Buffalo Lawyer Makes Final Game at World Monopoly Championship

A lawyer who won the Monopoly national championship made the final game at the world championship in Las Vegas this week, but a Norwegian student took the title.

Buffalo lawyer Richard Marinaccio, an assistant counsel at medical-claims administration company Meritain Health, was one of four players in the final tournament game, the Associated Press reports. He went bankrupt second, behind the winner, 19-year-old Bjorn Halvard, and a New Zealand player, according to a press release.

Marinaccio got his job at Meritain Health after being laid off from the Buffalo law firm Hodgson Russ. He told ArtVoice that being a lawyer gives him an edge in Monopoly competition. “I am a corporate lawyer and negotiate contracts every day,” he said. “Monopoly is a game of negotiation.”

He also told the publication that “ruthless gambler” Monopoly players do better than cautious investors, and his favorite game piece is the thimble.