You’ve been playing Monopoly wrong your whole life… here are the real rules just in time for Christmas
CHRISTMAS is just around the corner, which means so is the annual family row over a board game.
Chances are it'll be Monopoly that you crack open, and if that's the plan you might be interested to know you've probably been playing it wrong all along.
That's because not only do people never read the rules properly, they also like to make them up. With that in mind, here are some of the ways you've probably been playing it all wrong.
Free Parking
Most people go by this rule - any time you have to pay a fine or tax or something you bung the money onto the middle of the board.
Doing a lap
When do you start buying property when you're playing?
Most people wait until they've done a whole circuit of the board before they start laying down the cash.
Surprise, surprise - that's not in the rules either. That's correct, you can actually start buying straight away.
Property prices
We all know players get to buy properties when they land on them, but what happens when they decide not to?
Probably nothing for most of us, which is another way we're getting it wrong.
According to the rules if a player turns down a property it then goes to auction. Even better everyone can bid on it - including the person who didn't want it in the first place.
Bankruptcy
Well, this is pretty much the name of the game so it was bound to get a mention.
A lot of people play by the rule that when someone goes bankrupt the bank gets all their money and assets.
You get the drift - this is incorrect.
Their money should actually go to the person they owe it to, and who didn't get paid in the first place.
Jail
Can you remember the biggest nightmare about being in jail when playing Monopoly?
It's that you can't make money while you're in there, so it doesn't matter if anyone lands on your properties they don't have to pay up.
Well guess what... that's not actually the case.
In fact, it means you could be super sneaky and try to get into jail. It's beneficial because you'll have two goes where you can't land on anyone's property because you're in the clink, but others might have to cough up for winding up on yours.
Sales of board games like Monopoly has soared by 15 per cent lately, making them the perfect choice for a family Christmas.
If you're not sure you want to sit down for a marathon match against your family, maybe you could give re-hanging your Christmas tree lights a go because you've probably got those all wrong too.