Rolling Doubles in Monopoly: Every Rule Explained In Detail

Rolling doubles in Monopoly is an incredibly important part of the game.

Depending on the situation, rolling doubles can help you out…or it can have negative consequences such as sending you straight to Jail.

In general, you have around a 17% chance of rolling doubles every time you throw the dice, so it’s essential to know the Monopoly rolling doubles rules and strategies.

In this post, I’m going to cover everything that you need to know about rolling doubles, including the following:

What Happens if You Roll Doubles in Monopoly?

If you roll doubles again, the same thing would happen.

However, there’s a caveat here – if you roll doubles three times in a row, then you go straight to Jail. Rolling doubles once or twice is generally a good thing – but rolling doubles three times in a row (within the same turn) is bad luck.

Do You Move When You Roll Doubles in Monopoly?

Yes – you do move your piece forward when you roll doubles. When you land on the space, you also still perform the relevant action just like if you had rolled any other number.

The only difference is that, after doing this, you get to roll again.

How Many Times Can You Roll Doubles in Monopoly?

Here’s how it works, assuming you roll doubles each time:

1. Initial roll (Roll #1) – good news! You get to move your piece forward equal to the number on the dice. If you land on an open property, you can purchase it (or start an auction). Or, you might owe another player rent or draw a card. Once you’ve completed the action that applies to where you landed, you get to roll again.
2. Next roll (Roll #2) – good news again! You get to move your piece forward equal to the number on the dice. If you land on an open property, you can purchase it. Or, you might owe another player rent or draw a card. Once you’ve completed the action that applies to where you landed, you get to roll again.
3. Next roll (Roll #3) – bad news! Since you rolled doubles three times in a row, you go straight to Jail and your turn is over. You do not move your piece forward based on your roll – you move straight to Jail. This means that you have no chance to buy property (but also no chance to owe another player rent).

However, if you did not roll doubles on the third roll, you would not go to Jail. Instead, you’d just move your piece like normal and take the relevant action for whatever space you land on. Then, it would be the next player’s turn.

Jail Rules for Rolling Doubles in Monopoly

Rolling doubles in Monopoly can both send you to Jail and get you out of Jail, so it can be a bit tricky to understand.

Let’s go through the different scenarios…

Rolling Doubles When Already In Jail

If you’re already in Jail at the start of your turn, rolling doubles will let you get out of jail.

This is the only way to get out of jail without paying money or using a “Get Out of Jail Free” card.

Each turn that you’re in jail, you can try to roll doubles to get out. However, you can only do this a maximum of three turns – if you’re unable to roll doubles within that time, you’re forced to pay the $50 fee to get out of jail.

Overall, the chance of rolling doubles within three turns is a little under 50% (~42% to be exact), so you have slightly less than even odds of being able to get out of jail by rolling doubles.

Note – if you do successfully roll doubles while in Jail, you do not get to roll again like you would if you rolled doubles while outside jail. However, you do get to move your piece the number of spaces of your roll and then take an action.

For example, let’s say you roll double threes when in Jail. You would move your piece forward six spaces and then perform the relevant action for the space on which you land.

However, you would not roll again – that’s the key difference from rolling doubles when outside of Jail.

What Is the Probability of Rolling Doubles in Monopoly?

The probability of rolling doubles in Monopoly is 16.66%, AKA one in six.

This is the same probability for rolling doubles with any pair of six-sided dice (assuming the dice are weighted properly).

Each roll of the dice is independent from previous rolls, so you always have a 16.66% of rolling doubles in each individual roll no matter what happened in previous rolls. Thinking otherwise is known as the Gambler’s Fallacy.

For example, if you rolled doubles on your five previous rolls, it’s easy to think that you have a lower chance of rolling doubles on the sixth roll. However, that’s the Gambler’s Fallacy in action – the probability of rolling doubles on the sixth role is 16.66%, just as it was for each individual role before that.

With that being said, we can use statistics to further calculate the probabilities of rolling two or three doubles in a row (rather than looking at individual dice rolls):

As you can see, the probability of rolling doubles three times in a row and ending up in Jail is very low, so you probably won’t run into that situation very often.

When Can You Buy Property and Houses When Rolling Doubles?

Since rolling doubles gives you another chance to roll, it’s important to understand what effect this has on buying property and upgrading properties with houses and hotels.

