Official Monopoly Rules

Monopoly rules can sometimes be the subject of a little bit of debate, because a lot of people play with variant rules, like putting $500 and all taxes in the middle, and then awarding that money to anyone who lands on Free Parking. But that's not part of the official Monopoly rules; that's just a house rule that folks use sometime. And there's nothing wrong with that. But here's the scoop on the official Monopoly game rules.

Monopoly Game Rules

Between 2 and 8 players can play. Each player begins by selecting a pewter token and receives $1500 in cash. The cash is distributed in the following manner:

Five of the $1, $5, and $10 bills.
Six $20 bills.
Two of the $50, $100, and $500 bills.

The rest of the money, and all of the property, is considered property of the bank.

The players determine who goes first by rolling the two dice. High roll gets to go first. Play proceeds clockwise around the table, each person taking a turn.

The first action on each person's turn is to roll two dice and move their token a number of spaces equal to what they've rolled. If a player rolls doubles, that player immediately gets a second turn. If a player rolls doubles three times in a row, the token is automatically sent to jail.

Depending on where the player lands, he can take specific actions:

If a player lands on a property that isn't owned by another player, that player can buy the property from the bank for the amount listed on the board.
If the player lands on a property that isn't owned by another play, and chooses not to buy it, the other players have the option of buying it via an auction.
If a player lands on a property that is owned by another player, the player who owns the property collects rent. The amount of the rent differs from property to property and is indicated on the title deed for the property.
Chance and Community Chest spaces allow the player to draw a card from one of those corresponding decks. The player then follows the instructions on the card.
Player can also buy houses and hotels to place on properties, which increase the amount of rent another player will owe if they land on a property.
Players can buy, sell, and trade properties between each other too.

Play ends when one player has bankrupted all the other players. In the event that a player owes rent to another player and cannot pay, the player is bankrupted and must give all his property to the other player.

And there you have it. Those are the official Monopoly rules.

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