The McDonald’s Monopoly Pieces You Want

McDonald's Monopoly is back with a slew of prizes ranging from an order of those delicious french fries all the way up to $1 million! Of course the odds of winning the million bucks are about as long as hitting the next Powerball jackpot, but with this list, you'll at least know which game pieces are most valuable, and which one's you're likely to keep getting over and over.

I worked at a McDonald's in Minneapolis in the early 80's when the game first rolled out and even with hundreds of game pieces left we never could cobble together more than a $5 winner.

But people HAVE won, and won BIG. McDonald's has had a few million dollar winners. I even knew a $1000 winner. But you've got to know which pieces are worthwhile and which one's are basically worthless.

Overall, you have a 25% chance of winning a prize. But when the mathematicians dug into it further, 22.5% is an instant food prize. Here's those odds:

Medium Fries ($1.75) – Odds 1 in 9, or 11.1% chance you win.
Quarter Pounder w/ Cheese ($3.60) – Odds 1 in 44, or 2.3% chance you win.
Small McCafe or Smoothie ($2.40) – Odds 1 in 44, or 2.3% chance you win.
McFlurry ($2.55) – Odds 1 in 44, or 2.3% chance you win.
Breakfast Sandwich ($2.65) — Odds 1 in 22, or 4.6% chance you win

Which leaves a 2.5% chance of winning another prize. And in McDonald's Monopoly, all game pieces are definitely not created equal, even when it comes to pieces within a property color. The odds of finding Park Place is not the same as finding Boardwalk. Believe me. Or don't believe me. But you can't argue with numbers, and here they are. If you find one of these game pieces, you've got a great chance of winning that cash prize:

BROWN: Mediterranean Ave, odds 1 in 30 million wins $1,000.
LIGHT BLUE: Vermont Ave, odds 1 in 40 million, wins $5,000.
PINK: Virginia Ave, odds 1 in 200 million, wins $10,000
ORANGE: Tennessee Ave, odds 1 in 602 million, wins Super Bowl tickets.
RED: Kentucky Ave, odds 1 in 15 million, wins one of 40 plane tickets for two.
YELLOW: Ventnor Ave, odds 1 in 300 million, wins $20,000
GREEN: Pennsylvania Ave, odds 1 in 40 million, wins one of 15 Fiat cars.
BLUE: Boardwalk, 1 in 600 million, wins $1,000,000 in $50,000 annual payments.
RAILROADS: Short Line railroad, 1 in 150 million, wins a year's supply of gas.

Even if you don't find the 'easy' pieces in that particular Monopoly, I'm guessing a quick trip to Facebook or Craigslist will net you the missing pieces.

I mentioned earlier that the odds of winning the big bucks in McDonald's Monopoly are about as long as hitting the Powerball jackpot. They're actually longer odds. MUCH longer. The odds of winning the jackpot in Powerball are 1 in 175 million. The odds of finding the Boardwalk piece from McDonald's? 1 in 600 million.

Have fun and eat up!