Let’s go through the different scenarios…

Can You Buy Property When Rolling Doubles in Monopoly?

Yes! When you roll doubles, you still move your piece the relevant number of spaces and then perform the action for the space you landed on.

If you land on an unowned property, you have the option to purchase the property just like you would if you hadn’t rolled doubles.

In fact, if you’re playing by the rules, you’ll need to either purchase it or start an auction (a lot of people get the Monopoly auction rules wrong).

Once you’ve purchased the property or completed the auction, you can then roll again.

However, if you roll doubles three times in a row and end up going to Jail, you would not be able to buy property on the third roll because you go straight to Jail.

Can You Purchase Houses and Hotels When Rolling Doubles in Monopoly?

Normally, you’re allowed to build houses and hotels in between any player’s turn, even if it’s not your own.

However, you cannot build houses in between a player’s doubles rolls because it’s still technically the same turn.

You will need to wait for their turn to completely finish, which could be because they don’t roll doubles on their next roll or they end up rolling doubles three times in a row and go to Jail.

For example, let’s say they roll doubles on their first roll and end up near your properties. Even though it would be a good strategy to try to add some houses to those properties, you would not be able to do so before the player’s second roll because their turn hasn’t finished yet.

What Happens If You Roll Snake Eyes in Monopoly (Double 1’s)?

When you roll double ones, this is called snake eyes. This is a general term for double ones – it’s not specific to Monopoly.

In the official Monopoly rules, snake eyes don’t get any special treatment. That is, double ones are treated just like any other double roll.

However, some Monopoly house rules do treat snake eyes differently than other doubles. Whether or not you play with these house rules is totally up to you.

Here are some common house rule variations for rolling snake eyes in Monopoly:

• The player who rolls snake eyes gets some amount of money – for example, $500. You can make the value whatever you want – just be aware that making it too valuable could throw off the balance of your game.
• The player who rolls snake eyes doesn’t owe rent if they land on a property that’s owned by another player. Just for that turn, though.

For reference, the odds of rolling snake eyes in Monopoly are only 1 in 36 – or around ~2.5%. As such, it will be a pretty rare occurrence in your games.

❔ Monopoly Roll Doubles FAQs ❔

To finish things out, let’s recap some common questions you might have about rolling doubles in Monopoly.

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Do you still pay rent when rolling doubles in Monopoly?

Yes – if you land on someone else’s property, you still owe them rent even if you rolled doubles according to the official rules of Monopoly.

The one “exception” would be if you’re using house rules based on rolling snake eyes, in which case you might use the house rule where a player doesn’t owe rent after rolling double ones.

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What happens if you land on the “Go to Jail” space after rolling doubles?

If you land on the Go to Jail space after rolling doubles, you still go straight to Jail and you do not get another chance to roll the dice on that turn.

You have to wait until your next turn to roll again. However, if you do roll doubles on your next turn, you’ll get out of Jail.

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What are the probabilities of rolling doubles in Monopoly?

The probability of rolling doubles on a single roll is 16.7%. The probability of rolling doubles twice in a row is 2.8% and the probability of rolling doubles three times in a row is just 0.46%.

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Is rolling doubles a good thing in Monopoly?

Rolling doubles is generally a good thing because it lets you move around the board quicker, pass Go more often, and have a chance to buy multiple properties in a turn.

However, there are some potential downsides to doubles. The obvious one is rolling doubles three times in a row, which sends you straight to Jail.

It can also be bad if you’re very low on cash and in a part of the board where other players own most of the property, as it might cause you to have to pay rent multiple times in the same turn.

Now You’re a Monopoly Doubles Expert!

With a roughly 16.7% chance of rolling doubles each time you throw the dice, you’ll almost certainly end up rolling a double in Monopoly. Not rolling a single set of doubles in a game would be statistically very unlikely.

As such, it’s important to understand the rules for what happens.

In general, rolling doubles is a good thing because it gives you an extra turn and helps you pass Go faster. However, it can be a bad thing if you’re low on money and it causes you to pay extra rent. Similarly, rolling doubles three times in a row will send you straight to Jail.

However, as I discussed in the probability section, you have less than a 1% chance of rolling doubles three times in a row and landing in Jail, so it probably won’t happen to you very often.

Therefore, you should generally be happy when you roll doubles in Monopoly.

If you still have any questions about the rules, please let me know in the comments!