# What are your Monopoly house rules/game strategies **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 17, 2006, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-monopoly-house-rules-game-strategies/357176 "2006-05-17T21:53:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![brickbacon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/898d66/32.png) [@brickbacon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brickbacon)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2006, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-monopoly-house-rules-game-strategies/357176/1 "2006-05-17T21:53:24Z")
I think most people have their own special rules for Monopoly. We just bought Monopoly, and were debating which rules to incorporate. Here are my house rules: 1. $200-$500 in Free Parking (which is replenished when landed on) 2. $100-$200 to get out of jail 3. All unimproved properties are double rent (ex. Boardwalk is doubled from $50 to $100 when there are no houses). If you have houses, the price is what’s stated on the card. 4. No $1 bills. All rents, etc. are rounded to nearest 5. 5. No collecting rent in jail. What are your rules? ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2006, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-monopoly-house-rules-game-strategies/357176/2 "2006-05-17T22:07:34Z")
We haven’t played for a while but we never had any of the house rules like getting money on Free Parking. Our only rule was “whoever has the most money after a nominated period” wins. ---
**Author:** ![Gangster\_Octopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a8b319/32.png) [@Gangster\_Octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gangster_Octopus)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2006, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-monopoly-house-rules-game-strategies/357176/3 "2006-05-17T22:10:22Z")
1. Collect $400 if you land directly on GO 2. Properties, when landed upon, are NOT auctioned off 3. All Community Chest and Chance Card fees etc. go into a FREE PARKING pot ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2006, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-monopoly-house-rules-game-strategies/357176/4 "2006-05-17T22:11:45Z")
> [@brickbacon](#): > > 1. All unimproved properties are double rent (ex. Boardwalk is doubled from $50 to $100 when there are no houses). That’s an actual rule. It’s printed on the deeds. In our house the first hit for each player on the insurance square (I only have the Wizard of Oz edition, in which it’s called Tornado Insurance, the $200 or 10% square) is free. ---
**Author:** ![brickbacon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/898d66/32.png) [@brickbacon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brickbacon)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2006, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-monopoly-house-rules-game-strategies/357176/5 "2006-05-17T22:34:38Z")
> [@Otto](#): > > That’s an actual rule. It’s printed on the deeds. > > In our house the first hit for each player on the insurance square (I only have the Wizard of Oz edition, in which it’s called Tornado Insurance, the $200 or 10% square) is free. It’s only true if you own all the properties of that color. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2006, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-monopoly-house-rules-game-strategies/357176/6 "2006-05-17T22:40:50Z")
> [@brickbacon](#): > > It’s only true if you own all the properties of that color. Well yeah. You can’t build houses unless you own all of the properties of the color. ---
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2006, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-monopoly-house-rules-game-strategies/357176/7 "2006-05-17T22:46:10Z")
Monopoly strategy: - get a set of properties\* - build as many houses as you can afford - don’t buy hotels, because the other players will start to run out of houses\*\* - wait House rules: none \*don’t play with couples, because they sell properties to each other only :eek: \*\*(and they can’t buy hotels without first reaching 4 houses on each property) ---
**Author:** ![Antinor01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecae2f/32.png) [@Antinor01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antinor01)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2006, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-monopoly-house-rules-game-strategies/357176/8 "2006-05-17T22:49:24Z")
Free parking starts with $500 and any money from fines (like the cards, luxury tax etc) are added to that pot. The other major thing we do: My BF and some of his friends started a ‘monopoly title’ many many years ago. It follows the same basic rules of monopoly but has a two hour time limit. The person that holds the title can only lose it if they are bankrupted within that two hours. There’s a pile of other title issues, but none that affect gameplay. I should add that I really don’t like playing and avoid it whenever possible. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Garfield226](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Garfield226](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Garfield226)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2006, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-monopoly-house-rules-game-strategies/357176/9 "2006-05-17T22:49:25Z")
House rules are, IMO, the biggest reason Monopoly has the reputation of being an unfun game that never ends. Try playing by the rules, and playing to win (e.g. making trades), and the game rarely lasts more than three hours. As far as strategies go: All things considered, the Oranges statistically give you the best return on your money. The railroads, if you can acquire all four, are also a good investment. Always keep at least three houses on your properties (the income percentage increase from house two to house three is the biggest gap). Never build hotels, so you’ll tie up the houses and other players can’t use them. ---
