It's the conundrum that faces every Monopoly player, but Gerard Abideen's tactic of buying up big as quickly as possible has paid off for the Wanniassa local named the ACT's Monopoly Champion for the fifth year running.

Next month Mr Abideen will pick his lucky thimble token and face off against 23 of the country's best Monopoly players at the Australian Monopoly Championships.

Like most people Mr Abideen started playing Monopoly as a nine-year-old, but it wasn't until 2009 that he heard about the competition, entered at the Belconnen mall and walked away as the ACT champion.

Mr Abideen said he finds playing against other competitive Monopoly aficionados a thrill, but still enjoys playing with his daughters Ruthie, 10 and Kairi, 7.

Although his wife Pily collects Monopoly sets with about 15 special editions, she doesn't like playing with her husband.

"I think she enjoys the game, but I'm probably a bit too nasty," Mr Abideen said.

"It's a lot more cut-throat, the players seem to know what they're doing at the national level so you have to be a bit crafty."

Mr Abideen plays online every day to prepare for the championships in Sydney on May 15, but nothing compares to playing with other people and he plans to practice with his nephew Jesse Gonzalez from Mount Isa during the school holidays.

On the day of the championships, Mr Abideen will play the other state and territory finalists in a round robin of one-hour games with each player's accumulated property tallied up at the end of each round.

At the last event Mr Abideen came fourth, but this year he hopes to pip his rivals at the post and secure a spot in September's World Championships in Macau, China where he will compete for $US20,580 ($27,000) - the total amount of money in a Monopoly game.

Australia's first, and so far only, world champion was Perth real estate tycoon Greg Jacobs, who took out the competition in 1983.

But Mr Abideen's winning tactics of buying up big early is not something the Trinity Christian School admin assistant uses in everyday life.

"It would be nice to have that sort of money to do it in real life without the risks associated," he said.

"At the end of the day you just walk away from the game."

Although the humble board game now competes with computer games and the internet to attract players, Mr Abideen said he still believes the old favourite can bring families together.

"It's nice to be able to play with real people and not do it online and stare at a screen," he said.