By MATT CHANDLER
Buffalo Law Journal

Chances are you have played Monopoly at least once. The Parker Brothers game has been recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records as the most played board game of all time, with nearly a half billion players worldwide.

Chances are also good that as you counted your stack of Monopoly money, sifting through a pile of hundreds with the occasional $500 bill in the mix, you thought to yourself, "If only this were real money."

For Sloan attorney Rick Marinaccio, the money is very real.

Marinaccio, assistant counsel with Meritain Health in Amherst, is the 2009 U.S. national Monopoly champion. If you didn't know such a thing existed, you're not alone.

Marinaccio didn't either, until the self-described "lifelong casual Monopoly player" was embroiled in a debate with family members during a heated game.

"There was a dispute over a rule and I went to the Monopoly Web site, and they had an advertisement on the side of the page asking, ‘Do you want to be the next Monopoly champion?' " Marinaccio explained. "So I went through it to see what it was all about."

It was a long road from having his curiosity piqued that day to rubbing elbows with the best Monopoly players in the country a few months later. Marinaccio had to first complete a 20-question quiz and earn a score of at least 75 percent. That placed him in a group of 1,900 quarterfinalists who then had to submit five essays detailing how they would handle specific Monopoly situations.

The essay competition reduced the pool to 75 people, Marinaccio among them, who earned the right to compete in an online tournament. Two wins online would earn him a trip to Washington, D.C., and a seat at the national championships.

Though it was the first tournament he had ever competed in, Marinaccio pulled off two wins and, in April, trekked to the nation's capital, along with 27 other competitors.

"Most of the people at this tournament seemed to know each other, and there are people who have been playing competitively since the '70s," he said. "I was a little intimidated at first because everyone seemed to have this very serious Monopoly background, but at the same time, there is only so much you can know about the game."

In the end, he knew enough. The Western New York attorney beat out every other competitor, including former champions, and took home the title along with $20,580 in prize money - a figure matching the sum of the bank in the board game.

Marinaccio expected that his background as a lawyer would play a big role in his success at the four-player tables in D.C.

"There were five lawyers in the 28 finalists for the national championships," he said. "I'm a corporate attorney and I deal with contracts, so when you are negotiating the different languages in a contract, it's the same principles of give and take (as in Monopoly). You want to see what the other lawyer values more and you might give a little on that, but you are working to ultimately get what's best for you. So I do see a parallel."

That win earned Marinaccio a seat at the international championship to be held at Caesars Palace in three weeks, where he will compete - again, for a prize of $20,580, plus the winner's trophy - against the national champions from Spain, Russia, Hungary, the United Kingdom and New Zealand. He says he isn't really nervous about the championships, and never imagined that he'd make it this far.

"I don't know what to expect out of the world championships, but we'll see," he said. "I think that I am more excited to have the opportunity to go on the trip and enjoy the experience, and my first time in Las Vegas."

Having bought his first home this summer, with his fiancée, and given the responsibilities of his day job, Marinaccio says he isn't practicing as much as he should be for the big weekend, though he plays online as often as he can.

"Before the Washington tournament I started training a month before, and now I only have three weeks," he said. "You already know the game; it is just a matter of staying sharp with the trades."

Does the rookie think he's got what it takes to bring home the hardware a second time?

"I'm not going to say it's a long shot," he said. "I feel like I've got just as good a chance as anyone there."

A simple rule check during a family game of Monopoly started Marinaccio on a path that took him first to the nation's capital, and now on to Sin City - and thrust him in a media spotlight. Walking through the airport the day after the national championships, Marinaccio got to see himself in USA Today, a moment he called "really cool."

How important is a good showing in Las Vegas to the attorney?

"Regardless of whether I win or lose, it's going to be a great experience," Marinaccio said. "I never thought Monopoly could take me this far, and that's exciting."

• We got some insider tips from the Monopoly King on how you can rule Atlantic City the next time you take a stroll along the boardwalk.
• The object of the game is to bankrupt your opponent, not get monopolies. Monopolies you can't afford to build on won't help you win.
• Go for properties that are most frequently landed on. Boardwalk and Park Place may be sexy, but Marinaccio says the lower-valued orange properties are those landed on most.
• Don't spread your resources too thin. In the national tournament, Marinaccio saw players with several monopolies building one or two houses on each. He advises having at least three houses on a monopoly before you try to build up others.
• Avoid the greens. Marinaccio says the green properties are too costly to build on and aren't landed upon frequently enough. The irony: He owned the greens in two out of his four championship games in D.C.
• Control the railroads. They're affordable, the champ says, and there's no additional cost to build them up. They'll provide a steady stream of income throughout the game, so try to acquire all three.
• Don't overpay. Don't pay too much for property, even good property. That and maintaining a poker face can be the difference between hanging with Rich Uncle Pennybags, Marinaccio says, and finding yourself bankrupt.