The original rules for Monopoly

I played Monopoly with my little brother today. You might not think that this is something new, and playing the game certainly isn't new for me, but it was the first time I've played this game with Peter. It was also the first time I actually read the rules. Can you believe, I found out so many rules that I didn't know existed!! The great thing about Monopoly is that you can tweak the rules and play so that everyone is happy. I've always been quite happy to play it that way, but Peter and I decided to play by the original rules. 

Here are some original rules that I didn't know existed:

• If you land on a property and you don't want to buy it, then the banker can act as an auctioneer and auction it off. The bidding price can start as low as you want. I always thought that you just leave it if you didn't want to buy.
• Free parking really is just a free space. We always put the money from the chance/community chest and tax into the middle of the board and if you land on free parking then you get the money.
• After buying 3 properties of the same colour, you must space out your houses evenly between them. For instance, if you buy a house on The Strand and you land on it again, you can't put another house on The Strand. You have to put it on another red property. 
• You can sell your get out of jail free cards if you don't want them. 
• When you pay back a house which you have been mortgaged, you have to pay the price on the card as well as a 10% interest fee.

It was quite nice actually reading through the instructions. I can't believe it's taken me this long to do that. And if it wasn't for this blog, then I'd probably go on forever just playing it the way I've been playing without ever knowing the real rules. 

 And in case you were wondering, Peter absolutely destroyed me in the game. He had so many five hunned dolla bills and a whole empire on the red properties. Bled me dry of all my money haha. It was so much fun playing though. I love spending time with that kid.