If anyone is reading this I have to assume they have this in their RSS feeds, because if you are regularly checking this blog at this point you are a champ, indeed. This blog more or less got really going as an outlet for all the stress and issues dealing with newborn twins and remodeling my home at the same time. Once I moved back home and the twins became potty trained, well, the NEED to get my thoughts out there became much more of a "need" to practice my writing chops. And with all things great and small distracting me, "needs" have a tough time making it to the top of the list these days.
I have decided to make another go of it. I am finishing my first "first author" paper since the girls were born (if you don't actually know me, I am a working astronomer) and that has played some role in the doldrums here at Kicker. I really shouldn't be writing a blog about whatever frothy thought flits into my brain when I need to be writing papers to keep my career on track. Long time readers will note how much time passed from this blog being dormant to the final (almost) publication of my next science paper. For new readers, here is the quick summary: A lot of time. There was really no connection between the two types of writing. I found plenty of other ways to procrastinate rather than write science that were much less fulfilling than this blog.
To get myself back in the swing of things, I will start with a light little bit on games. I am a bit of a board game guy. Nothing major. And I would have to say my playing time has dribbled to painfully small quantities with all this child rearing going on. Putting that aside for the moment, one of the classic board games in Monopoly. It has a lot of structural flaws: too random, too hard to reach end conditions (bankruptcy), and it requires significant trading cooperation among players to even remotely work and be fun. One Scrooge McDuck and this thing will grind on for hours. Still, there is probably no game board as well known besides that used for checkers and chess. And I loved it as a kid. My wife, to my mild chagrin, loves it still.
So here is one juicy tidbit I came across: How to win Monopoly in seven rolls of the dice. This comes from this web page. It prominently features a 21 second game consisting of nine moves. Later in the comments someone delivers the 7 roll variant that I believe is the shortest possible. All due credit belongs to them. They write it up further here. I am merely repeating their findings. Recall that all players start with $1500.
Player 1:
Rolls 5,5 -> Lands on Just visiting Jail
Rolls 6,6 -> Lands on Chance. Card is Adv to nearest utility. Buy it for 150. (P1 now has 1350)
Rolls 5,4 -> Buy Park Place for $350 (P1 now has 1000)
Player 2:
Rolls 3,1 -> Lands on Income Tax, paying 10% or $150 (P2 now has 1350)*
Player 1:
Rolls 1,1 -> Buys Boardwalk for $400 (P1 now has 600)
Rolls 2,1 -> Land on Community Chest. Card is Bank Error In Your Favor +$200 (P1 has 1000)
Player 1 buys 3 houses on Boardwalk, 2 houses on Park Place at $200 a pop (P1 has 0)
Player 2:
Rolls 2,1 -> Lands on Chance. Card is Advance to Boardwalk. Rent is $1400. He can't cover it.
GAME OVER
This example is great for two reasons. One it is demonstrates how much blind luck there is in Monopoly. In this admittedly freaky example, Player 2 got to roll the dice twice and then went home to weep. Imagine if this were a 3-4 player game. It would then last hours while Player 2 had time to catch up on his Spanish language soaps. "Oh mi amor. No soy Maria. Soy la hermana gemela de Maria, Chiquita! Y Roberto es tu hijo! No lo creo! Es verdad! [SLAP]
Second, I just find it amazing that I have that board emblazoned in my head like that. I was able to play along without even glancing at the board. And I bet many of you readers could as well. You might not know where Kyrgyzstan is on a map, but I bet you can find Free Parking and the Reading Railroad in your sleep. What an odd cultural touchstone.
