California Man Wins National Monopoly Championship

The 2003 National Monopoly Championship is history, and it was won by Matt McNally, of Irvine, California.

McNally won $15,140 in real cash -- the same amount of money that's included in every standard Monopoly game.

In the final round, McNally bested Deanna Vest, Ken Koury and Richard Ridgeway.

The tournament began aboard a chartered Amtrak train (named the Reading Railroad for this special event) on Oct. 16, 2003, en route from Chicago to Atlantic City. The tournament finals were held on Oct. 18 in a casino ballroom in Atlantic City.

The train journey took the tournament players from Chicago's Union Station to Pittsburgh, Washington, D.C., and Philadelphia before reaching its final destination in Atlantic City.

McNally will represent the United States in the 2004 World Monopoly Championship in Hong Kong.

National and World Monopoly Championships are held every four years. The last National Monopoly Championship was held in 1999 in Las Vegas, and the last World Monopoly Championship was held in 2000 in Toronto.

Matt Gissel, of St. Albans, Vermont, won the 1999 National Monopoly Championship and defended his title in this year's tournament, but did not make it to the final round. He finished 10th in the 2000 World Monopoly Championship.

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