**Author:** ![Plynck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Plynck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Plynck)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2006, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-monopoly-house-rules-game-strategies/357176/10 "2006-05-17T22:51:04Z")
Cheat. Cheat like hell. Take your opponent’s (brother’s) money when he isn’t looking. Take money from the bank. Fudge your move if you get a bad roll so you don’t land on someone else’s property. Move your opponent’s (other brother’s) piece when he isn’t looking. Remove buildings from your opponent’s (youngest brother’s) properties when he isn’t looking. Anything was okay as long as you didn’t get caught. I mean, that’s the American way, right? There’s nothing like a friendly game of Monopoly among brothers on a rainy day to make a mother wish she’d entered a convent. I have no idea how none of us are serving hard time right now… Or politicians, for that matter… ---
**Author:** ![Garfield226](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Garfield226](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Garfield226)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2006, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-monopoly-house-rules-game-strategies/357176/11 "2006-05-17T22:51:07Z")
Oh, and I forgot. Sometimes, near the end of the game when there are many houses and hotels on the board, being in jail can be a good thing. ---
**Author:** ![Sierra\_Indigo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f0a364/32.png) [@Sierra\_Indigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sierra_Indigo)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2006, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-monopoly-house-rules-game-strategies/357176/12 "2006-05-17T22:53:45Z")
Our games rarely get to the point where we build houses or hotels… And most of our house rules end up with little plastic buildings being pelted across the room… ---
**Author:** ![swampbear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/swampbear/32/467_2.png) [@swampbear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/swampbear)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2006, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-monopoly-house-rules-game-strategies/357176/13 "2006-05-17T23:08:06Z")
$100 in free parking that’s yours if you land on it. $400 if you land on Go (not if you get the “Go to Go” or whatever it says card). The houses on Baltic and Mediteranean are called “crack houses” and the hotels are slums. Park Place and Boardwalk houses are “gated communities” and hotels are “luxury resorts.” You can pay your way out of jail for a measly $500. You must make choo choo noises if you land on a railroad. Who us, weird? ---
**Author:** ![Emilio\_Lizardo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@Emilio\_Lizardo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Emilio_Lizardo)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2006, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-monopoly-house-rules-game-strategies/357176/14 "2006-05-17T23:13:38Z")
When you pass Go, you get $200 and a bong hit. ---
**Author:** ![bouv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@bouv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bouv)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2006, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-monopoly-house-rules-game-strategies/357176/15 "2006-05-17T23:27:35Z")
My guess is that the two most common house rules are getting money when landing on free parking (though rules vary on where that money comes from. Either seeded after someone wins it, or the fees from CC and Chance, etc… got there) and the even bigger house rule: Not auctioning off properties. My guess is that most people don’t even know this rule exists. According to the rules, if someone lands on a property that is not owned, and doesn’t want to buy it, it is then auctioned off by the bank to whoever wants it. Plying by this way makes the properties get eaten up a lot faster, and makes people more liklely to buy everything they land on. When we played, we always used those two rules. Our “free parking” money came from a combination of $500 seeded, and any money from the two taxes went in the middle. Fees from the cards still went to the bank. ---
**Author:** ![brickbacon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/898d66/32.png) [@brickbacon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brickbacon)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2006, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-monopoly-house-rules-game-strategies/357176/16 "2006-05-17T23:50:45Z")
> [@Otto](#): > > Well yeah. You can’t build houses unless you own all of the properties of the color. Yes, but we double all rents, even if you only own one of the color. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2006, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-monopoly-house-rules-game-strategies/357176/17 "2006-05-18T00:13:37Z")
> [@brickbacon](#): > > Yes, but we double all rents, even if you only own one of the color. Well that’s just dumb. So there. What do you do about railroads and utilities? ---
**Author:** ![brickbacon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/898d66/32.png) [@brickbacon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brickbacon)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2006, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-monopoly-house-rules-game-strategies/357176/18 "2006-05-18T00:28:58Z")
> [@Otto](#): > > Well that’s just dumb. So there. > > What do you do about railroads and utilities? Same thing. I like it because it magnifies the value of the railroads/utilities, and makes the game go faster. ---
**Author:** ![Rysto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ecccb3/32.png) [@Rysto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rysto)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2006, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-monopoly-house-rules-game-strategies/357176/19 "2006-05-18T00:57:46Z")
Well, my strategy during my last game of Monopoly was to only buy Boardwalk and Park Place, use all of my money to buy houses before anyone could so much as pick up two properties of the same colour, and proceed to bankrupt everyone on Boardwalk. … I wouldn’t exactly suggest this as a general strategy, though. ---
**Author:** ![Bear\_Nenno](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bear_nenno/32/3358_2.png) [@Bear\_Nenno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bear_Nenno)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2006, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-monopoly-house-rules-game-strategies/357176/20 "2006-05-18T01:27:48Z")
I refuse to play by anything other than the real rules. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-monopoly-house-rules-game-strategies/357176.md?page=2)