7c8e57/32.png) [@ekweizn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ekweizn)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2014, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-unofficial-rules-for-playing-monopoly/698305/4 "2014-09-12T18:36:18Z")
Any house rule that introduces more money into the game (or reduces the amount of money leaving the game) actually makes it harder for anyone to win. The house rules are often the reason why many people don’t like the game or think it takes too long. The short game variation (which is included in the rules) is pretty good in the sense that it reduces the amount of luck involved in dice-rolling and gets you much more quickly to the point where players make trades. If I were to try to teach someone the point of Monopoly, I’d go with this variation. Also, in the official rules, rolling doubles gets you out of jail. ---
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2014, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-unofficial-rules-for-playing-monopoly/698305/5 "2014-09-12T18:49:43Z")
> [@ekweizn](#): > > Any house rule that introduces more money into the game (or reduces the amount of money leaving the game) actually makes it harder for anyone to win. The house rules are often the reason why many people don’t like the game or think it takes too long. > > The short game variation (which is included in the rules) is pretty good in the sense that it reduces the amount of luck involved in dice-rolling and gets you much more quickly to the point where players make trades. If I were to try to teach someone the point of Monopoly, I’d go with this variation. > > Also, in the official rules, rolling doubles gets you out of jail. Parker Brothers wanted the Short Game variations as a condition to marketing the game. ---
**Author:** ![Bozuit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/edb3f5/32.png) [@Bozuit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bozuit)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2014, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-unofficial-rules-for-playing-monopoly/698305/6 "2014-09-12T18:51:14Z")
I normally play without auctions, since no one I know knows what the hell I’m talking about when I mention them, and if we follow that rule anyway everyone just moans. We normally forget to do them now and then, anyway. ---
**Author:** ![That\_Don\_Guy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/that_don_guy/32/538_2.png) [@That\_Don\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/That_Don_Guy)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2014, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-unofficial-rules-for-playing-monopoly/698305/7 "2014-09-12T19:02:02Z")
> [@etv78](#): > > I used that. Also, rolling doubles got you out of jail. Didn’t use it, but landing ON Go earned you $400. Isn’t “rolling doubles gets you out of jail” an actual rule? I remember one final game of a Monopoly USA Championship where one player was down to pretty much just Boardwalk and Park Place (each with a hotel), and mortgaged properties, and the only other remaining player was in jail - and threw a 12, which forced him out, and onto Chance, where the card was “Advance Directly to Boardwalk.” The rules I always used when playing: (a) “Free Parking” money (always starting with $500) (b) No auctions - either whoever lands on it buys it, or no one does (c) No “balanced building” rule - you could have, say, 4 houses on Marvin Gardens but none on Atlantic or Ventnor (instead of having to be 2-1-1) (d) You did not have to buy your way out of jail after three turns (e) If someone landed on your property, you had until the next player’s roll of the dice to collect (I think you get up to three rolls in the actual rules) I had never heard of anybody using the “$400 for landing on Go” rule until just a few years ago; I assume that started when somebody got the rule confused with Careers, where you do get double for landing on the start space. (A number of other games - Billionaire comes to mind - also have this, but I assume Careers was the first, or at least the first Parker Brothers game, to have it.) ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2014, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-unofficial-rules-for-playing-monopoly/698305/8 "2014-09-12T19:03:41Z")
We played with the same Free Parking rules, and no auctions. I hated Monopoly. Ever since I played without the Free Parking windfall and with auctions, Monopoly is the most under-rated game that everyone has. Games are quick and interesting. ---
**Author:** ![etv78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2014, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-unofficial-rules-for-playing-monopoly/698305/9 "2014-09-12T20:19:41Z")
Shoulda known “doubles out of jail” was a real rule. Been too long. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2014, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-unofficial-rules-for-playing-monopoly/698305/10 "2014-09-12T20:56:20Z")
[The Straight Dope](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/454/what-is-supposed-to-happen-when-you-land-on-free-parking-in-monopoly) ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2014, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-unofficial-rules-for-playing-monopoly/698305/11 "2014-09-12T21:18:23Z")
> [@ekweizn](#): > > Any house rule that introduces more money into the game (or reduces the amount of money leaving the game) actually makes it harder for anyone to win. The house rules are often the reason why many people don’t like the game or think it takes too long. I love Monopoly. My uncle always enforced the real rules, including the auctions, and then when we got the NES version of it, where you could have up to eight players, we always played that instead of playing with the board. It conducted the auctions for you, and acted as bank, so everything went very quickly. A game takes about an hour. It also enforced the right rules, so if we had a friend over who started talking about $500 for landing on Free Parking, well, it just couldn’t be done. I learned a lot about strategy playing that game by myself, like which monopolies were really good for winning, which ones sucked, and the very legal, but also very evil strategy of house-hoarding. ---
**Author:** ![etv78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2014, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-unofficial-rules-for-playing-monopoly/698305/12 "2014-09-12T21:18:57Z")
I LOVE the railroad variation! ---
**Author:** ![Bozuit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/edb3f5/32.png) [@Bozuit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bozuit)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2014, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-unofficial-rules-for-playing-monopoly/698305/13 "2014-09-12T22:41:16Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > … the very legal, but also very evil strategy of house-hoarding. I take it this is building as many houses as possible, but refusing to “upgrade” to hotels to deny others houses and - as a consequence - hotels. Otherwise, I want to know all about this evil strategy. Personally, I avoid it, as it seems far too mean! > [@That\_Don\_Guy](#): > > (c) No “balanced building” rule - you could have, say, 4 houses on Marvin Gardens but none on Atlantic or Ventnor (instead of having to be 2-1-1) Ah yes, I forgot about that rule. I think it’s the only one I don’t like and would propose playing without, but I’d be interested to know if there’s a good reason for it; the rules seem quite considered. ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2014, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-unofficial-rules-for-playing-monopoly/698305/14 "2014-09-13T04:38:23Z")
No auctions. And whoever has the greatest wealth after an hour is the winner. Any longer than that just gets tedious. ---
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2014, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-unofficial-rules-for-playing-monopoly/698305/15 "2014-09-13T05:42:55Z")
> [@Bozuit](#): > > I take it this is building as many houses as possible, but refusing to “upgrade” to hotels to deny others houses and - as a consequence - hotels. Otherwise, I want to know all about this evil strategy. > > Personally, I avoid it, as it seems far too mean! > > Ah yes, I forgot about that rule. I think it’s the only one I don’t like and would propose playing without, but I’d be interested to know if there’s a good reason for it; the rules seem quite considered. Not only that: If, for example, you own the Yellow Color Group, and you have one house on Marvin Gardens and one on Ventnor Avenue, and you decide to mortgage Marvin Gardens, you will have to sell the house on Marvin back to the bank. But the rules say you will also have to sell back the house on Ventnor! ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2014, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-unofficial-rules-for-playing-monopoly/698305/16 "2014-09-13T17:03:00Z")
As I recall, the game goes quicker if two players can form a consortium. For example, if I own two railroads and you own two, we can form a consortium, and a player who lands on any railroad pays $200 and we split the take, but the two owners have immunity. It also gives a player with no monopolies an opportunity to form one and develop it and have a share in it.