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Mr. Pennybags Graces the Start of the Monopoly World Championships

If you happen to be at Caesars Palace for the next two days and you want to engage in some off-key funseeking, check out the World Monopoly Championships taking place upstairs in the Forum Ballroom.

Held for the first time since 2004, with just the 13th World Championships overall since 1973 (so the champion can really savor the title for a sweet time), this is an international event to be sure. With 41 players representing 40 countries and one online champion, the sponsors from Hasbro know exactly want the fans want in terms of trappings: big Monopoly signs, a color scheme with bouncing hues, roaming language interpreters and even an actor impersonating the celebrated, mustached Mr. Pennybags.

As for the competitors, every one of them earned their right to be here, with all of them participating in three early rounds and the 16 players with the most amount of points moving into the semi-final round. From there, it whittles down to the final four to the final game. The winner takes home a fitting $20,580, which equals the amount of money in the bank for a standard Monopoly game.

The champion will be crowned tomorrow, and if you can’t make it down there, follow it on ESPN 360 or on Twitter. Yes, even the Monopoly Championships have a a Twitter. (Hash tag is #mwc09.)

Tags: Snapshot / Monopoly / Bally's / Monopoly World Championships / Special Events / → All Tags

Local Gal Wins Monopoly's 'Advance to Go' Contest in Front of Bally's

Today we rolled by Bally's to check out the oversized Monopoly board that they had put up in preparation for the World Monopoly Championships on Wednesday. But the 25'x25' board wasn't just for folks to walk around on and take goofy pictures.

The game board was actually the scene of the Monopoly’s “Advance to Go” a promotion from Harrah's Entertainment where 50 finalists for a cash prize of $50,000. Set aside the jokes that you might have that they were paid in Monopoly money, this really was the true deal.

In the end, it came down to five players who were had to compete right on the Strip just shy of the noon hour to a vocal, good-natured group of tourists who were more than taken with the charming aesthetics of it all - oversized replication of the Board, human tokens, leggy showgirls and oversized game cards.

But there could only be one winner and the game was won by the justifiably ecstatic Kim Heinan of Las Vegas. Considering that the champions of the real Monopoly tournament might not take home that much money, we think that's an awesome payout. But we wonder if Bally's is gonna convince her to spend the money at a Harrah's property like they do when you win a slot machine jackpot?

Remember the World Monopoly Championships kick off on Wednesday at 8:30am. at Caesars Palace.

Tags: Monopoly World Championships / Caesars Palace / Monopoly / Special Events / → All Tags

The Monopoly Championships Roll Into Town Next Week

The game of Monopoly might be overplayed right now--there are themed Monopoly board games for seemingly everything under the sun from Disney to sports teams to even Juicy Couture, the maker of overpriced velour sweatpants. And of course, even Las Vegas has its own glitzy edition.

But we can still dig up some excitement for 2009 Monopoly World Championships coming to Caesars Palace next week.

To kick off the festivities on October 19th, an oversized replicated Monopoly board will be set up against the Strip in front of Bally's on October 19 measuring 25'x 25' with human Monopoly tokens (dressed up as the hat, dog, car, shoe and thimble) and oversized Chance and Community Chest cards in play. 50 pre-selected finalists will have a chance to compete in the qualifying first round of the Advance to GO competition.

The game is pretty easy. Each finalist will be given a scroll. Five players will play for the $50,000 Advance to GO prize. The remaining 45 finalists will receive cash prizes based on the scroll they receive. The minimum prize is $500 so the odds are way better than piling money into a Wheel of Fortune machine.

Then on October 21, the real competition begins.

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