Monopoly

board game (Parker Brothers) Statistical Simulation

19/04/2009

1. Introduction
A statistical simulation was performed to determine the most frequent game
tiles landed on by a token in Monopoly.

2. Methodology
To determine the most frequent game tiles, a random sample of dice rolls was
generated. The dice rolls were then performed on the game board and each tile
landed on was recorded. Additional rules were applied to take into account
landing on the Go to Jail tile.
The following steps describe the methodology:
Step 1: Generate dice roll data
Two lists of random numbers between 1 and 6 was generated. The random
numbers had a uniform discreet distribution. The two lists were added to
generate the dice roll sequence.
Step 2: Perform dice rolls
The dice rolls were performed on a token starting on the Go tile (tile 1). Each
landing position was recorded.
Step 3: Special tiles
After a dice roll, if the token landed on the Go to Jail tile (tile 31), the token
was moved to Jail (tile 11)
No account was taken for the token movement cards on the Community Chest
and Chance tiles.
Step 4: Repeat dice rolls
Steps 2 and 3 were repeated by moving the token by the value of the next dice
roll in the sequence generated in Step 1.
Four simulations were performed with a varying number of dice rolls.

3. Results

Simulation 1
Dice Rolls: 100 000
Distribution of Dice Rolls
1500

1000

500

10

12

(x-axis: dice roll value; y-axis: frequency)

Frequency of Landed Tiles
3000

2800

2600

2400

2200

10

20

30

(x-axis: tile number; y-axis: frequency)

40

Simulation 2
Dice Rolls: 100 000

Distribution of Dice Rolls

15 000

10 000

5000

10

12

(x-axis: dice roll value; y-axis: frequency)

Frequency of Landed Tiles
3000

2800

2600

2400

2200

10

20

30

(x-axis: tile number; y-axis: frequency)

40

Simulation 3
Dice Rolls: 1000 000

Distribution of Dice Rolls

150 000

100 000

50 000

10

12

(x-axis: dice roll value; y-axis: frequency)

Frequency of Landed Tiles
30 000

28 000

26 000

24 000

22 000

10

20

30

(x-axis: tile number; y-axis: frequency)

40

Simulation 4
Dice Rolls: 10 000 000

Distribution of Dice Rolls

1.5 106

1. 106

500 000

10

12

(x-axis: dice roll value; y-axis: frequency)

Frequency of Landed Tiles
300 000

280 000

260 000

240 000

220 000

10

20

30

(x-axis: tile number; y-axis: frequency)

40

Appendix - Simulation Data

A1. Game board

Tiles are numbered sequentially starting at tile 1 Go and ending at tile 40
Mayfair.

A2. Data

Simulation 1
Random Dice Rolls = 100 000
Number of landings on {tile 1,tile 2,tile 3,,tile 40} =
{2255,2405,2291,2346,2293,2307,2343,2264,2292,2296,2348,2267,2369,2373,2613,2593,2766,
2755,2798,2630,2735,2686,2653,2667,2678,2777,2712,2641,2709,2721,2724,2650,2593,2578,2
415,2418,2327,2202,2188,2322}

Simulation 2
Random Dice Rolls = 100 000
Number of landings on {tile 1,tile 2,tile 3,,tile 40} =
{2282,2343,2279,2373,2378,2236,2387,2287,2263,2327,2275,2275,2474,2466,2495,2535,2749,
2797,2763,2737,2747,2736,2598,2584,2710,2723,2643,2699,2717,2673,2665,2711,2638,2523,2
443,2390,2321,2147,2324,2287}

Simulation 3
Random Dice Rolls = 1 000 000
Number of landings on {tile 1,tile 2,tile 3,,tile 40} =
{22711,23084,23481,23708,23002,23117,22823,23034,23077,22965,23117,23267,23665,24522,2
5655,26329,27030,27538,27446,27096,27184,26912,26755,26508,26677,27365,27076,27040,266
44,26831,26886,26909,26156,25496,24464,23910,23111,22041,22500,22868}

Simulation 4
Random Dice Rolls = 10 000 000
Number of landings on {tile 1,tile 2,tile 3,,tile 40} =
{229418,231551,232301,235742,232020,229584,229060,229902,230118,230802,231908,231026,2
39039,245767,252685,261494,270303,279840,275009,273260,270010,268424,267195,264220,268
477,269509,270069,271392,269676,269239,268316,268543,262009,254187,246411,238315,23008
7,220640,224451,228001}