Here’s What Free Parking Really Means In Monopoly (It’s Not What You Think)

If you played Monopoly over the holidays, hopefully, you’re speaking to your family again. But what if that annual rift game night caused could have been avoided? You thought you knew the right way to play. So did your dad. And guess what? You were both right. That’s because most of the Monopoly rules, as you know them, aren’t exactly real. They’ve been made up by masochists over time to make the game even longer and more complicated. Which raises the question: Shouldn’t someone go to jail for that?

As the YouTube channel, Today I Found Out, recently revealed, the biggest rule bombshell has do with one of the most lucrative spots to land on: Free Parking. Like a rational person, you presumed this entitles you to the entire kitty accumulated in the Community Chest. What it actually gets you and your thimble is just that — a free spot to park until your next turn, and nothing more. So where does the money go? To the bank of course! Damn the man, indeed.

Don’t beat yourself up too much over this. Hasbro commissioned their own study and found most players abide by these made up guidelines, so much so that they issued a set of revised “House Rules.” (Or the “Get-Out-Of-My-House-Rules,” depending on how angry you are.) The lesson may be that old Rich Uncle Pennybags wanted you to be poor all along. Good thing it’s just Monopoly money.

[H/T] Thrillist