Taking risks is a part of monopoly as much as it is a dimension of life. Indeed, no one ever stumbles while sitting in an armchair. If you are too conservative, you may always be the bridesmaid in monopoly. To win with monopoly, sometimes you need to give your opponent the chance to win or at least make him or her feel that he could. The strategies that you use depend on the quality and guile of your opponents and the situation on the board. Winning monopoly is not dependent on red, yellow, blue, railway stations or airports, but on your exploitation of opportunities and mitigation of threats. The following tips can be the difference between winning and early bankruptcy:

1) Negotiation skills.

If you cannot get favourable terms of trade in Monopoly, you would have to get a Monopoly by landing on all properties of one colour or having them distributed to you if you play the short version. That's hardly likely. Knowing how to bargain with other players is essential to your success. You can bargain with highly skilled players and simply exploit the not-so-clever ones through trade.

2) Trade to increase your chances of a monopoly or increase your bargaining power.

Power lies in choices and options available. When you trade with a player, you do not always have to get the Monopoly from the same negotiation. For example, if you have two of three green properties and one of the orange, you can sell the two properties to the player who had the other green property for a stash of cash. Make sure his liquid cash is fairly low after that. Remember what I stated about giving others a chance. It normally turns out to be the rope by which they hang themselves.

Some people try not to give up any property at all when they trade. If you're playing computer monopoly, that's fine. Human players are a different proposition and they may regularly decline to trade with you unless you appear to give them some power. You can also use trading with one player to make another player want to do business with you. Good opponents are not likely to trade unless you have property they want.

3) Asset accumulation.

The faster you can acquire your monopoly and build houses, the better. If you have a monopoly and run short on cash, you can consider mortgaging properties to build. You can sell railroads and utilities strategically, since your payoff is higher with the developed monopoly. Try not to give another player a monopoly on the railroad. However, it may be wise to

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