Case Study: The Probability Behind Monopoly

The Probability Behind Monopoly`

Tiffany Zhong
Period 6

The Probability Behind Monopoly

Growing up, Monopoly was one of my favorite games to play. Determined to win, I even read a book on strategies to win Monopoly. While reading this book, a number caught my eye: it was the percentage of landing on a certain space. How did the book calculate these numbers? For example, how would I find the probability of landing on Boardwalk? This caused me to think some more about the probability behind Monopoly. If I were to take a particular snapshot of the game at a particular point, how would I calculate the probability of landing on a space after 1 turn, 2 turn, or 3 turns? In this investigation, I want to find out the probability of landing on a space after 1 turn, 2 turn, or 3 turns for one player.

There are also two dice in the game. If the player throws the dice three times in succession, he or she must go to jail. The player can either use a “get out of jail” card, pay $50, or roll doubles. If the player fails to roll doubles by his or her third turn, he or she must pay the $50 fine to leave.

Calculating the Probability of Landing on a Space: The number of spaces a player moves is dependent on the result he or she rolls. Thus, the probability of landing on a space is dependent on the dice. There are two dice. This means that that there are 36 total possibilities.
Dice #
1
2