Markov Chain Theory - your secret weapon for winning at Monopoly

No doubt at some point in the upcoming weeks the Monopoly board will come out and everyone will gather round for a game or two.

Here's how you can get an edge on the house - as it were.

Simply remember the following rules, derived from applying Markov Chain Theory to the venerable game.

American mathematician Tom Friddell's done all the heavy lifting so you can rest your delicate brain - or at least, what remains of it.

• Despite appearances, the number of moves with each throw of the dice is not random: because two dice are thrown, on average people move by seven squares per throw, as there are more ways of coming up with the number seven from two dice than any other.

• This results in Illinois Avenue (Trafalgar Square in the U.K. version) being the single most-landed on property.

• It also ensures all that the single most visited square of all is... Jail.

• The most valuable properties to acquire are not the most expensive, but the ones lying between Jail and Free Parking, with the orange sites being the best of all.

• Players should focus on developing their properties to three houses per site before going on to build more houses or hotels. This allows investments to be covered by rents relatively quickly, and thus protects against bankruptcy.

Works equally well with Bible-opoly and NFL Team versions of the game.

[via The Financial Times - and who better to offer such advice?]