You’re sitting there, three hours deep into a game of Monopoly, and the tension is thick enough to cut with a dull steak knife. Your cousin has the dark blues. Your sister is sitting on the orange set, just waiting for you to land on St. James Place so she can bankrupt you. But you? You’ve got the Vermont Avenue Monopoly card tucked away in a messy pile of light blues. Most people look at Vermont and see a cheap, low-rent property that isn't worth the paper it’s printed on. They’re wrong.
Dead wrong.
Vermont Avenue is the middle child of the light blue property group. It sits snugly between Oriental Avenue and Connecticut Avenue. On its own, it costs a measly $100. The rent is a joke—just $6. If you land on it early in the game, it feels like a participation trophy. But in the high-stakes world of competitive Monopoly (yes, that’s a real thing, and the people who play it are intense), Vermont Avenue is a lynchpin. It’s part of the most undervalued real estate on the board.
The Math Behind the Vermont Avenue Monopoly Card
If you want to win, you have to stop thinking about the "big" properties. Park Place is a trap. Boardwalk is a vanity project. The light blues, specifically the Vermont Avenue Monopoly card, represent the highest return on investment (ROI) in the entire game. Let’s get into the weeds for a second.
To put a hotel on Vermont Avenue, you only need $250 ($50 per house, times five). The total investment for the property and the hotel is $350. Once that red plastic building is sitting there, the rent jumps to $550. You are literally making your entire investment back—and then some—the very first time someone lands on it. Compare that to the greens. To get a hotel on Pennsylvania Avenue, you’re looking at an investment of over $1,000. How many times does someone actually land on Pennsylvania? Not nearly enough to justify that kind of burn rate.
The probability of landing on the light blue section is actually quite high because it's so close to the "Just Visiting" space. Players coming out of Jail or simply rounding the first corner of the board hit this zone constantly. Because the houses are so cheap, you can develop Vermont Avenue to its maximum potential before your opponents even have enough cash to put a second house on their expensive yellows or greens. It’s a blitz strategy. You’re not trying to take all their money in one go; you’re trying to bleed them dry $500 at a time before they can even get started.
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Why Nobody Values the Light Blues
Humans are naturally attracted to prestige. We want the shiny things. In Monopoly, those shiny things are the properties on the fourth side of the board. But the Vermont Avenue Monopoly card doesn't care about prestige. It cares about cash flow.
I talked to a guy once who played in regional tournaments in the 90s. He told me that his entire strategy revolved around the "low-side squeeze." He would trade away a railroad or even a utility just to complete the light blue set. Why? Because while everyone else was saving up $200 for a single house on an orange property, he was already putting hotels on Vermont, Oriental, and Connecticut.
It’s psychological warfare. When you have hotels on the light blues, you create a "dead zone" early in the lap. Players feel safe because "it's just the cheap side," but then they hit Vermont and realize they owe you half their starting salary. It’s embarrassing. It’s frustrating. And it’s mathematically sound.
The Scarcity Tactic and the Housing Shortage
Here is a trick that most casual players totally miss. Monopoly has a finite number of houses. There are exactly 32 green houses in the box. If you own the light blue set, which includes the Vermont Avenue Monopoly card, you can buy houses for $50 a pop. If you buy four houses for each of those three properties, you’ve just taken 12 houses out of the game.
If you do this across two low-end sets—say, the light blues and the purples—you can effectively create a housing shortage. You refuse to upgrade to hotels. Why? Because if you upgrade to hotels, those 12 houses go back into the bank, and now your opponent can buy them for their precious Boardwalk. By keeping those houses on Vermont Avenue, you are physically preventing other players from improving their properties. It’s a "lockout" strategy, and it’s one of the meanest ways to win.
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Real World Context: The Real Vermont Avenue
For the trivia buffs out there, the Monopoly board is based on Atlantic City, New Jersey. Vermont Avenue is a real place. In the early 20th century, when the game was being developed by Elizabeth Magie (as The Landlord's Game) and later Charles Darrow, these streets represented the actual economic hierarchy of the city.
Vermont Avenue runs parallel to New Hampshire and Rhode Island Avenues. Back then, it was a modest residential area. It wasn't the slums, but it certainly wasn't the high-life of the Boardwalk. Today, the area has changed significantly, like much of Atlantic City, but the legacy lives on every time someone unfolds that cardboard square.
