Monopoly Board Game

[Jerry Weber]

This might sound a little silly but I was wondering if anyone else saw the traditional Monopoly board game as somewhat educational and maybe even a bit motivational for real estate investing? 

I played the game tonight for the first time in years and while it's always been one of my favorite board games I can truly understand it even better now looking at it from an REI point of view.

Sure it's just a board game and isn't completely realistic but buying properties, and houses, hotels, etc., makes me yearn for the real thing even more.  :)

[Chris Mason]

Hell no!

The rules of Monopoly are such that a mortgaged property CAN NOT cash flow.

I'm a little bit biased, to be fair, but I'm going to have to go ahead and disagree with that...

Furthermore, a political agenda is revealed by the notion that you can just pay a little money to get out of jail.

The premise that your real estate success depends on a role of the dice is additional condemnation of the game. You don't stumble upon deals through dumb luck, for the most part, you MAKE DEALS in situations wherein the cards say there is no deal.

The game has a flagrantly radical, and borderline socialist, bias. 

Children under 18 should not be allowed to play without supervision. 

(Yes, I'll own it -- Accusations like that, made against board games of all things, are what happens when nerds major in PolSci and then get careers in the financial services sector...)