America's chances rest with 21-year-old national champ Matt Gissel, a laid-back university student majoring in biochemistry. The United States hasn't had a world titlist since 1973. Starting Saturday, Gissel goes up against the current world champion, 40-year-old Christopher Woo, a teacher from Hong Kong, and more than 30 other national champions. The youngest is a 14-year-old from Trinidad and Tobago and the oldest is a 53-year-old father of three from Spain.

Monopoly, invented in 1933, came to fame during the Depression as American families lived vicariously through the world of Uncle Milton Pennybags, the game's mascot (who, according to game manufacturer Hasbro, collects pennies, avoids the luxury tax and enjoys strolling on Boardwalk).

The game is sold in 80 countries and has been translated into 26 languages and currencies. It has also gained an odd collection of fans -- who play Monopoly in the strangest places and for extremely extended periods of time.

In 1983, the Buffalo Dive Club played for 1,080 hours underwater. Some 350 divers took turns to keep play going for 45 consecutive days. A group of high school students in New Mexico once played for 99 hours in a water-filled bathtub. And one game was played in a moving elevator for 16 days.

Players have also adjusted the game's physical size through the years. In 1987, students of Juniata College in Huntington, Pa., turned part of their campus into a Monopoly game board larger than a city block. Giant foam-rubber cubes became dice, and cyclists with walkie-talkies kept players informed of opponents' moves.

The heaviest Monopoly board -- 95 pounds -- was made in 1964 specifically for underwater use. Neiman Marcus once had a game made out of chocolate that sold for $600. And a $25,000 set made for tobacco king Alfred Dunhill boasted solid gold and silver houses and hotels.

Since Monopoly has such intense fans, it was no surprise when hundreds of them showed up in Atlantic City, N.J., in 1972 to block changes to some of the local street names that the game uses. To help upgrade the city's image, the gambling haven's City Council had proposed changing Baltic and Mediterranean avenues to Fairmont and Melrose, respectively. But after players flew in from around the country to attend the public hearing and mailed thousands of letters, the street names remained intact.

U.S. champ Gissel prefers his Monopoly straight up: on a table, in the house. The pro wrestling fan from St. Albans, Vt., started playing Monopoly in fourth grade, just fooling around with his dad. In sixth grade, Gissel noticed that the local library was hosting a Monopoly competition during his April vacation. "It was just something to do," he says.

It became something to do every year during his April vacation. From 1993 to '97, Gissel led the state in total Monopoly properties and assets earned. And so Vermont crowned him state champ and sent him to the national championship in Las Vegas, all expenses paid.

"It was surprising," Gissel says of the phone call informing him of his champion status. "I had forgotten about it. Then I came out of shock."

And so he prepared for the ensuing battle: "Before I went, I played my college roommates twice and lost both games. It didn't worry me. I figure each game is different and sometimes it doesn't work. As long as I win when it matters."

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