Interestingly, in the UK version of the game, Vermont Avenue becomes The Angel, Islington. It keeps the same color (light blue) and the same relative value. Even across the pond, the strategy remains identical. Whether you’re in New Jersey or London, the light blue set is the "budget king" of the board.
Common Misconceptions About the Vermont Card
People think the Vermont Avenue Monopoly card is a "filler" card. They think you only buy it to prevent someone else from getting a monopoly. That’s a defensive mindset. To win at Monopoly, you have to play offense.
- Misconception 1: It’s better to save for the Oranges. While the Oranges (New York, Tennessee, St. James) are statistically the most landed-on properties due to their distance from Jail, they are also more expensive. If you spend all your money buying the Oranges and can't afford houses, you're sitting on dead assets. Vermont Avenue is cheap enough that you can almost always afford to build on it immediately.
- Misconception 2: You should always trade Vermont for a Railroad. Never do this unless you already have three railroads. The income from a single railroad is $25. The income from Vermont with just two houses is $100. The math doesn't lie.
- Misconception 3: It loses its value in the "late game." Actually, in the late game, when everyone is low on cash, landing on a $550 hotel on Vermont is often the final nail in the coffin. It’s enough to force a player to mortgage their big properties, which starts a death spiral they can’t recover from.
How to Handle Vermont Avenue in a Trade
If you're holding the Vermont Avenue Monopoly card and another player has Oriental and Connecticut, you have all the leverage. They need you. Don't just give it away for cash.
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Ask for a "get out of jail free" card plus cash. Or, better yet, ask for an immunity deal. "I'll give you Vermont so you can have the set, but I land on that set for free for the rest of the game." (Note: some official tournament rules don't allow "immunity," but in house games, it’s a classic move).
Honestly, the best thing to do is to be the one collecting the light blues. If you see Vermont Avenue available, buy it instantly. Don't even think about it. Even if you don't want the set, it's the cheapest way to block someone else's progress. For $100, you’re buying a massive insurance policy.
Maximizing the Value of the Light Blue Set
Once you have the set, the order of building matters. You should distribute your houses evenly because of the "even building" rule, but your focus should be on getting to that third house as fast as possible.
In Monopoly, the "jump" from two houses to three houses is usually the biggest increase in rent. For Vermont Avenue, two houses gets you $90. Three houses gets you $270. That’s a 200% increase for the same $50 investment. That is the "sweet spot." If you have $150, putting three houses on Vermont is one of the smartest moves you can make on the entire board.
The "Vermont" Philosophy of Gaming
There’s a broader lesson here. In gaming, and maybe in life, we often overlook the mid-tier options because they aren't flashy. We want the "legendary" items, the "epic" loot, or the Boardwalks. But the players who consistently win are the ones who understand efficiency.
The Vermont Avenue Monopoly card is the definition of efficiency. It’s low risk, high reward, and low maintenance. It doesn't require a massive bankroll to become dangerous. It’s the "scrappy underdog" of the Monopoly world.
Next time you play, don't ignore that light blue strip. Grab Vermont, build fast, and watch your friends' faces turn as red as the hotels you're about to put down. It’s not about owning the most expensive property; it’s about owning the property that works the hardest for you.
Actionable Strategies for Your Next Game
- Prioritize the Light Blues: If you're within 6 spaces of Vermont Avenue, have your cash ready. It’s a $100 investment that pays for itself almost instantly.
- The Three-House Rule: Get three houses on Vermont as fast as humanly possible. The rent jump from $90 to $270 is the most efficient way to drain your opponents' cash in the early game.
- Create a Housing Freeze: If you have the light blue set, consider staying at 4 houses per property instead of upgrading to hotels. This uses up 12 houses from the bank, preventing others from building on more dangerous properties like the yellows or greens.
- Use it as Trade Bait: If you don't want the set, use Vermont to wedge yourself into a better deal. It’s cheap to buy but expensive for someone else to "complete" without your help.
- Watch the Jail Exit: Remember that players leaving Jail are statistically likely to land in the light blue/pink zone within two rolls. Make sure Vermont is developed before the first "jail break" of the game.